The Motherhouse is massive in size. Shaped somewhat like a squared off "W" with an enormous chapel in the center, the building supports four major occupants: the Brothers who are assigned to perform various tasks in central administration & the General Council who occupy the front of the building, the Brothers attending "CIL" ("Centro Internazionale Lasalliano") which is a spiritual and professional development program for Brothers in their midlife, who occupy the left side of the "W" (It is this group that 30 lay people like myself will be joining for the next 25 days. More on that after I attend the orientation session.). Lastly, there is the hotel - "Casa per Ferie La Salle" which occupies the right side of the "W" ( in the picture, you can see it just beyond and slightly above the chapel). The building was designed in the thirties and reflects Mussolini-inspired Italian architecture of the period. I was pleased to be assigned a corner room (with TWO windows) on the "CIL" side. As one would expect in a religious house, the rooms are spartan but comfortable. There is a school just on the other side of the gardens facing my room. As I write this, I am surrounded by the sounds of children playing during recess (even in the rain!) at the Lasallian elementary school adjacent to the Motherhouse grounds.
Happily, two Brothers that I knew on the East Coast are here in Rome. Brother Timothy Tarmey from the New York District is a "CIL" participant and Brother Charles Kitson of the Long-Island/New England District is in charge of the Secretariat for the Lasallian Family (allied groups around the world who share in the Lasallian charism).
Some of the American participants are gathering for lunch (even though it's 3:30 AM in California!)
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friends, Romans, Countrymen...
The start of my visit to the Eternal City went off without a hitch. When I arrived in Dulles to connect to the international flight I was delighted to see that Tina Bonacci '94 was on the same plane. We caught up on her work with the Midwest District while enroute. Tina was a godsend because our arrival at Fiumicino Airport, though flawless, put us on the ground a half hour early. And even after waiting for 45 minutes, we somehow missed seeing the Christian Brother who was sent to take us to the Motherhouse.
Thankfully Tina took charge, eluded the "gypsy" cab drivers and hailed a "licensed" cab. Under her direction the cabbie got us to the Christian Brothers' Motherhouse (the accepted moniker here on Via Aurelia is "the Generalate". It sounds a bit too militaristic for my taste; so I'll use the older reference in these posts).
The Motherhouse is massive in size. Shaped somewhat like a squared off "W" with an enormous chapel in the center, the building supports four major occupants: the Brothers who are assigned to perform various tasks in central administration & the General Council who occupy the front of the building, the Brothers attending "CIL" ("Centro Internazionale Lasalliano") which is a spiritual and professional development program for Brothers in their midlife, who occupy the left side of the "W" (It is this group that 30 lay people like myself will be joining for the next 25 days. More on that after I attend the orientation session.). Lastly, there is the hotel - "Casa per Ferie La Salle" which occupies the right side of the "W" ( in the picture, you can see it just beyond and slightly above the chapel). The building was designed in the thirties and reflects Mussolini-inspired Italian architecture of the period. I was pleased to be assigned a corner room (with TWO windows) on the "CIL" side. As one would expect in a religious house, the rooms are spartan but comfortable. There is a school just on the other side of the gardens facing my room. As I write this, I am surrounded by the sounds of children playing during recess (even in the rain!) at the Lasallian elementary school adjacent to the Motherhouse grounds.
Happily, two Brothers that I knew on the East Coast are here in Rome. Brother Timothy Tarmey from the New York District is a "CIL" participant and Brother Charles Kitson of the Long-Island/New England District is in charge of the Secretariat for the Lasallian Family (allied groups around the world who share in the Lasallian charism).
Some of the American participants are gathering for lunch (even though it's 3:30 AM in California!)
The Motherhouse is massive in size. Shaped somewhat like a squared off "W" with an enormous chapel in the center, the building supports four major occupants: the Brothers who are assigned to perform various tasks in central administration & the General Council who occupy the front of the building, the Brothers attending "CIL" ("Centro Internazionale Lasalliano") which is a spiritual and professional development program for Brothers in their midlife, who occupy the left side of the "W" (It is this group that 30 lay people like myself will be joining for the next 25 days. More on that after I attend the orientation session.). Lastly, there is the hotel - "Casa per Ferie La Salle" which occupies the right side of the "W" ( in the picture, you can see it just beyond and slightly above the chapel). The building was designed in the thirties and reflects Mussolini-inspired Italian architecture of the period. I was pleased to be assigned a corner room (with TWO windows) on the "CIL" side. As one would expect in a religious house, the rooms are spartan but comfortable. There is a school just on the other side of the gardens facing my room. As I write this, I am surrounded by the sounds of children playing during recess (even in the rain!) at the Lasallian elementary school adjacent to the Motherhouse grounds.
Happily, two Brothers that I knew on the East Coast are here in Rome. Brother Timothy Tarmey from the New York District is a "CIL" participant and Brother Charles Kitson of the Long-Island/New England District is in charge of the Secretariat for the Lasallian Family (allied groups around the world who share in the Lasallian charism).
Some of the American participants are gathering for lunch (even though it's 3:30 AM in California!)
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