Lay Centre retreat focuses on St. Paul

ROME — Looking forward to the traditional second-semester retreat Feb. 19, Lay Centre residents set off energetically down the Caelian Hill, past Circus Maximum and up the Aventine Hill towards the Pontifical University of St. Anselm. The 20-minute walk under a pale winter sun was a perfect beginning to the day.

The Lay Centre resident community currently hails from 12 countries: Brazil, Canada, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Romania, Ukraine, the United States and Zambia. They are either studying at pontifical universities or working as young professionals in Vatican institutions.

The one-day retreat day, offers a break from the daily routine and an opportunity to The Lay Centre community for spiritual renewal and relationship building. The group was accompanied by Lay Centre Director Donna Orsuto, Deputy Director Filipe Domingues and Community Life Coordinator Isaias Marcano.

They were greeted at St. Anselm by Father Edmund Power, OSB, abbot emeritus of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls and currently archivist at St. Anselm. He led retreatants throughout the day in a reflection on one of the most important characters for Christianity and for the Church in Rome — St. Paul.

The retreat began with morning prayer, led by Lay Centre Leadership Scholar Loredana Fabijanic. Father Power then led a reflection on Christian leadership. The students gathered in small groups to share their thoughts and enjoyed some quiet time in the gardens on the south side of St. Anselm, overlooking Rome’s Testaccio neighbourhood. The morning ended with mid-day prayer.

A festive lunch followed at a nearby restaurant.

Restored and refreshed, the group set off after lunch by subway to the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls. Some members of The Lay Centre community had attended Vespers with Pope Francis there on Jan. 25, at the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Father Power shared insights with the retreatants into the basilica and the Benedictine community.

Retreatants began at the fountain in the quadriportico of the early 13th-century Benedictine cloister (main photo), and then moved to the most recently constructed part of the basilica, the atrium. From there, they entered the basilica proper and made their way toward the apostle’s tomb.

The retreat portion of the day ended at the foot of Arnolfo di Cambio’s late 13th-century altar baldacchino, just above the confessio of St. Paul’s tomb. But the Lay Centre community remained in the basilica for prayer, confession and to explore some of the basilica’s treasures. There was time for coffee, too! Finally, everyone gathered for Vespers in the colonnaded atrium, before heading back to The Lay Centre.

“My favourite memory of the morning sessions was the introduction by Father Edmund of our English word ‘text’ as deriving from the Latin verb ‘to weave’ — texo, texere, texui, textum,” said William Cooper, a doctoral student in archaeology at the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, who is originally from Alaska.

He noted that the image chosen for the retreat booklet was one of Paul weaving by Antonio Berti. He said “the etymological connection between Paul’s profession as a tent maker and his avocation as a letter writer was a fun one for me.”

Amanda Achtman, from Canada, who is studying at the Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University, said the retreat offered her a day of renewal and “some orientation for the new semester to help us hold together certain paradoxes that are key for Christian life.”

“Father Edmund led us in reflection on St. Paul and several questions on leadership and focus. He highlighted four traits of St. Paul's character, including his passionate love of Christ, life of prayer, unrestricted missionary zeal, and personality in tension, yet fully alive,” she continued.

“As a community, we had the opportunity to reflect on the importance of always speaking the truth to one another in love,” she said.