This is a short essay I wrote for one of my classes in Rome. We were asked to write about something that moved us to contemplation of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.
In a place as ancient and grand as Rome there are countless
beautiful and awesome sights to see, any of which could lead to considerations
of the good and the true. The hugeness of the Colosseum, the marvel of the
Pantheon, and the wonder of St. Peter’s Basilica are all inspiring sights in
Rome. However, perhaps one of the most beautiful sights in Italy is in Nettuno.
In this small, coastal town south of Rome is the cemetery and memorial for
thousands of American soldiers who died in Italy during World War II. The area
itself is beautiful, but the thousands of white crosses make it a sad beauty; in
the face of such a site one cannot help but move to contemplation of things
beyond lunch, sleep, and homework.
While
visiting the cemetery, I began to wonder at what those white crosses stood for.
Each one of those crosses was standing above a man of about my age. Each one of
those men had decided that the war against Nazism was worth the possibility of
losing their life and all the joys that come with it. And each of those men
followed that belief to the end and gave their lives. It made me wonder what I
would be willing to lay down my life for. Naturally, my thoughts jumped to my
faith, but things are often easier said than done; in the moment when I am
asked to die for my faith, would I really stand by Christ and not falter. So
often, I cannot stand by Christ when much smaller things than my life are on
the line. How can I say that I would die for Christ when I will choose just
about anything over going to the chapel to be with Him? To paraphrase St. Paul,
so often I do not do the good that I want to do, but the evil that I do not
want to do. Can I really say that I am strong enough to give my life for my
faith?
St.
Benedict has an answer to this in the preface of his Rule where he is
encouraging those that would join one of his monasteries: “What is not possible
to us by nature, let us ask the Lord to supply by the help of his grace.”[1]
By myself, I would certainly not be able to sacrifice my life for the faith. It
is not a natural thing for a person to willingly give up their life; people do
not give easily to begin with, so giving everything they have is not going to
be an easy or natural thing for someone to do. However, with God’s grace, those
things that are not natural or easy can happen.
As if to prove this, Nettuno holds
another, even more beautiful, sight. In the town’s basilica lays the body of
St. Maria Goretti. Her body is clothed with wax coverings where the skin would
have been, allowing her body to be visible under the altar of the church. If
she was stood up, she would probably not have been taller than my elbow. Yet
this twelve-year-old girl sacrificed her life to preserve her purity. As if
dying for the faith was not enough, while being stabbed Maria was trying to
reason with her murderer and convince him to think of his soul. She then used
her dying breaths to forgive her murderer. St. Maria Goretti’s life and death
serve as proof that God gives grace to those who ask for it, and it shows what beauty
can be accomplished by His grace.
One of the incredible things about
beauty is its ability to draw people into the contemplation of the good and the
true. The beauty of a cemetery and the tomb of a saint led me to the
contemplation of sacrifice and God’s grace, things that I would not likely have
thought of without the prompting of the beauty of the sights.
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