Lay Center
Jazzy Sakaniwa
The Lay Center was one of the first places that we visited in Italy. Upon entering, there were welcoming arms, the smell of good food, and even better company. We’ve had many lunches and conversations here. Every time we enter I feel that I am apart of the large community of people who have been staying there for a month and call it their home away from home. One thing that is truly beautiful about the Lay Center is the diversity that is welcomed among its walls. I have met so many people whom I may have never met if I did not go to lunch at the lay center in this program. We have prayer before lunch that is often lead my people from many different cultures. It is amazing to see how beautiful prayer can be when it’s spoken in their native tongue. This is a place of warmth, worship, amazing food, and intentional conversations.
Elizabeth Giron
On my first full day of Rome, I had the pleasure to be introduced to the Lay Center. The building is about a 10-minute walk from the convent. As I walked in I saw many friendly faces greeting me as I was escorted to sit down for a great meal with my classmates. In a nutshell, the Lay Center is a place where Christian unity is practiced and realizing the differences between religions. The Lay center provides a lot of opportunities for local and international students like housing and food. I am always happily greeted when coming in and am given the best service when eating there. I liked how I also got to meet students who were a part of the Lay Center. We had a great dialogue not only about our faith but as well as what we have in common. I can always rely on the Lay Center to be a home for me that will welcome me with open arms as I participate in an open dialogue.
Erica Martinez
The Lay Center is an extraordinary place where people from different backgrounds, from all over the globe, engage in lively discussion and delicious food. From the very first day that I stepped within its perimeter, I knew it was a special place. The walls surrounding the center protect and nurture the union of everyone in an organic way. Nowadays, it is too easy to sit in front of people and be disengaged in their conversation. In a world of iPhones and other smart devices, social skills are losing their importance. It’s so much easier to text people versus actually speaking to them face to face. I believe social media sites and apps feed into our fear of being vulnerable, allowing people to see only a sliver of who we really are through what we choose to post. People can only view us through a screen, a glass wall which blocks any real intimacy because it feels safer this way. At the Lay Center, superficiality does not exist. It facilitates a sense of community and homecoming, a feeling that I don’t get at any other restaurant we’ve visited together. If I had to describe the Lay Center in one word, it would be this: togetherness. We sit together, we share food together, and we laugh together. Together is where I always want to be.
Sarah Chan
Set up in 1986, the Lay Centre houses both religious and non-religious students in Rome, creating the Lay people. During the Second Vatican Council, it housed pilgrims and now it mostly houses students. It even has a guest house for visitors. At the Lay Centre, they welcome individuals of all backgrounds and cultures because they have common ground when they have their meals. Students are able to explore Christianity and Catholicism, just like what I’m doing on this pilgrimage, and not all the students are Catholics. My first impression of the Lay Centre was how big and beautiful the property was. Not only do I love the beautiful property and the animals that reside there, but I also love the community. During our meals at the Lay Centre, I had met only a small percentage of the community and I can tell that they genuinely love being part of a community with a much larger cause. They have a great interest in what they are studying and to spend some of their lunches conversing with American college students from a small Lasallian college in Moraga, California gives me joy in life.
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