Arriving at Loyola University in 2021, I was aware of a new chapel that was soon to be built. As a Catholic student, I was very excited for this new addition to the campus due to what I felt was a lack of Catholic presence on campus.
In my time as an undergrad student, I have been involved with Catholic Studies and was granted the opportunity in the Fall of 2023 to study abroad in Rome at the leading Jesuit institution for higher education, the Pontifical Gregorian University. Here I took classes of philosophy, theology, and sacred spaces.
In my course on sacred spaces taught by Dr. Yvonne Dohna Schlobitten, who specializes in “sacred seeing,” I examined art throughout aspects of the Church and how to find the Divine in sacred spaces. It is a simple task to do this when in Rome. There are roughly 900 churches in Rome, some as grand and ornate as St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and some as modern as Church of God the Merciful Father. The church in Rome that resonated with me the most was Chiesa del Gesù. Deemed the mother church of the Society of Jesus, Chiesa del Gesù embodies the notion of Ignatian Spirituality. With its ornate artwork depicting the Holy Name of Jesus throughout the Church, Chiesa del Gesù showcases a ceiling painting in which the gap between the world and Heaven is bridged. The depth of the painting creates a sense that the ceiling of the church is open and a gateway to the Divine. It is by the artwork and use of senses that this is a space in which we as man are able to connect to the Divine. Chiesa del Gesù is a great place of reverence and prayer. …