I was unsure what to expect on our first day of class abroad. I was extremely overwhelmed,
nervous, excited, and abundantly grateful for the opportunity to come to Europe for the first
time and for Portugal to be the first country I visit. When we first met in a group in the lobby
to go over some basic religious history in Portugal, I knew my expectations would be exceeded.
We first discussed the empires and how the capital of Lisbon and other parts of Portugal came to be.
We also learned of the two saints that are heavily involved in Portuguese culture: Saint Anthony and Saint
Vincent. The day was spent visiting the Church and Monastery of Sao Vicente de Fora, where we admired t
he architecture, artwork, and aspects of the site that make it so wonderfully historic and sacred.
When we were standing outside of the Igreja de São Vicente de Fora, we were discussing religious orders and
how they are groups of men and women who were founded for a specific purpose. For example, the Jesuits emphasized
education and the Augustinians were a monastery for people who wanted to be priests. It was also interesting to find
out that the streets we were walking have not changed in 800 years, insinuating that we were walking the same path as some
major religious figures. Saint Vincent’s backstory was also interesting. He wanted to be a priest and decided to start living in
the monastery. The story of his death was extremely interesting as well. Once he was martyred, he was left to die and as he was
floating on a boat, two crows circled him attacking all that attempted to touch his body (which is shocking due to the fact that crows
in general tend to attack, but in his case, they were protecting him). The image of the boat being circled by two crows is actually
on the flag of Lisbon. We also learned a bit of Saint Anthony, for example, his relationship with wildlife which was extremely admirable.
When people ignored his preaching, he decided to go out and preach to the fish, which gathered in front of him abundantly. This is when
people started to believe him. Visiting the Church and Monastery was wonderful and rewarding for me. As someone who grew up attending
Catholic school, mass, and overall spent time learning about my religion, being able to experience the beauty of Portugal and the religious
landmarks that mean so much to the city was amazing. I hold my religion very close to me and I was very excited to go abroad to study in a
place that also shares the same love for Catholicism. I felt very positively overwhelmed in my religion and the experience, for day 1, was
already unforgettable.
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