European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 19, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 30 stars and stripes thursday april 19 2007 even with curfews convents catch on in Rome As clean and cheap sleeps by Frances Demilio the associated press in these jittery times when travelling might seem to come Down to a Wing and a prayer a few prayers As Perks with bed and breakfast can be a Welcome extra in Rome so what if these also have strict curfews Motherly innkeepers Spicka Nispan bathrooms some of the cheapest room rates in town plus an Ambi Ance of spirituality More than compensate for any inconvenience making convents an attractive lodging option for travellers in Italy we feel very very secure Here which is very important when you Are in a strange coun try said Joan shot a Middle aged woman from Sydney Australia staying at fraternal Domus a hotel run by nuns whose religious Mission is hospitality the hotel is the most spotless place you can imagine but the most important thing is the car ing you get from these nuns said shot of course nowadays you feel very insecure travelling but when one stops in a place like this one feels totally Safe sister Milena who helps run the 40guest fraternal Domus inn a few blocks from Piazza Navona said the missionaries of the fraternal Domus latin for brotherly was among the first to have lodgings for tourists and pilgrims now everybody does it said sister Milena we carry out the Charisma of hospitality Many of the convents started opening their doors to paying guests in the sunup to the holy year in 2000 when the religious and millennium celebrations Drew 25 million visitors to Rome worried about a shortage of hotel rooms the government offered Low Cost mortgages and remodelling Loans to convents and monasteries Massimiliano Vavassori a researcher for the Milan based touring club Italiano which monitors tourist trends in the country and publishes a guide to Convent lodgings said there Are no firm figures on How Many convents Are now in the lodging business or How much Revenue the guests generate More than 50 percent of the religious places Arent registered As lodgings Vavassori said in some instances its a Case of a Friend lending help you can just leave an offering since the hospitality is offered for Charity not for business he said in a Telephone interview sister Milena said the nuns occasionally take in desperate travellers whom the police find wandering around Rome in the night with nowhere to sleep those guests Arent charged she said but paying guests at a photos sister Martina right supervises dinner service at Casa mater Mundi an 88bed Convent hotel in Rome with breakfast a Singie room costs per night a double costs curfew is at 11 pm later than most sometimes it happens that a person confides a problem in us we invite them to Pray or we Pray for them said the nun sister Martina insisted that holy year financial Breaks didst influence their decision to open the hotel which was once a Convent that her order the Sis ters of the Institute of divine love purchased from franciscan nuns with dwindling members the place with a Garden shaded by Leafy Palm Trees and Tower ing Pines was needed primarily for novitiate who come from Peru and the Philippines to study sister Martina said at first we had Only expenses said sister Martina citing the remodelling to meet Europe an Union safety standards and to give guests private bathrooms tvs and phones but now there is some Money left Over from the lodging business to help the nuns in poor countries mater Mundi has an 11 pm curfew a Little later than some other convents and some double Beds compared to the twin Beds Many other Convent hotels offer even to married couples Rev Gregory Apparcel of Santa Susanna Church which administers to the us Catholic Community in Rome said he hears some complaints about curfews but most people dont care they Are dead tired by 9 pm after a Day of pounding the cobblestones of Rome i know there Are a lot More people going to convents be cause i get a lot of people writ ing for information said Apparcel whose Church web site lists Convent lodgings in Italy sister Moiena cheerfully distributes bread to guests staying at fraternal Domus guest House in Rome a room with breakfast goes for per person a night at the Convent convents get a Good Deal in Rome where modest hotels can charge upward of a night for a double and hostels Are rare catholics and no catholics alike Are among the guests at fraternal Domus who pay a night for a room with twin Beds private bathroom and Fluffy towels emblazoned with the convents name a Crucifix is affixed in each room Many convents also serve bargain priced dinners cooked by nuns who ladle out pasta soup and salad and pass around carafes of wine for guests and for diners who walk in off the Street nuns clean the bathrooms and make the Beds helping to keep costs Down dont look for baskets of complimentary toiletries in these Nunn eries and Many of the rooms have no to wet bars or even phones but intangibles abound there Are pilgrims who need human Contact a word said sister Martina who helps direct Casa mater Mundi an 88bed hotel which opened in the holy year in a residential neighbor Hood in Rome theres a Chapel some guests Pray some even Pray with us theres apostolate in that sister Martina said in not saying we preach but when we respond to them our response is religious go find a Convent go to  org and Click on coming to Rome where you can scroll Down or Click through to lists of convents that take paying guests in Rome Assisi Flo rence san i Mignano san Giovanni Rotondo and Venice the web site recommends faxing your accommodation requests to the convents listed As Telephone arrange ments can be difficult due to language differences and time zones a business called Mon Astery stays web site  also lists monasteries and convents around Italy fraternal Domis located Between the tiber and Piazza Navona rates per person for a room with breakfast other meals Avail Able upon for a double room All rooms have private Baths address via Del Monte Brianza 62 Rome phone 0668802727 fax 06683 2691 Casa mater Mundi the Convent is convenient to the Vatican Castel Santangelo Piazza Venezia and the Coll Ossum doubles singles including breakfast address via Lorenzo Rocci 6400151 Rome phone 0665740406 fax 390665740089 web site mater Mundi the associated press since Pope John Paul h died the number has jumped enor Mously Vavassori of touring club Italiano said that while modest prices Are the big attraction of religious lodgings in Rome con vents and monasteries Are popu Lar in Mountain and other re Mote panoramic places because they often Are the Only lodging around for Miles