Wednesday General Audience (Ash Wednesday)

I often blog what the Pope says at his General Audience on Wednesdays, but I will never do so without the sense of what it is like to actually be there. Thanks to several people we knew that to get a good seat at the General Audience we needed to be there as soon as they allowed people in, around 8:00 a.m.(two and half hours before the audience begins, although one of our contacts told us that Benedict had been beginning them about a half hour early). So we were there, dressed for warm weather, because it was rather warm at the time. We found the shortest line and waited about ten minutes until the mad rush began. The security was fairly lax at the entrance point that we were at, police with wands, but not really using them. So once through the entrance we ran (sort of the way people were running through the columns when Pope Benedict was about to be announced as the successor of St. Peter last year).


We were able to get to the fourth row right against the center rail, which turned out to be a pretty good spot. The two men sitting in front of me were from Brazil, I think the people behind us were from Ireland. There was a group from Steubenville near us, as well as the St. Thomas folk who were just behind us.

Then it turned cool, the sun disappeared and the clouds covered the sky. The temperature must have dropped ten or fifteen degrees. I think Joseph fell asleep, as well as the baby and for the most part we sat in silence with some outbursts of enthusiastic groups now and then.
Ten o'clock arrived and we were hopeful that the pope might come out early, but not today. Then at ten thirty there was a commotion and suddenly there he was, well looking exactly like the pope! You can see how dark the skies were and the pope had on his winter coat. Pope Benedict has shunned the glass case that John Paul used after he was shot in 1981, when I saw Pope John Paul in Miami he was behind the glass of the popemobile when he drove through the streets of Miami,but then I saw him up close at Mass the next day (a Mass that wasn't finished because of a thunderstorm). I remember being shocked at how old Cardinal Ratzinger was when he celebrated the funeral of Pope John Paul, and even how he seemed bent with age as he entered the conclave to elect the new pope--but how youthful he emerged from the conclave!
Organ music is played as a background which gave the feeling of either a carnival or funeral but didn't seem to strike the right chord for the ceremony.
Now right after the Pope passed us the baby's bottle somehow dropped onto the pavement and went rolling down the path the pope had just passed. A Swiss Guard finally picked it up after it had rolled for what seemed like an eternity, and looked at it suspiciously. He finally walked over and handed it to me.
After making the circuit the Holy Father's pope mobile drives up the steps and then he gets out and goes to his chair...Then you hear something along the lines of:

Cari Fratelli e Sorelle,

Inizia oggi, con la Liturgia del Mercoledì delle Ceneri, l'itinerario quaresimale di quaranta giorni che ci condurrà al Triduo pasquale, memoria della passione, morte e risurrezione del Signore, cuore del mistero della nostra salvezza. Questo è un tempo favorevole in cui la Chiesa invita i cristiani a prendere più viva consapevolezza dell'opera redentrice di Cristo e a vivere con più profondità il proprio Battesimo. In effetti, in questo periodo liturgico il Popolo di Dio fin dai primi tempi si nutre con abbondanza della Parola di Dio per rafforzarsi nella fede, ripercorrendo l'intera storia della creazione e della redenzione.

Which I now know means:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, with the Ash Wednesday Liturgy, the Lenten journey of 40 days begins that will lead us to the Easter Tridium, the memorial of the passion, death and Resurrection of the Lord, heart of the mystery of our salvation. It is a favourable time when the Church invites Christians to have a keener awareness of the redeeming work of Christ and to live their Baptism in greater depth.

The audience continues with the pope teaching a lesson in Italian. At the conclusion various Monsignors in different languages greet the pope in the name of the various language groups present. Some groups when they are announced sing, some just cheer. The pope acknowledges them with a wave, then responds with a summary of his teaching in that language. This pope like John Paul before him is fluent in a number of tongues and it is interesting to hear him speak English.

Finally the Pope gives his Apostolic blessing, blessing religious articles also.

Then he greets the Cardinals and bishops present. At this audience there was one cardinal (I believe it is Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez the very Cardinal who announced to the world last year Habemus Papam!) pictured here in the piazza afterwards. Then the sick and handicapped are brought in wheelchairs before him, pushed by nuns for the most part, and he gives each of them a blessing. I'm not sure what the history of this is or for how long this has been done, but I found it to be one of the most poignant moments of the audience. There was a long parade of these crucified memembers of the Body of Christ and they evoked from the Marian prayer "do you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, in this valley of tears." The wisdom of giving these souls the privileged position at the audience and the primacy of a personal meeting with the pope was incredibly Christian--a great witness. Would that all in attendance learn to see in those marginalized the truly important.
After this the pope walked over to the barrier to the left at which were standing a group of Moslems and he greeted them and spoke to them and then worked down the line. At the end of this line he mounted the popemobile and then passed along the barrier on the right and shook hands as he went along. Then the popemobile made its way down the steps toward me. (Click on any image for a full size shot)
Until finally, there he was right in front of me.
So I put the camera down for a second or two. Then after I gave him a wave, I picked it up again just in time because someone handed him a baby.

Then he was gone, as Joseph would say "back to the Pope cave (ala batcave)." The thousands that had gathered began to disperse. Amy had more Rome Reports video to shoot, so she went with the kids for the outside shots. I was to meet with Jeffrey Kirby to take a walk up to the North American College for a tour and lunch. While waiting, I spotted another group gathered for the pope's audience, a group of Eastern monks.

Amy's Theology on Tap in Rome

In the National Catholic Register

My Early Morning Pilgrimage Stop

From Pope John Paul II's Official Beatification Site:

PRAYER FOR ASKING GRACES THROUGH THE INTERCESSION OF THE SERVANT OF GOD
POPE JOHN PAUL II

O Blessed Trinity
We thank You for having graced the Church
with Pope John Paul II
and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care,
the glory of the cross of Christ,
and the splendor of the Holy Spirit,
to shine through him.
Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,
and has shown us that holiness
is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life
and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will,
the graces we implore,
hoping that he will soon be numbered
among your saints.
Amen.


With ecclesiastical approval

CARDINAL CAMILLO RUINI
the Holy Father’s Vicar General
for the Diocese of Rome



© Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Mardis Gras with St. Thomas (Feb. 28th)

We picked up General Audience tickets at the Bronze Door on Tuesday afternoon, only to discover that they weren't anything special in spite of being obtained from a very good source.
Tuesday evening we proceeded to catch the tram that would take us to the banks of the Tiber, near where the students of St. Thomas University studying in Rome reside. There were several others waiting for the tram and we waited there quite awhile when a man came over and said in Italian that we should get on the bus that had the same number (he motioned while speaking in Italian...I understood the motioning not the Italian). We got on the bus which slowly pulled out, drove slowly around the block and then the driver returned us to the same spot we had been standing for the past twenty minutes. Then the tram arrived (not sure what was going on) but we were happy to be headed in the right direction. Arriving at the spot with some clarification we found the St. Thomas students waiting for us at the gate.
What a great group of young people! Very zealous for the faith, living, studying and praying in Rome. The Roman Roamin was are gracious host and reading her blog you can get a great feel for what students in the program are experiencing.
We gathered for dinner and had our first crisis of the night when Joseph's little airplane's wheel fell off and like "Rachel bewailing her children" he could not be consoled and knocked over a glass of water. This made it a little difficult for me to catch up with Father Joseph Carolla who serves as a chaplain for the group, and used to teach with me at Jesuit High School in Tampa some years ago. Father now has his Doctorate in Patristics and teaches at the Gregorian. We compared war stories and caught up while Joseph continued to whine about the plane. Finally I found the missing wheel, and Father found a student who had crazy glue and the wheel was repaired, although the propellar and broken off in the process (this also was repared--funny I haven't seen that plane since we returned back to the states).
After a nice meal we gathered upstaires and Amy talked about the Da Vinci Code, I added a few lines about who Jesus was betrothed to and how that related to the Eucharist and Father Joe corrected me as was needed. Here is a picture from Mary's blog from the event:

Walking back to the tram, Father and I were able to catch up a bit more before he went in one direction and we in another.

Evening came, Day four.

Afternoon in Trastevere (Feb 28th)

We arrived a few minutes before we were scheduled to meet Charlie Collins of Vatican Radio and his esteemed group for lunch at the fountain in the Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere, so I decided to take a look in at Santa Maria's, just as I opened the door Charlie was walking out...so we went back with the rest of the family by the garden and took a quick tour of the Vatican's Pontifical Council buildings, residences and offices. Then to the restaurant where we were joined by:

Franciscan of the Holy Land Father David-Maria Jaeger, O.F.M., J.C.D., who currently is on the faculty of the Pontifical Athenaeum "Antonianum" in Rome, and is a member of the Delegation of the Holy See on the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel. Father Jaeger was born of Jewish parents in Israel. He converted to Chrisianity and became a Catholic priest in 1986. He received his Doctorate in Canon Law (J.C.D.) in 1989.

Legionarie of Christ Father Kevin Lixey Head of Office for Church and Sport, the Pontifical Council for the Laity, fresh from the Winter Olympics in Turin or Torino.

National Catholic Register Rome reporter Edward Pentin, a native of Canterbury, England. He's also a great caricaturist and if you read The Tablet, you've seen his work.

Kishore Jayabalan formerly with the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, now the head of the Rome office of The Acton Institute and a fellow blogger.

Elizabeth Lev who teaches Christian art and architecture at Duquesne University’s Rome campus, gives great tours at the Vatican's museums and also does interviews for Zenit among other organizations including Our Sunday Visitor.

Opus Dei Father John Wauck, originally from Chicago, Harvard grad and former speech writer for Governor Casey, brother-in-law of FBI spy Robert Hanssen, blogger, and a priest teaching at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome and host of an EWTN show Mirror of the Soul.

A great crowd who greatly educated us in many matters of life in the Church in the Vatican. What a joy it was today (March 12th) back in the states to see a story on Rome Reports that featured Father Jaeger, immediately bringing to mind the excellent afternoon of conversation we enjoyed.
This was also our only real Italian meal with all the courses and a little wine to go with it--after all it was Fat Tuesday!
When it was all over we parted ways and Charlie took us into Santa Maria Trastevere, one of the most beautiful churches. Here again are the perfunctory blurry pictures:

This final image didn't come out very good, which is a shame it was Joseph catcing sight of many costumed children in the piazza outside of Sant Maria's--it was Carnivale and he didn't quite know what to make of it.
Charlie walked us out of Trastevere, across the Tiber to where we could catch a bus back to St. Peter's. Once we arrived back we made the perfunctory check of email at the Internet cafe, picked up some milk and water and headed back to the apartment to get ready for the evening visit with the American students from St. Thomas in MN who are studying in Rome.

Time Out! Congratulations to....

The Mighty Florida Gator Basketball Team, Southeaster Conference Tournament Champions!

Inside Saint Peter's (February 28th)

I was up bright and early on Tuesday morning and made my way with my breviary (a book containing the liturgy of the hours) to St. Peter's Basilica. I passed through security and made my way into the Church and found a priest offering Mass in English at the altar of Pope St. Leo the Great's tomb. I joined another man (who I do not think spoke English). We stood, knelt and received Holy Communion and the priest asked where I was from as he left with the chalice to return to the sacristy.
Next I went down the spiral stairs near the statue of Saint Andrew the Apostle to descend into the crypt and pray at the tomb of Pope John Paul II, as well as the tomb of the Apostle Peter (I usually prayed the rosary during this time). In the early morning there were few people in these spots, most were conected with groups saying mass at the different chapels. I then went up the same stairs and sat in one of the pews in front of the tomb of Blessed John XXIII and prayed the office for the day.
As I made my way back to the apartment, I made a usual stop for some expresso and to pick up some pastries to bring back for the others to have for breakfast. This morning I went into a different shop on the Borgo Pio. As soon as I entered there was the priest whose Mass I had attended earlier that morning. He was a Dominican and he told me that he taught at the Angelicum. He invited me to join him, but I told him that I was sure the family was probably waiting on me back at the apartment so I really should be going (at this point I didn't get his name, although I think he told me that he was originally from Missouri--I would meet him again).
I brought back the appreciated pastries by Katie and the baby, but rejected by Joseph who is an incredibly picky eater (he feasted on butter cookies bought the day before). Then we set out for the Gesu, a church we hadn't been able to find the day before in the rain, thankfully today the sun was shining brightly!
We stopped in at a couple of souvenir shops on our way to the bus stop and also into the Carmelite Church on the Via del Conciliazione Santa Maria in Traspontina, I said a short prayer before the altar of St. Barbara for my mother (would have another chance when we visited a church dedicate to the Saint later in the day. We ran into Sussana Pinto of Rome Reports who also writes for Our Sunday Visitor, she was there to attend Mass. Something that caught my attention in this church was a "liturgical calendar" that was kind of like a time clock. Here is a blury picture of it (I apologize but somehow my camera settings got messed up and I haven't learned to review them--well I have now, but hadn't then). We headed out to catch the Express bus.
The Gesu was exactly where it was supposed to be and one street over from where we had been searching for it the day before in the rain. But it is amazing how much easier it is to read a map, find the right street in the sunshine. Joseph gave a Euro to the beggar at the door (something by this time encouraged him to do, both as a form of almsgiving for our pilgrimage and to help him overcome youthful greed). Inside the Church, something truly amazing that a photo does not even begin to capture, but I'll post one that I found online of the Triumph of the Holy Name of Jesus (IHS)...what you don't pick up in the photo that is startlingly evidend in person is the 3-D quality of the ceiling; the heretics falling off to the side literally look like they are plunging down toward you--an absolutely fascinating image that one could spend hours meditating on. In In some ways you can kind of capture that in this photo, because the images descending look indistinct, sort of like you need 3-D glasses to focus the picture properly, but in reality you don't and this is an amazing catechetical lesson that what we see isn't always really what it is. We prayed at the tomb of St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier and took in the beauty of this church, one of my favorites!
Next we made our way to Largo Argentina near where Julius Caesar was murdered, where there are the ruins of pagan temples not made into churches and an investation of cats that are well taken care of by the local populace.
After a short viewing we made our way toward Campo de Fiori, which unlike the picture in the link, is actually quite crowded with vendors selling everything from fruits and vegetables to Bob Marley t-shirts. Perhaps the latter can be attribed to the spirit of Giordano Bruno who was burned at the stake here for declaring that there was no center of the universe--there obviously were as many individuals who thought that they were the center of the universe back then as there are today and unfortunately poor Giordano was as guilty of this sin as anyone.
Ahh but I'm getting ahead of myself, first we came upon a church. One of the non stop pleasures of a walk in Rome are the hundreds of churches that don't make the tour books, that you walk in and find to be three times as larges as the back home parish church and filled with art that would make the art museum back home world class.
Here we came upon San Carlo ai Cantinari a church that boasts the third largest dome in Rome next to St. Peter's and another church that we will visit in a second. "Carlo" is the Italian rendering of Charles, just as Karol is the Polish rendering of Charles--the Charles in this case being St. Charles Borromeo (Karol Wojtla's patron saint...really in English the Pope's name was Charles). Like all churches in Rome, fascinating.
While Amy, Katie and Joseph stopped for a snack, the baby and I paid a visit to my mother's patron Church, Santa Barbara dei Librai (St. Barbara of the books). I think I picked up a holy card at this church, but I've yet been able to find it (I still haven't unpacked).
Arriving at Campo de Fiori, I went and sat with the baby near the statue of Giordanno (I wonder if he inspired the frozen pizza of the same name). Amy bartered with a few merchants to buy some bloody oranges (not there real name but a description of the fruit covered with an orange peel, but blood red fruit inside--very appropriate in a plazza formerly dedicated to public executions).
Spying the dramatic twisted spiral roof of Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza we headed in that direction but ended up in Piazza Navona again. This time we made our way to Sant' Andrea della Valle, which has the second largest dome in Rome and which Charlie Collins said had the best incorupt saint--Saint Joseph Mary Tomasi, canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1986. Here are blurry pictures of both as well as Amy watching Michael walk toward me:


Here Amy and I tried to make a few phone calls with none of our intended callers answering the phone. I went into Sant' Agnese in Agone and took this picture of the skull of St. Agnes in a reliquary. This church was built on the site of an ancient brothel (Rome is filled with examples of how Christ conquers all)! The size of St. Agnes' skull bothered me--it was no bigger than a very small infant, the porter told me that it wasn't the entire skull but just part of it. If you look at the gold box you'll notice a little opening, that is where the skull of St. Agnes is.
Saint Frances of Rome (whose feast was a few days ago, was baptized here).
Meanwhile outside in Piazza Navona all kinds of frivolity was going on, including some sort of political rally. Italians will probably recognize these folks, but they were lost on us.It was then on to the Pantheon for a return visit (I posted the picture on the original Pantheon post) but here is one from inside and another from a short stop at St. Catherine's church again, this time in the sunshine it was possible to take some photos by the obelisk at least of the bottom of it:

Then it was off to Largo Argentina to catch the tram to Trastevere for lunch with the great communications leaders of the Vatican!

Monday Afternoon in Vatican City (Feb. 27th)

When we returned, Amy and Joseph (after he changed into dry socks and good shoes) set off for the grocery store. The rest of us napped for bit. At 2:30 we set out for Amy's appointment with the crew of Rome Reports for the taping of several segments dealing with what else--The Da Vinci Code. Rome Reports works out of RAIan Italian Television and Radio network which it turns out as a strict anti-children policy meaning no children can enter their building. This presented a problem because we had presumed that Katie could accompany Amy and take care of the baby and Joseph in the background while Amy was shooting. But because it was raining the outside shooting was pretty much out of the question and because they were going to do an in studio shot the kids could not come in.
So we left Amy and ventured toward the St. Ann's Gate where we waited to meet with my appointment with Father Laurence Spiteri who works with the Vatican Legal Office and is an accomplished author. Let me give a plug for several of Father's books here:

The Code in the Hands of the Laity: Canon Law for Everyone

And a book he translated:

The Virgin Mary and the Priesthood

Father Laurence had graciously squeezed in a meeting with me, since he was leaving Rome for a trip in a day and also said it would be no problem to bring the children along with me.

Father was a gracious host, he took us into Vatican City and pointed out various structures (where the Swiss Guard baracks were, their chapel, etc.) and then into the Apostolic Palace (where the Pope lives), here we found a meeting place and had a very informative meeting while Joseph scribbled on official Vatican forms and Katie entertained the baby. Father did have to scold Katie once when she allowed the baby Michael to play with the Vatican phone. After our meeting Father took us out to the Swiss Guard station at the base of the stair case leading up to the Apostolic Palace (those remembering the death of John Paul II last April will remember his body being carried down these stairs on the way to St. Peter's where he would lie in state for the days before his funeral). The Swiss Guard spoke to Joseph who was impressed to meet a real soldier.

It was still raining outside, so Father offered to drive us back to the apartment and we accepted his offer. We waited in a building that seemed to have tight security, I've been unable to locate the name of it of any map online or anywhere else for that matter--but the entrants had to enter an almost Star Trek like chamber to enter the building--very cool!

Father picked us up and gave us a drive through tour of Vatican City, telling us that it had a grocery store, hospital, post office and everything that any country would have. We then drove into an area that was within a building and clearly was built for horse and carriage traffic, not cars (so traffic was one way and controled by a traffic light as well as a Swiss Guard)...this was the entrance that would be used by a Head of State when visiting with the Pope, it took us up to the Apostolic Palace and then down again behind St. Peter's. Father pointed out the Goverment palace where the Vatican is run (all of the temporal affairs of the little country), the Vatican gardens, observatory, etc. Then past St. Martha's where Father lived before the last conclave when he had to vacate for the Cardinals gathering for the election of Benedict XVI, then past Paul VI Hall where papal audiences are held in bad weather, and then out into the street.

All very impressive, and we were deeply grateful for the behind the scenes view. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me.

Father let us off at Borgo Vitorio and wished us well!

Early evening had now arrived and after a dinner of lasagna that Amy had picked up at the market, I headed out to check on my email at a local internet cafe. On my way, just a block from our apartment I heard a familiar voice. There standing in the middle of the Borgo Pio was a fellow student of Crieghton University from some fifteen years ago, Father Bernard O'Connor (see his article in the latest Inside the Vatican). He was talking to another priest, visiting from California. I hailed him and we made arrangements to meet for dinner on Ash Wednesday at a restaurant he pointed out right there that was his favorite.

Making my way to the internet cafe, I received the sad news that Amy's father had been hospitalized. He is out of the hospital now, but still recuperating and could use your prayers for a quick healing of some broken ribs.

Evening came, the third day.

Pope's Brother in Hospital

From ANSA.IT:

The pope's brother, Georg Ratzinger, is being treated in hospital for an irregular heartbeat but should be discharged over the weekend, doctors said on Friday .

Father Georg, 82, was taken to hospital in Rome last summer after suffering heart problems during a visit to his younger brother, Pope Benedict XVI. He had a pacemaker fitted .

Doctors who are treating him at the Regensburg hospital said Georg Ratzinger's heart had started to beat too fast .

Rainy Days and Mondays (Feb. 27th in Rome)

I awoke early and glanced out to the street to see that it was raining quite hard. I had overslept and missed my opportunity to make the early morning visit to St. Peter's (I kicked myself for not having purchased the nifty traveler's alarm that was on sale for about $10 at Brookstone at the Philly airport). When we had viewed the weather channel's web site for the weather in Rome it predicted rain for everyday that we were there, so far it hadn't rained but today it would never let up (something those living there say is rare).
We set out after some pastry and expresso for me toward the bus stop in front of Vatican radio. We caught the express and got off around where we thought the Pantheon was, but it turned out we were closer to Piazza Navona. Then we started making our way through the streets toward the Pantheon walking as close to the edge of the buildings as we could to avoid getting wet. Joseph had worn his Star War's shoes and had managed to get his socks wet and was complaining rather loudly about this fact--so began another penitential day in Rome.
Sant 'Eustachio offered the first respit from the heavenly deluge, but only briefly. Next it was to the Pantheon which is actually Santa Maria ad Martyres. Now I had seen this in works of art in many museum, usually with a beam of sun coming from the hole in the center of the dome (today it was a sheet of rain coming in)...the marvel of this structure is that it is huge and ancient. It is hard to imagine the mixing of cemement and transporting it to the heights necessary for the dome to be constructed. And it still stands in tact! Originally a temple dedicated to all the gods, later it was consecrated as a Church, first to the Holy Spirit (one can imagine the opening as an invitation for the Spirit to rain down the fire of God's love...someone told us that on Pentecost each year rose petals are dropped from the opening to shower down into the Church like tongues of fire) and then later to Our Lady and the many martyrs--those witnesses who point to the reality of the one true God. The major feasts for the Church then are Pentecost and All Saints Day. The great artist Raphael is buried here, along with several Italian monarchs. The blury picture to the left is of Amy and Katie standing looking at the tomb of Raphael--not sure why it's so blury or why it is the only picture I took (I was using a digital camera that had 1mb of memory and could have taken 1600 photos).
The outside of the Pantheon is rather unremarkable, partly because the bronze that once covered the roof was stripped by Bernini to be used on the colonades of the canopy in St. Peter's Basilica. We returned to the Pantheon on Tuesday when it was sunny and I took this picture of the dome:
A short walk from the Pantheon was one of the highlights of the day, especially for Katie whose patron saint is Saint Catherine of Sienna--Santa Maria sopra Minerva a Gothic church that we spent a long time in, probably because it felt normal to us, among other things. Saint Catherine's body lies under the main altar covered in white plaster (I read somewhere that until recently this plaster was painted). We all took turns praying at the tomb of Saint Catherine, lit candles and then proceeded to tour the many side altars and other treasures of this beautiful church. Each of these side altars was richly decorated with great art. To the left of the main altar is the tomb of Blessed Fra Angelico, here is the baby Michael paying his respects: If I remember correctly this area from Fra Angelico's tomb to the Sacristy to the left were all sponsored by patrons whose last name was Fragapane, the same family name of one of my good friends who live in another Rome--Rome, NY. I took a picture of this also but it is so blurry that you can't make it out. While looking through the grate of the sacristy, an Italian Dominican nun came through and offered to take us to the room where Catherine of Sienna died. I rushed over to get Katie who was sketching the tomb in the main church and the five of us went on this very special personal tour by the nun who spoke no English but communicated with hand gestures. There were times while I was in Rome that I felt like a Trappist, communicating in some manufactured sign language but getting the message and recieving it okay. The room had been converted into a small chapel, and the nun pointed out the parts that were originale and those that were not (a frequent qualifier on any Roman tour...this is not original). This church also includes a half Michaelanglo sculpture (the other half was finished by his students) of Christ holding his cross.
Our next goal was the Gesu, but we didn't find it. Now that I know where it is, I'm not sure why we couldn't find it but on this rainy day reading maps wasn't easy and the winding alleys that are Roman streets all look the same when you're still suffering from jet lag. What I did find, was a building that I thought was a church undergoing renovation, what it was in fact was the Galleria Doria Pamphilj. I only got a peak inside, but if you go to their web site you see what I got a glimpse of before Amy beckoned.
Down the Via Di Sant' Ignazio we came to the Church of Sant' Ignatzio, truly a fascinating place! Check out the ceiling:
What you probably can't make out in this image is at the center St. Ignatius is having a vision of the cross and then spilling out to the corners are missionaries being sent to America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Further into the Church is what I took to be a fascinating dome, but it turns out to be nothing but an illusionistic ceiling painting of a dome. Something that you learn both at this church and at the Gesu is that the Jesuits are pretty good at debunking that what you see is worthy of belief. Saint Aloysius Gonzaga is buried here, and we said prayers at his tomb. I inquired about visiting his rooms but instead of seeing them our visit to the Saint Ignatius came to an abrupt ending and we were kicked out. It wasn't anything I said but rather it was 12:30 and the Church closed, again this was mostly communicated by a porter who motioned us and a few others t follow him down a number of hallways and eventually deposited us onto the Piazza di Sant' Ignazio. What followed was a windy, cold walk down a street and then waiting at several different bus stops waiting for a bus to take us back to St. Peter's--after much time one came and we packed like sardines into it and when it deposited us--stopped to pick up some delicious pizza that we ate back in the warmth and dryness of the apartment.

Sunday Afternoon (Feb 26th)

After a quick lunch (pizza, what else?)we headed toward the Metro station to catch the A Train to St. John Lateran's to meet up with Zadok who had so generously agreed to give us a tour of two of Rome's greatest Churches. We were still pretty green when it comes to the whole Metro system and walked (rather than took a bus) to the station, so by the time we finally arrived we were late and Zadok was nowhere to be seen (at least not at the Metro station where Amy had thought he had said he was going to meet us). So Amy went out the other possible exits and Katie, Joseph, the baby (on my back) and I went a bit further and bought a bottle of water. When Amy came to say that he could not be found, we decided to go on further to the Church and see if he might have gone on there when we had not arrived on time. Sure enought there he was...
I should mention that at this point we had already walked quite a bit (given two treks through St. Peter's, a good half mile to the Metro and another two or three blocks from the Metro to St. John's) while we stood and listened to Zadok's interesting history of the surrounding landmarks, Joseph sat. And even looking at the front of the Church's pavement now, makes me tired to think about even walking that distance. Most people think that St. Peter's is the Cathedral Church of Rome, but it isn't--St. John Lateran's is. While the chair of Peter is in St. Peter's, the Bishop of Rome's chair is at St. John Lateran's and this is the central feature of the apse of the Church, now that I think of it in a similar way to the way that the Chair of Peter is in the apse of St. Peter's. When St. Francis of Assisi came to Rome to see the Pope, he came here to the Lateran and their are large statues of Francis and his crew directly across from St. John's that seem to be in communication with the large statues that are on the facade of St. John's. After his election as pope last April, Pope Benedict XVI came here to the Lateran to be formally installed as the Bishop of Rome (ever wonder why the Bishop of Rome isn't an "archbishop"?).
St John's has it's own Egyptian obelisk (just like St. Peter's) and a very impressive Baptistry which next to the Pope's chair is what I remember most about this part of our tour. The Baptistry was huge (I had seen one at the ruins of St. John's in Ephesus twenty-seven years earlier that was quite small in comparison). There was some type of festival going on outside of the Church that seemed to be a "Mardis Gras" or "Carnivale" type of celebration, remember this was just before the beginning of Lent. So next to the obelisk were booths, screaming kids and some people dressed in costumes giving the "pope's church" the feel of a regular parish back home.
Across the street we visited the Scala Santa--the holy stairs, said to have been brought to Rome by St. Helena the mother of Constantine and to have been the stairs that Jesus would have walked on during his Passion when he came before Pontius Pilate. The faithful climb up them on their knees and as this picture will attest--there were no shortage of takes on the day we were there, in fact there were so many that it was really impossible to get near the steps to see them.
We walked up the side steps to another chapel called the Holy of Holies because it contained many holy relics and an image of Christ reported to have been painted by St. Luke entitled "picture painted without hands"....any student of Catholic piety knows there are many images reported to have been painted by St. Luke (Our Lady of Czestochova being one example). I had never thought about it much before, but I wonder if another meaning might be that Luke's Gospel inspired the works? I doubt the people working their way up on their knees think so..
Around the other side of the Holy Stairs was the remains of the Papal dining hall and an impressive mosaic, as we were viewing this site a woman begging rather aggressively started coming at us, and we moved on toward the Church in the distance...St. Mary Major.
Walking along Zadok shared his knowledge of another area of his expertise the Irish Catholic Church begining with the Irish College, its history and various locations. We talked about the contributions the Irish priests had made to the world at large, Africa in particular and the United States (anyone who lives in the South knows the debt the Catholic Church owes to the Irish priests). What a marvel that where the Church is most vibrant right now is where the Irish planted the Faith. Pray for the Catholics in Ireland.
At this point I became very tired, I think the baby might have fallen asleep on my back and as we learned this made him very heavy. So we stopped and Zadok, Amy, Katie and Joseph had gelato. I sat.
Then up and at it again. A short visit into the Redemptorist Church where the original Our Lady of Perpetual Help is enshrined--a modern enshrinement, simple and I must say not much to my liking. Mass was being said so we weren't able to really get close.
Next to Saint Prassede, a very interesting Church decorated in a more Byzantine style with beautiful mosaics. This church contained the column that Christ was bound to when he was scourged.
Evening was falling as we arrived at Saint Mary Majors, built on the spot where snow fell one August after Pope Liberius had dreamed that this would be a sign for him to build a church dedicated to Our Lady. As we entered the Church, the chanting of Vespers could be heard. My back was aching from the baby on it and I stole away from our tour to go into the side chapel and join in the praying of Evening Prayer. I grabbed a book and went to the first empty seat I could find which was in the front where I sat next to Cardinal Bernard Law. In spite of the comotion that I created, he did not even seem to notice. I fumbled around in the book trying to locate the point the prayer was at, but to little avail and after about five minutes Michael the baby decided to join in speaking loudly his own version of chant--at which point I made my exit. We toured the church and then started making our way back to the Metro station, thanking Zadok for his time and well presented tour.
When we arrived back on Borgo Vitorio we stopped at a restaurant that Amy had spied the evening before. It was in the cellar and proved to be an excellent choice. We had a meal where everyone had what they wanted, for me it was a pasta with cheese and pepper and it was great,Joseph had a cheese pizzza, Katie a giant calzone, Amy another pasta dish, the baby had some of it all.
Evening came, the second day.

Sunday Morning (Feb. 26)

I arose early on Sunday and set out to St. Peter's by myself to arrive there when the church opened to the public at 7:00 A.M.. This was to become my daily ritual while I was in Rome and led to a number of unique experiences. Saint Peter's in the early morning is quite different from the way one experiences it later in the day. First, it is easy to enter with there usually being no line at the security check point. Secondly, much of what is closed to the public later in the day is open at this time of the morning. With each visit, I was to discover more and more of the Church.

This first morning I walked into the Church for the second time and was still trying to orient myself to it. I stood before Michaelangelo's Pieta by myself (later in the day you are lucky if you can get anywhere near the front of the glass panel). I walked down the center of the church and looked at the inscriptions showing where other large churches of the world would end in comparison to this Basilica.

Then I encountered an image from the past. Priests vested in green, all with their backs to me at the many side altars were offering Mass in the new rite in the old way. As I would walk by a different language would greet me. French at this altar, Italian here, German here, Spanish here and English at yet another altar. On this Sunday morning a large group of was gathering to process to one of the altars (I think it was the altar of Pope St. Leo the Great)--these were the Heralds of the Gospel. Present in the procession were both the male and female members and their beautiful chanting filled St. Peter's that early morning.

Since I was planning on attending mass later with the family, I did not participate in any of the Masses that morning but settled into the Blessed Sacrament chapel and prayed the office and the rosary. But on subsequent mornings I was to have some great experiences in early morning St. Peter's.

On the way back to rouse the family, I stopped in at a coffee bar to pick up some pastries and to have an expresso. I ordered un caffe and was met with the familiar response "Americano or expresso?" always giving me the sense that however I was asking it was a dead giveaway that I wasn't Italian. In fact throughout my time in Rome people would address me before I opened my mouth in English, as an American--so I must look like a typical American.

After the pastry consumption it was back to St. Peter's square to meet up with Charleston, South Carolina seminarian Jeffrey Kirby who is in Rome attending the North American College. Through my friend the Bishop of Charleston we had arranged for Jeffrey to give us tour of St. Peter's and he did a marvelous job of filling in the blanks that my first two unattended visits had already raised.

One question I had involved St. Peter's square. Is there a marker where Pope John Paul II was shot? Jeff informed us that in fact one pavement stone had originally been removed after the incident because it contained a drop of blood from the Pontiff and it had been replaced with a red porphyry stone. He pointed to the general direction where this stone was in the square but it would be until Friday before I would actually see it.

After Jeffrey's excellent tour we went back to the apartment for a few minutes, before heading back to St. Peter's square for Pope Benedict's Angelus. There were some Polish nuns in front of us and after the Pope's address I greeted one of them in Polish saying in "Praised be Jesus Christ!" She responded in great enthusiasm and started talk rapidly in Polish to which I had to tell her that I had pretty much exhuasted my Polish in that one phrase.

A short walk out of the square and we attended Sunday Mass in Italian at Santo Spiritu, a Church that seemed to have a special designation as a "Divine Mercy" church.

From the Audience

Saturday Evening (Feb. 25th)

Slowly getting around to this...

After a quick trip to find a baby bottle, and our first discovery that hardly anyone in the shops surrounding our apartment spoke any English we stopped in at a nearby bar (which in Rome really means coffee shop) for lunch. Sadly, the food was microwaved and I suppose from a frozen dinner but we were so tired that it probably didn't matter that much that first day. Back to the apartment the kids and I took a nap, while Amy went out to try to make a phone call and fulfill an interview at Vatican Radio she had set up with Charley Collins.

When Amy returned she told us that Charley had agreed to meet us in front of Vatican Radio to take us on a little "get aquainted" with our part of Rome tour. We met him just in time to find that two of his fellow employees were heading out to catch the express bus so that they could have dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Rome.

We then proceeded the first of what I would later term a "death march" lugging the baby Michael on my back and walking on the uneven Roman pavements for what seemed like hours upon hours. We walked past the Castle San Angelo, across the Tiber River and toward Piazza Navona. As we walked Charley would point out sites along the way, including restaraunts and whether they were good or bad. When we finally arrived at the Piazza Novona he pointed out a church that we could only see the dome of from where we were and said that it contained the best incorrupt body in all of Rome, "why you can see the stubble of his beard." We later checked out this Church and prayed at the tomb (and I thought his name was Cardinal Tommassi? but I can't find any reference to him...does anyone know who this is?):



As we walked back without Charley, we stopped and ate at one of the restaruants and had a great meal, followed by the kids getting gelato at another place Charley had recommended.

Evening came, the First Day.

Too Tired to Write but...

The Bishop's Anti DaVinci Code Site

Link is here, but it'll just take you to the entrance page.

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

On Saturday, February 25th we arrived in Rome. Our landlord was waiting for us at our apartment and did a quick run through of how everything in the ample dwelling functioned. One thing he forgot to tell us was how to operate the satelite television (which turned out to be a blessing for us).

Anxious to see St. Peter's we left our suitcases and headed in that direction, only two blocks away. My first thought as we stepped into the square was that it looked small. Its not small by any stretch of the imagination but it looks small in person. This was something that I experienced time and time again within St. Peter's and is a testament to how well the architects of this structure mastered proportionalism. Things are gigantic, but appear intimate.

Another surprise was the long line to enter the Church. It seemed like it would take hours to enter, but I said to everyone we didn't come here just to stand in the sqaure. We got in line and within a few minutes were near the front of the line. It moved quickly.

Walking into the church we were stopped (we actually had walked into the wrong entrance, I figured this out after the first day), it turned out we were in the line for the crypt where Pope John Paul II was recently buried. They were only letting a certian number of people go down at a time, so we waited a few minutes and looked at the Holy Year doors.

Finally we made our way into the crypt. We went through several rooms before arriving where the pope's are buried. We passed a niche where Pope Paul VI rests, Pope John Paul I's tomb is in the hall. There was a crowd around the spot where Pope John Paul II rests. I would visit this spot everyday of my time in Rome and pray for many who came to mind--it seemed quite natural to do so. Flowers were scattered on the tomb, some pictures, some prayer requests. A guard moved everyone along, motioning to a space against the wall if someone wished to remain there in prayer.
Just past the tomb of John Paul is the center of St. Peter's--the tomb of the Apostle in the Confessio. I'm not sure if most of those walking through the Basilica understood this--most seemed to walk by without giving a glance behind the glass wall. The path took us right past other tombs and eventually outside of the church. We were a little (actually a lot) confused because we hadn't actually gone into the Basilica yet.
We went back up the stairs toward the front and through the central doors and this time entered the largest Church in the world. It looks so familar, yet to see it all at one time gave me a different view of the common site. The bodies of incorrupt popes under the many altars, the massive papal monuments that seem to jut out from the walls. It almost seemed to be too much!
Midway down the nave to the right was a curtianed room. Guards stopped the casual tourists from entering a space that a sign marked as being for prayer. With the baby strapped to my back, I went in. The others, I supposed were scared off by the guard and the sign.

Inside a number of people were praying before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in a monstrance. I gave thanks to God for a safe trip and that our feet had finally settled here in the center of his Church. My rambling went on when Michael (the baby) who had been very quiet spoke.

He said a word that I'd never heard him say before "Christ". It was very clear, and simple, and he only spoke it once. I said a few more prayers and he was silent, then I left the Chapel, emerging back into the nave of St. Peter's.

It was then that I started to wonder about his little confession of faith, made in Rome in the large church dedicated to St. Peter who had once been asked by Jesus, "Who do men say that I am?"..."Some say Elijah, some say John the Baptist,"..."But you, who do you say that I am?"..."You are the Christ!"

Peter's confession on the lips of my 15 month old son in the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, so began my time in Rome.

Roma locuta est...

Along for the Ride

Heading in the opposite direction...

Madonna and Child

In St. Paul's Outside of the Walls:



Awakened from his nap, and a new friend sitting by the doorway (near the Colisseum, on our way to San Clemente):



A chance meeting with another blogger at San Clemente:



He's detailing his Roman experience and Assisi at his blog...

Sunday Audience Feb. 26th

That's me, before I walked 2,500 miles:



Joseph with me, yawning before he realizes that a "superhero" is about to appear:



Yes, that little white spec, is the pope!



And to give you the feel for it, this is what you first hear booming across the St. Peter's, leading to Joseph to say that the pope has a very loud voice:

Cari fratelli e sorelle!

Il Vangelo di Marco, che costituisce il filo conduttore delle celebrazioni domenicali di questo anno liturgico, offre un itinerario catecumenale, che guida il discepolo a riconoscere in Gesù il Figlio di Dio. Per una felice coincidenza, il brano odierno tocca il tema del digiuno: come sapete, mercoledì prossimo inizierà il tempo quaresimale con il Rito delle Ceneri e il digiuno penitenziale.

Which means:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Gospel of Mark, which is the theme of the Sunday celebrations of this liturgical year, offers a catechumenal programme which guides the disciple to recognize Jesus as the Son of God. By a fortunate coincidence, today's Gospel passage touches on the topic of fasting: as you know, next Wednesday the Lenten season begins, with the Rite of Ashes and penitential fasting. For this reason, the Gospel is particularly appropriate.

Ash Wednesday Audience

The long wait begins...

Amy with Michael:

Pope Benedict says, "Heil Amy, I'm over here."



"O'kay, well I kiss this baby instead."

Much to Come!

I have to organize all of my thoughts on this trip in some kind of orderly fashion and hopefully provide some photographic evidence along with it. For now, thanks to Amy's quick work, here is Joseph and I at the Colisseum: