Sunday, March 19, 2006

Mass with Cardinal Ruini ( March 4th)

I had bought an alarm clock about four days into our trip to insure that I would get up and make it over to St. Peter's in the morning when it opened up. On Saturday morning I was up bright and early and made it over to be one of the first in line. "The line" was for us commoners, there were always people and priests already in St. Peter's that obviously entered from another place, another "gate" if you would.
This morning I headed right for the grottoes as they had become my favorite places to pray the morning office and attend Mass if possible. I passed a number of Masses being said already in several of the chapels, none in English. Then I arrived at the Clementine and there was a small group following me there: several older Italian women, two priest vested in purple and a cardinal. They went into the Clementine Chapel--so I followed them in, when the cardinal turned around to begin the Mass I recognized him right away, it was Cardinal Ruini, the vicar of Rome (in some way the de facto bishop of Rome). I decided to stay. The Mass was said in Italian and I could follow most of it, even make out the Gospel reading and that it was the Feast of St. Casmir (a saintly king of Poland). I was struck by the humility of the cardinal who when he preached kept his eyes closed for almost the entire homily. He mentioned Pope John Paul (I presume in connection with the day's feast). It was a very reverential and spiritual Mass. At the conclusion the cardinal accompanied by the two priests paused and the tomb of Pope Pius XII (in a direct line with the Clementine Chapel and said a short prayer, then they went out the way we had come in, I went in the other direction. When I emerged at the tomb of Pope John Paul II, I found that Cardinal Ruini along with the other two priests were there on their knees. Cardinal Ruini with hand to his eyes seemed be sobbing. They stayed there for some time before getting up and exiting the grottoes. I stood with the group that always seems to be present there,praying the rosary.
This morning the Basilica was even less crowded than usual for this time of the morning and I found that there was no Mass being said at the Chair of Peter, so I settled into one of the pews to pray the office. I think I had reached the First Reading in the Office of Readings when a Basilica aid told me that I couldn't pray there (this is only for Mass). I tried to protest, but he spoke no English and I decided to go to the Blessed Sacrament chapel. On my way I stopped at the tomb of Blessed John XXIII and sat in a pew there. When I finished, since there was no Mass being said I went up and prayed close to the glass tomb and peered in at the face of Blessed John, I was somewhat still marveling at the face of St. Joseph Maria Tomasi who has a visible beard on his face even though he's been lying in rest since 1713. Blessed John had on beard (I guess the pope's have better razors).
Back at the apartment, Amy was waiting on another filming apointment which was suppose to happen at 9:00 a.m this time at our apartment. It was 9:15 when we decided to go (given that we were down to our final two full days in Rome). We had reached the end of the Borgo Pio when the film crew spotted us from the Porta San Ann. They took Amy from us and we resorted to visiting gift shops and then going into the Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri (said a prayer for my sister Ann)(the link will tell you this church--the parish church of Vatican City isn't open to the public--I went into it at least five times while I was there and it seemed very open to me), just in Vatican City and saying a few prayers. When we came out Amy was heading back to us--we made our way to the tram, and then to the Metro for another heavy day of pilgrimage stops.

Aventine (March 3rd)

Amy and Katie went shopping after we returned from St. Peter's and the brothers and I rested. At some point we set out again for a taxi, this time to take us to Santa Sabina where the Pope had said Mass on Ash Wednesday. The driver (the only one like this) was very anti-Vatican and almost immediately launched into an attack on the Church's money etc.--all in broken English.
First we made our way to Santa Sabina, which was right where the cab driver let us out. We saw the orange tree planted by St. Dominic through the hole in the door.
Next we visited Sant'Alessio all'Aventino, I'll have pictures of some of these places as soon as blogger's picture poster thing starts working again.The shrine of St. Alex under the staircase was very interesting. There were several young women gathered at the doorway of the Priory of the Knights of Malta, we waited our turn then looked through the keyhole at St. Peter's Basilica--very impressive. There were also parks and gardens that we walked through in this area before heading to Sant' Anselmo all'Aventino the Benedictine monastery. There was a wedding going on in the Church, so we weren't really able to see much there, but did spend some time in the gift shop which had an interesting collection of all things Benedictine from different monasteries around Europe. The monk in charge wasn't too keen on children being in the store though.
We then walked down the beautiful path Clivo D. Rocca Savella toward Santa Maria in Cosmedin. We stopped at a convent of the Daughter's of Charity to ask directions from the porteress, which she happily gave. Unfortunately the Church was closed when we arrived, but a crowd was gathered to view the Bocca della Verità, 'Mouth of Truth'.
From here we caught a cab and returned to St. Peter's where Monsignor Stephen Bosso had said he would meet us for dinner at the obelisk. We met up and went to a place where we had eaten on the previous Sunday evening. Amy and the kids left the meal when they finished and Steve and I caught up for a few hours more.
Evening came the Seventh Day.

Sistine Chapel--(Friday March 3)

Michael DubruielI didn't take any pictures, because first I didn't bring my camera along with me on this day (because I didn't think you could take pictures inside the Vatican Museums--while you can't in the Sistine Chapel, you can in the rest of the complex). However there are plenty of images online, so I'll make use of them--including this one of the Prophet Jonah (of Whale and Nineveh fame) who is hangs over the front panel of The Last Judgment of Micheangelo in the Sistine Chapel. More on that later.
We walked past the long, long lines waiting to get into the Vatican museums (past the gate that recently opened into Vatican City that bears the present Pope's name over it. Every work done in the Vatican always has the pope who was reigning at the time's name attached to it--P. JPII is everywhere--a lot of work was done in his twenty six years!
Unlike the poor souls waiting, we didn't have to, thanks to the generousity of Elizabeth Lev who had told Amy the night before that she could give us a tour of the Sistine Chapel (and also wanted to interview Amy for Zenit--for that interview click here).
Once we were inside what I remember first was the Gallery of Tapestries (although this wasn't the first thing we saw, but I believe it was the first time we stopped on our way to the Sistine Chapel). Here was a hallway lined with floor to ceiling tapestries. I believe it was here that we encountered the tapestry of the resurrection where the stone felled by the emergence of Jesus from the tomb followed you in whatever direction you were at the time.
Next through the Gallery of Maps (which were mainly large maps of regions of Italy). Next I think anyways(kind of like when you are being driven somewhere and you don't remember the exact route--so too when you are being led by someone who knows where they are going)after going down a flight of stairs we found ourselves in the Sistine Chapel pretty much alone. Wow!
I'm sure the Sistine Chapel evokes a number of memories for many people. For people older than me, my guess is that they immediately think of Rex Harrison as Pope Julian barking orders up at Charleton Heston as Michangelo in The Agony and the Ectasy. This wasn't my thought...my thoughts were less than a year old when the television cameras for the first time positioned within the Sistine Chapel showed the cardinals walking in procession to the chanting of the Veni Creator Spiritus entered the conclave that would elect Pope Benedict XVI--I thought if these walls could speak!
Of course the walls do speak, the thousands of words that art tells us. Elisabeth told us that Italian artists always positioned paintings in such a way that what was on one wall was speaking to the other. I found myself intrigued by one of the paintings on the wall done by Botticelli The Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Why this image?
One of the key phrases to come out of the Second Vatican Council was the Biblical image of the Church as "the People of God." A recent interview says that this image can be traced back to Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. Now, anyone who has had first hand dealings with "the People of God" since the Second Vatican Council knows how that image and term is often used, specifically to pit the populace against the institutional Church. I can imagine in the last conclave the cardinals looking up at that image during a break in the proceedings and asking some of the more Biblically savy to explain the story behind the painting, which I now present to you from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible:
Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abi'ram the sons of Eli'ab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,took men; and they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them; why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?" When Moses heard it, he fell on his face;and he said to Korah and all his company, "In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him; him whom he will choose he will cause to come near to him.Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company;put fire in them and put incense upon them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!"And Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi: is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;and that he has brought you near him, and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together; what is Aaron that you murmur against him?" And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abi'ram the sons of Eli'ab; and they said, "We will not come up.Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up."And Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, "Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one ass from them, and I have not harmed one of them."And Moses said to Korah, "Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow;and let every one of you take his censer, and put incense upon it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer."So every man took his censer, and they put fire in them and laid incense upon them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.And the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron, "Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment."And they fell on their faces, and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be angry with all the congregation?"And the LORD said to Moses,"Say to the congregation, Get away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abi'ram." Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abi'ram; and the elders of Israel followed him.And he said to the congregation, "Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins." So they got away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abi'ram; and Dathan and Abi'ram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.And Moses said, "Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord.If these men die the common death of all men, or if they are visited by the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD."And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split asunder;and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men that belonged to Korah and all their goods.So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. (Numbers 16)

Now, what is the image that this painting depicting the rebellion of Korah speak to? Christ's Charge to St. Peter by Perugino. Amazing how the papacy has survived through countless forms of governments ruling the nations of the earth--and one might counter how those who have broken away have often been swallowed up not so much by the earth but by the culture they exist in to the point that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is lost in the process. It is an ever present tempation for the people of God to think that they don't need the structure that God has put in place. This was one thought, again obviously affected by the thought of how this Chapel is used when it isn't a museum piece.
What struck me about the familiar images of the Sistine Chapel. Several things:
  1. Of the Ceiling images, Michelangelo's interpretation of the "Creation of the Heavens and Earth" surprised me and in trying to search for the image online I can see why. I can't find the other half of the image--the one that shows God's rearend (as if God were mooning the crowd below). This was a surprise.
  2. The second was how Michelangelo uses the prophets and has Jonah (pictured at the head of this post) as the prophet that comes closest to Christ and suspends right over the image of Jesus in the Final Judgment. This is another 3-D image where Jonah's feet literally seem to be hanging over the edge.
  3. The whole panarama of revelation from sin to restoration, from first creation to new creation. One could present the entire teaching of the Catholic Church by viewing the images on these walls and ceiling.

While we were viewing and listening to Elizabeth explain various elements of the art we were experiencing several Vatican workers were shuffling in Chalices and other Mass vessels that she explained were for the Pope's private chapel-they get a very good polishing job.
We left the Chapel and headed back to the beginning of the Vatican Museums where we retired to the Museum cafeteria where Elizabeth conducted her interview with Amy and I chased the baby around until I tired and then Katie chased him around. After the interview we made our way back to the beginning minus Elizabeth. We first went to the Pinacoteca gallery then to the Pio-Christian museum (I think Joseph and I were the only one's to venture to the end and witness the ancient image of Christ as the Good Shepherd). Then we made our way with the mass of humanity through the Sobieski Room, Raphael's Stanze, Sala dei Chiaroscuri, Raphael's Logge the Borgia Apartment and then back into the Sistine Chapel which was packed with people. We worked our way through the crowd and exited the door toward St. Peter's which put us on the staircase leading away from the Apostolic Palace and out along St. Peter's Basilica where there was a very good gift shop with some items that I hadn't seen anywhere else in Rome. We made several purchases here before heading down the side steps of St. Peter's and through a different exit that was opened for that day. This took us right over the spot on St. Peter's Square where there is a red pophry rock marking the spot where Pope John Paul II was shot. Jeff Kirby had told us about it, but we hadn't been able to find it on any of the previous days, now we were stooped on the ground looking at it (the original stone had drops of blood and was removed, while this stone was put in its place as a marker). When we arose, there was Greg Burke and the Fox News crew getting ready to film a spot about the Italian Parliament's proclamation blaming the Soviet Union for the attach on the late Pontiff's life. "How did you know about that?" Greg asked us. "Thanks to Jeff Kirby."
Amy exchanged plesantries with Mario the Fox producer and also the producer of Rome Reports whom she had been working with through the week. We then set out for lunch.

Pope John Paul II's Way of Prayer

From his Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way:

I simply pray for everybody everyday. When I meet man, I start praying for him and it always helps in making contact (...) I accept everyone as a person sent by Christ – as the person he gave me and, at the same time, assigned.


Check out the website devoted to his cause.

On Amazon you can buy the book for a penny!

Daily Audio Lenten Post (Third Sunday of Lent)

this is an audio post - click to play


From the book of Lenten meditations written by me:

The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Daily Audio Lenten Meditation



These meditations are no longer available - where they are is anyone's guess.

You may hear Michael Dubruiel's podcast of a series of interviews he did on The Power of the Cross linked at this page here - along with a free .pdf download of the now out-of-print book.


Friday, March 17, 2006

MP3's of My Omaha Lenten Series

On Omaha's Catholic Radio Station KVSS on the Spirit Morning Show, it runs every Monday morning and is based on The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life with hosts Bruce and Kris McGreggor. Available here.

Daily Lenten Meditation

this is an audio post - click to play


From the book of Lenten meditations written by me:

The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

To all of you Irish out there!

Rome in an Irish Pub (March 2nd)

Amy's Theology on Tap on Thursday evening turned out to be in an Irish Pub called the Scholar's Lounge right next to the Gesu. It was packed with people when we arrived and we squeezed in to a rather comfy area from where she would speak. Joseph settled in with a couple of visitors, Katie with the baby and I with a Guiness and I relaxed.
Amy gave a great talk (you can read a news account here) and many of those we had meant during the week were on hand to be greeted again. A very pleasant evening capped off by the visit of another former colleague the esteemed Monsignor Steven Bosso who arrived just as Amy was finishing up questions.
As Amy greeted her many fans, and the kids were entertained by others, Msgr. Steve and I talked about Scripture and homilies. When we were finished we made plans to have dinner the following evening.
On the way back home, I told Amy "He's going to go back and look up a few of the things I told him." I'll let you know if I was right when I post Friday's goings on. Amy had her own surprise, she told me that Elisabeth Lev had agreed to give us a tour of the Sistine Chapel first thing the next morning.
Evening came, the sixth day.

Daily Lenten Audio Post

this is an audio post - click to play


From the book of Lenten meditations written by me:

The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Ancient Rome--Thursday Afternoon (March 2nd)

The scavi tours completed, it was time to head to the Roman Forum. We took the bus to the Termini and then caught the Metro train to the Coloseum. The station lets you out right at the Coloseum and its quite a sight. I'll admit to being a little tired at this point (even as I write this several weeks afterwards). There were a number of people offering tours in English, we hooked up with one who then purchased the tickets for us, charging 6 euro extra for the tour, but by doing this there was no wait in a line and after a short wait we were inside.
The Coloseum is one of those sites that before the papacy of Pope John Paul (this is my recollection anyway and it is certianly effected by what we see of papal ceremonies on television) I wouldn't have thought of as a religious site. Even the tour guide who was Italian and spoke English with great force as though every phrase she spoke was a command rather than information pointed out almost immediately that the wooden cross that is central to the Coloseum "that!" she said loudly "is not original!" "It was put there by Pope John Paul the Second!" I believe that Pope John Paul reclaimed this site of martyrdoms for Christianity in the same way that pontiffs before him had done.
The tour guide was very entertaining, she sang the glories of Roman workmanship, their ability to create a structure that would be difficult to recreate today. With her flag she pointed out "original!" and "not original!" Other parts of her presentation were dramatic recreations of the events that would have transpired on this spot, sometimes aided by her illustrated guidebook.In the picture you'll notice the book, and the flag and if you look dead center (click on the picture to enlarge it might aid you in this exercise) you'll see the cross dead center erected by Pope John Paul II ("not original!"). This is the day that discovering that I had 1500 pictures remaining on my camera decided to start taking lots of pictures, which is a help in remembering what we did on this day as well as indicting me for taking so few earlier in the week.
Back to the tour, it was brief--around 30 minutes and then we were told to meet at a certian spot in about an hour for the continuation of the tour of the Palantine hill. So we walked around, and up to the upper levels of the Coloseum. It is easy to be caught up in the magnificent structure and to forget that on this spot lives were sacrificed for entertainment. One of the dramatic enactments of the tour was when the tour guide said with great gusto first in Latin and then in her command English "Hail, Caesar! We, who are about to die, salute you" and then extended her hand toward the Emperor that evoked the Nazi salute to Hitler. The martyrs who died here saluted another, the real God and changed the city of Rome and the Empire that was the Roman. Other Caesar's continue to arise demanding the lives of their followers in exchange for whatever temporal kingdom. Looking down at the ruins of the Coloseum, patched up and being held together by reinforcements of one type or another--the Cross erected by Pope John Paul II speaks to the victory over innocent suffering of countless victims of the false god's of wealth, pleasure and youth.
The tour guide had actually begun her tour outside of the Coloseum pointing out the Arch of Constantine, perhaps another symbol of the victory over Christianity since it marks the victory of Constantine that was later attributed to his vision of the Cross of Christ as the way to victory. There is nothing particularly Christian about the arch and the tour guide pointed out that "this is original" and that in Paris and Berlin you'll find copies that are larger (and perhaps now more famous).
Coming out of the Coloseum, we decided against the tour of the Palantine Hill, opting instead to go through the Forum. As we made our way in that direction while trying to steer Joseph away from a newstand I was attacked by one of the Roman's in the garb of a gladiator with his sword--this was unexpected and I probably jumped a foot or two. Joseph said, "I'll fight him" but when another approached from another direction he moved around so that if this one "sworded me" he wouldn't get hurt--so much for courage.
We made our way up the via sacra and began fumbling in our tour books trying to find where we were and what everything we were seeing was (some of this must have been fatigue because I have some of those tour books open before me now and everything is so clear and understandable that I can't figure out how we could have been confused then but we were and not alone in that regard). While we sat by the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius (not knowing it was that at the time)another family approached us and asked us if we knew what this was, we didn't. Some were from Cincinnati and one man a doctor said that he would be giving a talk in Fort Wayne the day after we returned...small world.
Another problem at this point was we were right outside of the Church of St. Frances of Rome and there didn't seem to be anyway to get into it. Her feast was last Thursday (March 9) and when I read the Office of Readings for her feast I was disappointed that we never made it into this church were she rests.
Moving on from the amazing ruins of the Basilica of Constantine we made our way into the heart of the Forum. For the most part you can just look at the ruins (if these had been made into Churches you might actually be able to enter them as you can the Roman Senate). The Temple of Julius Ceasar marking the spot where he was cremated was interesting (I had viewed HBO's Rome last winter) and there was a fresh rose on the stone marking the spot.Here are a few pictures of this spot, in the second and third you can see the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina in the background.In the fourth we continue along our way, notice the baby must be back on my back since he isn't with the other three.There are a lot of pilars in the Forum area and they cast a long shadow, especially when the sun is laying low in the sky. Here Joseph finds a contest of shadows with three pilars (from the Temple of Vespasian) and Katie finds that fallen pilars make a good seat. Joseph uses another pilar to form his own "Arch of Triumph."The Temple of Saturn was illuminated by the sun, Joseph felt the need to offer ablutions, Amy outside of Santi Luca e Martina (site of the Roman Senate) and the crew emerging from the same Church bathed in sunlight.
Next it was to the Church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami (St. Joseph the Carpenter), our Joseph's patron and site of the Mamertine Prison. Joseph was a little too interested in the prison and the sewer but we did manage to spend some time in prayer here.
From here we traveled across the street toward the twin churches that are near the Piazza del Popolo, Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto.It was turning cooler by this time, so we took a taxi to Piazza Navona in hopes of seeing the inside of San Luigi dei Francesi "St. Louis of the French"...there was a porter at the door that was locked who informed us that it was closed on Thursdays (but open on Friday's...so we'll be back). We then went to the Church of Sant'Agostino, "St. Augustine", there was some restoration going on and St. Monica's tomb was blocked, but I noticed someone coming from there, so Michael (on my back) and I made our way to St.Monica's tomb to offer some prayers. Another spot of interest in this Church was the Caravaggio work "The Madonna Receiving Pilgrims" which Amy had told me before hand had been critized when it first appeared because the Virgin's feet were dirty, for the record I didn't think they did personally.
I found this church to be very peaceful, of course it was early evening and we hadn't been in our usual dose of Churches on this day, so this visit stood out a bit more in contrast to the afternoon of Roman ruins. It is amazing to think of the millions of lives that have been touched by Augustine's confessions and to be in the Church that contained his saintly mother's tomb gave some sense of being more connected.
Then emerging from the Church we set out on foot through the narrow streets that would take us back to St. Peter's in preparation for the evening gig that Amy had doing Theology on Tap in Rome. We found a vendor selling wool caps and bought one for Michael the baby (this day had been a typical Spring Roman day, warm one minute, very chilly the next), he happily wore his hat. We stopped in front of the statue of Saint Catherine where Katie posed next to her patron saint for a picture.And then just before we made our turn toward our apartment, Joseph posed for one of my favorite pictures of St. Peter's as the sun set painting a beautiful backdrop in the sky.

More Penance

I finally went to the doctor today after coughing for weeks, I have walking pneumonia--now taking the appropriate antibiotics.

Daily Lenten Audio Post

I had meant to do this throughout Lent, taking a short daily audio post from The Power of the Cross which will tie in with the Gospel of the day, but I was in Rome for the first part of Lent and my ability to post an audio post was thwarted. Anyway beginning today here it is:

this is an audio post - click to play


From the book of Lenten meditations written by me:

The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life

Pope to Focus on the Mystery of Christ and the Church

Today in his General Audience Pope Benedict announced his first program of catechesis at these weekly events (up until a few weeks ago he had been finishing Pope John Paul's):

In coming weeks, our catechesis will focus on the mystery of Christ and the Church. Jesus willed to found his Church upon the Apostles, and it is through their witness that we continue to encounter him. The mission of the Apostles must be seen in the context of the mystery of communion of God’s People, spanning both the old and the new Covenant. Jesus’s entire ministry took place against the backdrop of Israel’s faith and hope, and was aimed at gathering into one the eschatological People of God. Far from a purely individualistic summons to conversion, his mission was directed to the establishment of the community of the new and eternal Covenant. Jesus’ conscious decision to choose the Twelve Apostles was a prophetic sign announcing the eschatological renewal of the twelve tribes of Israel, the dawn of salvation and the fulfilment of God’s promises. In the person of the Apostles, charged with the celebration of the Eucharist and the forgiveness of sins, the Church has been made the sign and instrument of the Kingdom of God in our midst. Christ can never be separated from the Church; through the Church he remains ever present in his people, and in a special way in the successors of the Apostles.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Thursday-The Luminous Mysteries (March 2)


If you've been on the "scavi" tour underneath St. Peter's you know that it ends up here, at the Clementine Chapel.This chapel is directly behind the "confessio" and is also called "St. Peter's Chapel" since it is very close to where the bones of St. Peter are located. On my early morning visit to St. Peter's this morning it happened that Mass was being celebrated here in the Clementine Chapel in English by five American priests. I joined them.
At the end of the Mass several of the priests introduced themselves, the celebrant was from Baltimore and was also a Knight of Malta, another priest on hearing that I was from Indiana mentioned that he also was in fact a Holy Cross priest from Notre Dame. Several others were pointing under the altar and making references to the "scavi" tour (which I hadn't taken as yet, but in fact would be taking later this same morning).
Leaving the Clementine Chapel, I made my way around the semicircular series of chapels and stopped at the Polish one (after all I am half Polish). Here I prayed the office for the day, as well as said prayers for my Polish relatives both living and deceased. I could hear Mass being celebrated in Polish in near the tomb of Pope John Paul II, and I made my way towards his tomb to pray the mysteries of the rosary that he will forever be known for--the Luminious Mysteries prayed on Thursdays.
Behind me in the chapel that is between the tombs of the popes, the Mass in Polish was concluding and a Polish bishop with several Polish priests came around and the security guard stationed at the tomb of Pope John Paul II removed the rope that keeps pilgrims from approaching the actual grave. The bishop and priests went in and knelt at the head of the tomb and said a few prayers. One of the priests took a camera and stepped back to take a picture of the bishop praying at the tomb. Then they left and the people behind me pushed me forward and we were within the niche and I found myself kneeling at the head of the tomb with my hands and the rosary resting on slab that covers the Pope's resting place. I was in the middle of the Fourth Luminous Mystery, "The Transfiguration" and as always I prayed the petition of St. Peter that I might always be able to discern "Lord, it is good that we are here."
I said a special prayer of petition for several people who entered my mind at that moment. One was for the husband of Johnnette Benkovic, another was for the brother of Bishop Robert Baker, the third was for the souls of my Polish relatives: great grandparents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousin. I then arose to make room so that other Polish pilgrims could enter.
Returning back to the apartment, we had to move quickly to go back to St. Peter's so that Katie and Amy could take the scavi tour, I would take the tour right after them (children aren't allowed for obvious reasons). We left Amy and Katie at the Swiss Guards and then Joseph and Michael on my back went into the Vatican bookstore (I bought a Vatican phone book and some holy cards), then into the Vatican post office, then out of St. Peter's to the many gift shops that surround the area. I also had to find something that Joseph would eat for breakfast, no easy task I might add. We bought water and I think M & M's (a breakfast he enjoyed). We walked in a number of gift shops and bookstores, buying nothing. The women in the stores tried to get Michael the baby to wave, smile, make sounds etc. while I tried to keep Joseph from picking up ceramic and glass objects. Finally it was time to trade off both baby and four year old which we did at the Swiss Guard station and I made my way to the Scavi Office.
We had worried that our tours were scheduled too tight but it turned out there was plenty of time between tours. It also turned out that later when I was doing my imitation of the tour guide (who was excellent) that we had the same one. I've often found that if someone is really, really good that my mind is like a camera and I can imitate not only what they said, but how they said and what they were doing as they said it.
Anyway I waited outside of the office with a large group that included one "loud" American who was smoking and pontificating (what else do you do when you are in Rome?) about how they weren't able to do the tour at the time I was doing it but that Father somebody might be able to change that (I hoped that he was wrong and thankfully he was...btw the same guy by himself showed up at the Scholars Pub for Amy's TOT, never found who he was or where he was from though).
The Scavi tour isn't advertised and you can't sign up for it when you are in Rome, you have to do it before (several weeks before). So it isn't crowded, I think there were maybe six or seven people on my tour. It was also the one thing that a number of people who've been to Rome said was a must. What it is, is a tour of the ancient Roman graves that were discovered under St. Peter's when Pope Pius XII began an archealogical dig to find out if Peter was in fact buried here. The necropolis is impressive enough (those walking in the crypt of St. Peter's where there are countless Pope's buried probably for the most part are unaware that below them is another graveyard even more ancient). The tour takes you through these graves and also explains the history of the churches built on this spot. It all culminates once you leave the graves and come to the spot where tradition says Peter's bones were buried and then suspense--the bones weren't found where they were expected. Then a walk into the Clementine Chapel (the same chapel pictured above and where I had been to Mass earlier that morning)...the tour guide mentioned that Pope Benedict XVI had said Mass in this chapel eight days ago. Then into another room with a glass floor and glass wall. The bones of Peter were discovered wrapped in royal purple cloth in a tomb built by Constantine under the altar of the first church. What was missing? His feet, the rationale that when Peter was crucified upside down that those who removed his body just cut his feet off in order to remove him from the cross.
The whole trip was very moving and highly educational. A few seconds later we were deposited at the tomb of Pope John Paul II again.

Dinner with a Former Classmate (Ash Wednesday)


It does seem that I ate more in Rome on Ash Wednesday than any of the other days that I was there. Ash Wednesday evening I met Father Bernard O'Connor who is with the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. I'll let Father describe how he came into this position as he explained it to those at Eastern Michigan University where he last taught:

"My bishop was looking to move me to other countries, but said my experience pointed to Rome," said O'Connor, who has United Nations certifications in peace support operations, international humanitarian law, and peacekeeping and international conflict resolution. He has also written a book, "Pope John Paul II: Papacy Diplomacy and the Culture of Peace."

I met the Pope several times and found that he had an incredible sense of humor," said O'Connor. "The first time I met him, I knelt to kiss his ring and had the Pope tell me, 'You better stand up because I can't lift you.'"


This last point he related to me at dinner, as well as saying when he had met Amy and the children just before I had come that Joseph had said to him "You're a fat man." I told Amy about this later and she was flabergasted and said he had said nothing of the sort, but after thinking about it she remembered that Joseph had in fact said, "You're batman," four year old boys.

Father O'Connor and I went over common acquaintances and what had become of them in the fifteen years since we both had been students at Creighton University in Omaha. We also marveled at how he knew Amy's parents when he had befriended their next door neighbor in Knoxville, TN where Father O'Connor received a law degree from the University of Tennessee.

I let him order my dinner, and was told it would be grilled fish. It was...grilled octopus, squid among other things mostly distinguisable because the heads were still attached.

Father O'Connor has an article in Inside the Vatican this month.

Evening came...Ash Wednesday, penance.

The NAC (Ash Wednesday)

Jeffrey Kirby a seminarian for the Diocese of Charleston, SC met me shortly after the papal audience and we walked up the hill toward the Pontifical North American College where he is a student. I had wanted to visit the NAC to see a number of people and places that were detailed in a book that I worked on with then rector of the NAC, now Archbishop of Milwaukee, Timothy Dolan. Jeff gave me a great tour, the seminary gave me a great meal (no meat...Ash Wednesday) and then took me to the roof for what must be the absolute best view of the entire city of Rome anywhere. I took some pictures but they don't quite get the beauty of the site. If you go to the NAC link you can take a virtual tour of the college.

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.