Day 8 in Rome

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Friday Oct 11

Day 8 in Rome

Got a bit of laundry done, not as expensive as I thought. Might take fewer clothes next time.

I wandered a bit, trying to get to know the neighborhood around the Vatican. That is a job in itself. I’d like to get into the Vatican museum without a tour group.

Slipped into the Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia. As I did the office of readings, a group came in and sat down. Then I noticed they were setting up for Mass.

Mass begin – Surprise, in Polish. My Polish in worse than my Italian, which is terrible, but I got the readings from my smart phone (Remember how sad life was before smart phones?). There are slight variations in when to kneel and when to stand, but otherwyse it is familiar territory, language or no. How wonderful to wander into a Mass and be at home.

Can’t pronounce Gnocchi (nyo – kee). They are so patient with the violence I do to their language.

The Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia has Mass in English or 10 am on Sunday. Should I go there or back to St. Peter’s? Decisions

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There are many tour groups going around. There are many merchants with trinkets. There are many people trying to sell African collapsible wooden bowls. Clever idea; too bad I don’t need one.

I am so happy that I decided on two weeks instead of one. One week would have not been enough, and I would have been frustrated. Two weeks is, of course, not enough to do everything, but it is enough to say I have done a lot and had room to spend the afternoon sitting outdoors at the restaurant Borgo Nuovo writing, thinking and eating slowly. Sometimes life moves hard and fast and it takes a while to stop, to come to a full stop.

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Day 7 in Rome

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Thursday 10-10

Day 7 in Rome

Church of St. Phillip Oratory (Chiesa Nuova).

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I’m getting addicted to these marvelous churches. What am I going to do when I get home?  The ones in Michigan are beautiful in their own way, but not like this. There’s a little chapel with the body of St. Phillip Neri. In a glass case. We don’t have things like this in Michigan.

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The Church of St. Andreas della Valle

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St. Andrew is the patron of the diocese of Grand Rapids.

I came just as Mass began in a side chapel.

I wish I had learned my Latin responses better.

During the consecration, the priest held up the host and I was aware that simple white host was infinitely holier than all the buildings combined. The true power of the churches is as vessels of the work of Jesus.

Church of Gesu again.

It is not as breath – taking as the first time, perhaps because the sun is not shining the same way through the windows, or perhaps because I have seen it before and am getting accustomed to it. Ah, well, nothing that is of the earth can be a permanent thrill. When I got to the second glorious mystery of the rosary it occurred to me that earth the glories appear briefly, and then leave us to tell the story.

Church of St. John Lateran.

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Oh, my.

The Cathedral, the mother church of the whole Catholic world. The literal Chair of the Pope, the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome.

Twelve foot high statues of the apostles.

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So much history here.

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Unlike St. Peter’s the original was not replaced, but when it was broken was repaired. Modification were made, so it bears the stamp of many hands and many eras, sort of like Catholic culture.

There are many pictures and sculptures, some of stories of popes and the Church, most of Bible stories. Ultimately, the beauty is at the service of the Gospel Story.

St. Mary Major.

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Oh, yes, more of the same.

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It is good.

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Octopus salad. Why can’t we get octopus salad in the Grand Rapids area?

Wearing a dark shirt: this calls for spaghetti.

There are a lot of beggars on the street. I feel bad, but I have learned to question whether giving them money is the best way to help the poor. This, of course, means that I had better do something to help (no, I’m not going to tell you what, at least not today).

Psalm for today: 90.

Day 6 in Rome

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ImageWednesday 10-9

Day 6 in Rome

Church of John the Baptist just across the Tiber from the Vatican. Just another über- magnificent church in Rome.  

The sculptures, the walls, the pillars the floors and the paintings all took skill, lots of skill.

 

 

I had been told the pope would be blessing at the square, Wednesday at 10:30, but I was careless about the time, and didn’t arrive until there was less than an hour and a half to go. Next time I go earlier. I that point there was no hope.

Castel Sant’ Angelo

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Very old, back to the time of Hadrian. It has been a fortress, a palace, and prison and now a museum. Different popes added different things to it. People come and go, buildings take different forms, but here they remain.

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The story is that there had been a plague, and in 590, there was an apparition of St. Michael sheathing his sword, and the ended.

There is a great view from the roof

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It is raining lightly, but I’m having lunch outdoors. They have tents and plastic walls to protect us. I America outdoor seating is a luxury; here it is a necessity. They do not have enough space to survive with only indoor seating. Bathrooms are always down narrow stairs, and even in nice restaurants, they are nasty looking.

The Staff have shirts that say on the back, “Bebere humanum est ergo bibamus” which I believe means “It is human to drink, therefore we drink.” Makes sense to me.

Interesting salad: lettuce, artichokes, tuna, fresh mozzarella, some other shredded cheese with bread it makes a meal (with wine, of course).

I had forgotten how much I love foreign travel. There is so much to learn, so much to see and so many ways things are different.

Church of St Agnes in Agony, in the Piazza Navona. Such a contrast to the piazza.

Day 5 in Rome (part 3)

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Finally Chiese Gesu (the Church of Jesus).

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Wow! So beautiful. Can’t believe how beautiful it is. Those Jesuits never were ones to do things half way. I must come back here and contemplate. The art often has the theme of victory over evil.

Pantheon. Powerful old building. The Façade seems not quite to fit, but I can’t argue with it. Believed to be built as a temple to all the gods, it has been remade as the Church of Mary of the Martyrs, once again the theme of Christianity conquering paganism. As with all the holy places, there is a dress code, and no eating, drinking, smoking or phone calls. Here they are especially strict; they also demand silence. How do we show that our sacred spaces are sacred and our special places are special?

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Fontana di Trevi: They really know how to do fountains in this town.

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Psalm for today: 93

Rome Day 5 (part 2)

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ImagePiazza Venezia

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Huge monument the unknown soldier, and strict rules about behavior at the entrance to the museum of the resurgence (lots of steps) Never made it to the museum because the entrance also took you to the Church of Mary of the something (I gotta start writing these things down sooner). The Church was very fancy and quite old (some reference to 1689). Fancy, lavish decorations, some statues (not all beautiful by today’s standards but done with love). I see exuberant, enthusiastic  expressions of worship. What signs will we leave to witness t to the next generations of our love for God?

Saw the Church of San Marcello: Magnificent inside.

Climbed the Spanish Steps (there are a lot of them). 

The Church of the Trinity on the Mount. They were having exposition. Then the Church of St. Ignatius and the Church of Maria Sopra Minerva.

Day 5 in Rome (part 1)

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ImageDay 5 in Rome

Sitting in the Piazza Navona drinking very expensive mineral water (gotta pace myself; too much wine, cappuccino and gelato and I won’t survive).  I see a Big Old Building (take that B.O.B.!), an obelisk with Egyptian markings, huge sculptures. There are street musicians, painters and someone dressed as a Gold Egyptian sarcophagus. This is worth sitting and watching.

 

Day 4 in Rome

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Monday 10-7

Day 4 in Rome

Went to an ATM machine, and was very grateful to push 2 for English.  I am glad they are hospitable to those who have not mastered the language.

Took a tour of the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel. Lots of good info, but wondered what I missed. Just left on our own in the Basilica.  I will come again.

That said, it was wonderful. The court of the Pine Cone with the seed of new life referring to the mysteries of the universe was powerful.

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The Sistine Chapel was an irreplaceable experience. Such vivid colors. I’m so glad they cleaned it up. The conclaves were held there. The Second Vatican Council met there. I stood there. Wow.  (They wouldn’t let us take pictures, but pictures are readily available on line).

The images are timeless.

It was build when Michelangelo was born as a fortress in case of invasion of Muslim hordes. Michelangelo made it come to life with the story of the universe.

They had a double spiral staircase that was really interesting.

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The Basilica of St. Peter is like nothing else. The Cathedral in Cologne is huge and impressive but cannot match this magnificence.  

There are huge statues, some of earlier and medieval figures, some of relatively modern (John Bosco and St. Vincent de Paul). Inspiration to learn more about some, like St. Bruno. There are also huge mosaics but you can’t tell they are mosaics without looking very closely. There is the Tomb of Blessed John Paul II.Image

There we see the body of Blessed John XXIII in a glass case (he looks pale, but pretty much like you’d see at an average wake).

 

Many events of the Christian story are being told, and others hinted at. This is just a tiny sampling of the vast ocean of stories of the people, through the ages, who kept the Gospel story going.

When I first walked into St. Peter’s, on the right was the Pieta of Michelangelo. I thought, “Oh, yah, I’ve seen a bunch of those.”

Then,

“Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, this is the real one!”

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On the front wall is a great sculpture of a chair. Of course, this is a great celebration of the Chair of Peter. For all the gallons of cynical ink spilled on the subject, if our faith is true in any sense, the Chair of Peter is a gift from God, and therefore worthy of celebration.

It is said to contain fragments of the simple wooden chair of Peter.  Did he have an official chair? Very possibly; it was a custom far older than Christianity for a teacher to sit in a chair that was a sign of his authority.

There is a niche for another statue. Maybe for Saint John Paul II? Who would be more likely than him? I bet that a big bunch of people would be willing to donate to the project.

Oct 7 is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Prayer for today: Joyful mysteries of the rosary, reflecting on God’s call to continue passing on the story.

Day 3 in Rome

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ImageSunday 20-6

Day 3 in Rome

I should have brought more dark shirts in anticipation of eating more spaghetti.

St. Peter’s Basilica!!!

The wait in line was not nearly as long as I expected.

Metal detectors. Would I be in trouble with my stainless steel water bottle?

No problem (whew!)

Inside the Basilica: Oh my Oh my Oh my Oh my!!

Beautiful carvings of different colored stone. Enormous statues.

There are some big, fancy monuments to popes. The cynical part of me immediately asked: Does that really serve the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Would Pope Francis approve? Add to that the corruption of many Church leaders in that era, the scandalous way finances were handled, we start with a lot of questions.

 

Hmm…

There have ever been the twin tasks of praising the Glory of God and serving the needs of the people.

Should the money have gone to the feeding of the poor instead of building magnificent Churches?

There have been many, many others things that money has been spent on that have not been of such enduring value. It seems that beautiful churches are the first thing that some want to cannibalize to feed the poor, when they should be the last thing after everything else.

As for the corruption, the unworthiness of some of the key figures? The Church has ever been messy. There have been the good, the bad and the ugly. In the midst of it, the Gospel story has been told. That is the most important thing that I learned when I was in Jerusalem: In the midst of the human imperfections, the story still has power.

A more balanced reading of history says that there were good, even saintly people, including popes, working in the midst of the messiness. The heart that seeks God must focus on the grace in the midst of the messiness, or never encounter the depth, the richness and the beauty God has for us.

Mass at St. Peter’s.

I was a ways back, but had a view of the altar. The view was often obscured by people holding up smartphones and tablets. One guy in front of me decided that during Mass was a great time to take several dozen pictures of the ceiling with his telephoto lens. Come on, folks, is this the way we pray? Ah, well, the messiness of the Church goes all the way through, and in encountered everywhere. It is now for me to focus on the gift in the midst of the messiness. Perhaps that is why God brought me here today.  I never know how He is going to be working.

Had dinner with Fr. Tony Russo who is here on sabbatical.

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Psalm for today: 84.