Peter and Brenda’s Adventures

 In the early years of the church Christians were buried in underground crypts. The Crypt of Calixtus consists of four levels of crypts housing thousands of remains.  Some of the crypts have been converted to chapels. 

 There are four major papal basilicas. Each has a Holy Door which is open this year.  Following his execution, St. Paul, an early convert to Christianity, was laid to rest where the church bearing his name currently stands. A small memorial was built over the site.  Over the millennia the memorial became the basilica that we see today.  While we were visiting the church a local Bishop lead Mass. There was a great deal of incense at the beginning of Mass. The floating cloud made an interesting visual.  While this basilica is in Rome, it remains a Vatican property. As such there is a Holy Door at this site.  Jesus appears to watch over St. Paul’s shoulder.

Each night, a vigil is prayed for the health of our Holy Father, Pope Francis.  We were privileged to pray the Rosary with several hundred faithful.  St. Peter’s Square at night is magical.

 After leaving St. Peter’s Square we passed through the Jewish Quarter.  We noted the stone pavements that had been replaced with remembrances of those lost in WWII.  A sad reminder of the difficulties faced by the Jewish community. 

Ending our procession at St. Peter’s Tomb afforded us incredible access to the area around the throne of St. Peter, adding to the many blessings of this blessed day.  Statue of St, Peter Holy Spirit stained glass window. The Throne of St. Peter featuring the four Doctors of the Catholic Church who are each over 5 meters tall.  Baldachin of St. Peter Michaelangelo’s Pieta In this close up you can see where Michaelangelo added his name to the strap on the Virgin Mary’s chest 

With passages from Scripture, in prayer and song, our 27 pilgrims walked the Via Della Conciliazione towards St. Peter’s Square and then into St. Peter’s Basilica, through the Holy Door.  Once inside St. Peter’s we processed to the tomb of St. Peter to complete our journey. Holy Doors are open for a year from Christmas Eve to the Feast of the Epiphany, every 25 years. In his announcement about the Holy Year Pope Francis explained “ In Catholic tradition, the Holy Door represents the passage to salvation — the path to a new and eternal life, which was opened to humanity by Jesus ,”  This was the first and most important of the five Holy Doors open in and around Rome/Vatican City this year.   

Over the two century history of the Catholic Church it was amassed over 70,000 works of art. Of those, a mere 20,000 are on display at the Vatican Museum.  The gallery of maps, painted by Ignacio Danti, was commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII, showing regions of Italy as they were in the 16th century. The Round Room was designed by Michaelangelo Simonetti in 1779. In the centre of this space lined with several Ancient Roman statues is this large red porphyry bath tub originally built for Nero in 64 CE.  The Gallery of Tapestries features 12 wall size pieces designed by Raphael and created by Belgian weavers. The eyes of Jesus are designed in a way that makes it appear that they ‘follow’ the visitor in the hall.  While we had only a few hours to visit the museum, to truly appreciate the Vatican Museum could take days. 

As the day drew to a close we were leaving the Archbasilica St. John Lateran while the setting sun gifted us with its breathtaking beauty. 

 It is said that a man must be able to carry his intended up all 124 steps to Santa Maria in Aracoeli, to be considered fit to marry his love. Anyone willing to try?

 Archeologists today continue to locate and uncover buildings and items from Romans times. Below are images from the area around the colosseum.  Below, 11 kilometres of the original 18 kilometre wall around Rome continue to stand today. This was once a five storey apartment building. Time has filled in the land around it, leaving only the top two floors, until recent excavations revealed the rest of the building. In ancient times people on the lower floors had water and plumbing, but those on upper floors did not. 

  It took eleven years (69-80 CE) to build, and two thousand years later, it remains the world largest elliptical amphitheater in the world.  Constructed as two nested ovals, creating a hallway between walls for the gathering crowds’ movement and the inner layer for viewing the events within the theatre. There were five floors in this building. Pottery shard tickets for events were distributed according to class and gender. Senators sat at the lowest level, non- senatorial nobles and knights on the next level, next were wealthy ordinary citizens, then poor citizens and finally on the upper level, women. 80 entrances accommodated 50,000 people using an entrance number system similar that that used today in various stadia. It was reported at the time that crowds could be seated in minutes.  Time, weather and earthquakes have taken their toll on this magnificent remembrance of the days when the Romans ruled the area. Reconstruction and preservation attempts continue. You can...

  It was nice to see a reminder of home today. 😊

This was our morning for an audience with Pope Francis. Unfortunately, at this time, Pope Francis is sick and in hospital with double pneumonia. As we approached the Vatican we noted increased security and media presence and an air of tension.  Jumbotrons were mounted and seating was neatly arranged in St. Peter’s Square.  To sleuth out the story we turned to this journalist who informed us that the Pope was sick and they were preparing for an announcement about Pope Francis.  As of 2200 tonight, the news release this evening from the Vatican indicated  “ The Holy Father's condition has shown a slight further improvement over the past 24 hours.”

The elaborate black and white marble facade invites the visitor into a world of marble wonders in the Duomo di Siena, or the Cathedral of Santa Marie Assunte. Built and consecrated in the twelfth century, this cathedral hosts many works of art on canvas and in marble. Inside black and white marble columns reach for the sky and, yet draw the eye towards the gold altar. Marble busts of Popes surround the nave. And the priest preached from a marble pulpit. However, it is the floors of inlaid marble that are the true attention grabbers. 

She walked this earth for a brief 33 years, and left a legacy that continues today.  Born Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa in 1340, Catherine of Siena was a nurse who tended to the most destitute in society. Born a twin, and with the twin the 23 and 24th children in their family. Catherine’s twin sister died soon after their birth. As a young child Catherine has several visions of Christ and at a young age vowed to devote herself to the church. She was a deeply devoted catholic who penned almost 400 documents, including prayers, letters and books.  The brown church in the foreground of this image is the Basilica Caterininana de San Domenico, which houses some of St. Catherine’s relics and is near her childhood home.  The larger white church in the background is the Duomo di Siena. 

It’s hard to resist a good espresso. While on a walking tour of the medieval town of Siena, Peter and friends dashed into a little cafe for a very quick espresso and returned to the tour group without missing a stop on our tour. 

The Etruscans settled in an area in 900-400 BCE, they called Saina. The Romans further developed the hillside area and called it Saena Julia. Today we know this walled medieval town as Siena.  History has left its mark in this town in several ways.  In 1349, St. Catherine of Siena, a nurse and theological author, was born here.  In 1472, the world’s oldest operating bank, the Monte dei Paschi, began its service to the community.  In 1722, the inaugural race of the Palio de Siena was run. Horses representing various communities would race around the Piazza del Campo square for bragging rights. This race is held twice annual on July 2 and August 16, and attracts crowds of the rich and famous.  Rules from the 1500s dictate that the bricks in the Center of the track must be laid in a herringbone pattern.