Roma Blog - Day 8 (12/30/2007): The Pope!

We went to Sunday Mass this morning at St. Peter's Basilica and it was in Latin. The celebration was absolutely beautiful! Immediately after that we went outside into the square with thousands of our closest friends to hear the Holy Father's Angelus. We got some great photos and videotape of the Pope as he appeared and addressed the crowd.




























"Habemus Papem!" "We have a Pope!" Once a new Pope is elected, he first appears to the crowd from this portico.












After grabbing some lunch we caught a taxi to the Quo Vadis? Chapel, located on the Via Appia, outside of Rome. The tradition is that this is the location where Jesus appeared to Peter as he was heading out of Rome. Peter asked our Lord, "Quo vadis?" ("Where are you going?"), and Jesus responded by indicating that He was heading back into Rome to be crucified again. It was then that Peter realized that he was wrong in leaving his people and thus he returned to Rome and was himself crucified, albeit upside down as he did not consider himself worthy of being treated like Christ.








From the Chapel we took a short walk to one of the catacombs.








This picture gives a good idea of how far out of the city we were.








Check out what we saw along the way!








No pictures were allowed in the catacombs, but we had an awesome guide who didn't hesitate to add in what almost amounted to a brief homily! We then headed over to our fourth and final Basilica, St. Paul Outside the Walls. St. Paul's tomb is visible through the grate embedded in the main altar.

Roma Blog - Day 7 (12/29/2007): A busy day!

Sorry for the delay in the blog, but we have been doing so much lately that it's a challenge to find time to fit this in too. We are enjoying doing it and are happy to see that so many of you are enjoying this blog!
Well, we headed back to the Colloseum and the Roman Forum early so that we were sure to get in this time.








Here's a view of the inside, but it's so immense that I couldn't capture the full view in one shot:








This one shows a reconstructed seating area to help you imagine what it must have looked like:








The family had a great time touring all around the inside of this historic building:








Victoria had a lot of fun clowning around!












We then went straight to the Roman Forum and did some more exploring (and Vicoria continued her photo shoot!):








This is where Julius Caesar's body was burned after he was killed:




















I was happy that we were next able to get into the Mamertine Prison as it was closed each time I tried on past trips. This was where SS. Peter & Paul were imprisoned, and the pillar to which they were chained is still there. We were able to up close and even touched it!












There is a small chapel upstairs and Victoria went up on her own to offer a prayer to Baby Jesus:












From the ancient ruins we went over to the nearby Church of San Peitro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains). The chains that bound him in the prisons in Jerusalem and then in Rome are there. When they were brought together in this Church, they miraculously linked together.




















This is Michelangelo's monument commissioned by Pope Julius II that contains his famous statue of Moses.
Our touring continue next at the awesome St. Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major). This statue of the Blessed Mother is atop the tall pillar in the piazza in front of the Church:












Now this is a baptistry!












The highlight is that directly below the altar in a small area (many of these Churches have these areas), there is an ornately decorated box that contains pieces of the Christ Child's manger!








We left St. Mary Major and went back to the Santa Scala which was open so that we could properly venerate the stairs that Jesus was forced to use to ascend to Pilate's place of judgment (that's Jonathan, Scott and I on the left side):








Finally, I saved this for last as a constant memory of the Christian influence on all of Rome. The Colloseum has been consecrated as a memorial to all of those who innocently lost their lives there:

Roma Blog - Day 6 (12/28/2007): To the dome!

Jonathan, Scott and I started the day with a tour of the Vatican Necropolis (cemetery) which lies two levels below St. Peter's Basilica. It is a very restricted tour. One must request tickets many months in advance, you must be at least 15 years old to enter, and you must be precisely on time or you miss your tour completely. Again, no photographs or videotaping is permitted. One highlight of the tour is seeing up close the area where it is strongly believed that St. Peter's bones are located directly below the main altar of the Basilica! It struck me as very interesting that the lowest level is comprised of pagan mausoleums, sarcophagus, and burial rooms that literally support the main structure of the largest and most famous Roman Catholic Church in the world! Although we couldn't take any pictures, if you are interested in learning more about the Vatican Necropolis, visit this site: http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Necropolis/Scavi.htm. The tour ended with the other huge highlight . . . the tomb of Pope John Paul II! After watching all of the events surrounding his funeral on EWTN, it was a bit surreal actually being there on my knees at the resting place of this great man!








The picture of the dome of St. Peter's should look familiar to you if you have been reading along with this blog. Take a look at the next picture of the bus under the archway. That's the reverse angle of the dome picture taken from atop St. Peter's! Yes, the boys and I hiked all of the way to the top and I didn't even need oxygen! What an amazing view from inside of the dome, and outside of so many of the sites of Rome and of areas within the Vatican walls! Here are some:

Here is St. Peter's Square including the famous Bernini Colonnade:

The Pantheon (dome roof) can clearly be seen in this photo:









And these buildings house the Vatican Museum.








This is the Sistine Chapel roof as seen from the very top of the dome (cuppola) of St. Peter's:








This is the newest structure inside the Vatican Walls. It is the Pope Paul VI Auditorium where the Pope holds his audiences during inclement weather.








Another of the beautiful buildings within the Vatican Walls:








Jonathan and Scott could not believe the view from up here! We spotted the Colloseum, our apartment, and a whole host of other recognizable places.








These are the three center statues on top of the facade of St. Peter's as seen from the top of the dome:








After coming back down out of the dome, we were back onto the roof and got an up close and personal view of the statues:












As the sun was setting we turned back around to the dome and saw this beautiful view:








We headed all of the way down and met back up with Carla and Victoria to tour more of the inside of the Basilica. Now these are holy water fonts! There's one on either side as you enter the nave, and they are huge!








The famous statue of St. Peter with the worn-down foot from so many pilgrims touching it:












The bodies of Pope John XXIII and Pope Innocent XI:








The main altar from the side where the Holy Father stands when celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass:








Here's the statue of the Roman guard turned Christian, St. Longinus who was the one who thrust his spear into the side of Our Lord as He hung on the cross. The tradition is that the tip of the spear is in a vault directly above the statue.








This of course is Michelangelo's famous "Pieta":








And the Holy Door that is only open from the outside to commence a new Jubilee Year:












This is a picture of the Basilica's "presipio." Every Church we went into has a least one this time of year.







Once we exited St. Peter's and got past the Swiss guards, Princess Victoria and I had fun triumphantly walking through the colonnade and into the Square, where her guards then posed with her for a photo too!








This was all very tiring for Her Royal Highness, Princess Victoria, but she of course did awake once the food arrived!








I saved this for last because we thought it was such an interesting photo that I took from the top of the dome. St. Peter's Basilica really does dominate all of Rome!