Travelog - Rome 2010
"Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages" - Rome 2010 (1/9)
Rome, 26 June 2010
Rome, the Eternal City. We're here for a week, on pilgrimage as much as vacation.
Our bishop was named as Archbishop of Miami, so a pilgrimage was put together to accompany him to Rome to receive his pallium from Pope Benedict XVI in a few days. There are over 250 of us in all, between the dioceses of Orlando and Miami. We're the only family from our parish, as far as i can tell. So we'll be spending a fair bit of time in churches, but we'll have time to ourselves as well.
We flew out yesterday, with a mostly uneventful flight -- other than the Italian-speaking flight attendant dropping the comm after repeating instructions in Italian, uttering an English (if accented) profanity. It got a laugh from the cabin, though.
We're staying at Residenza Madri Pie, a religious guesthouse a few blocks from the Vatican. We arrived this morning too early to check in, so we visited the nearest gelateria and wandered around a bit through St. Peters Square and down to the Tiber across the Bridge of Angels. On the way back we picked up some fruit and bottled water at a fruitteria.
Our room is spartan by hotel standards in America, with three single beds and no TV or WiFi, but it is very clean, and air conditioned. Since we'll be busy this trip, we don't really need more than that anyway, especially since we're on pilgrimage.
We went to Mass at the nearby Maria delle Fornaci, a small church about 350 years old. The interior looks very ornate, primarily from the use of assorted colors of marbles in the carvings - green/black, brown, red/grey and white/grey. 
Archbishop Wenski officiated, along with 12 other priests, and other than the first reading in Spanish, Mass was in English. I'm sure we'll hear other languages more often during our trip.
We had dinner tonight at Lo Scarpone, travelling there by motorcoach. The food and wine were excellent, including a nice veal with cream sauce, and the company was pleasant as well. The restaurant had a terrace, and at night with the trees and lampposts, it looks a little like Narnia, or so DD claims.
We got to chat with the Archbishop for a little bit, and he was riding the same motorcoach as us.
With a transatlantic flight and too much good house wine, I think it may be good to retire early.
In the steps of an empress...(2/9)
Madri Pie, Rome - 27 June 2010
Every trip, there is always something you forget. The telltale prickle on my arms when I woke up says that this trip, that item was sunscreen. I should find a farmacia sometime this morning, before I get sunburnt.
Breakfast this morning was a simple but tasty affair. The nuns presented a spread of breads, fruit, cereal, and sliced meats and cheeses. And coffee - Italian coffee is quite strong, especially by American standards. I still had two cups, which should keep me awake well into the night.
Today was a tour of early Christan churches in Rome. Our first stop was the Church of the Holy Cross (Santa Croce in Gerusalemme), but Mass was still going on when we arrived, so we went to the Holy Steps (Santa Scala). Santa Scala is a shrine right near St. John Lateran, consisting of three staircases in parallel leading up to a view of a room with a reliquary. The center stair is held by tradition to be 28 steps of Pilate's praetorium climbed by Jesus during his trial. The staircase was brought to Rome by St. Helena (Constantine's mom). Pilgrims climb this center stair on their knees in prayer. We didn't have the time, however, so we looked at the relic area from the side staircase.
After Santa Scala, we went back to Santa Croce, where Mass was just ending. This was one of the earliest churches in Rome, built to house the pieces of the True Cross brought back by the aforementioned St. Helen. There are still a few pieces housed here, along with other relics such as the sign that hung over Jesus at the crucifixion, and the finger of Thomas the Apostle.
The nave of Santa Croce was richly decorated, with mosaics of various biblical stories, and the story of St. Helen finding the True Cross and bringing it back. She was 80 when she made the trip to Jerusalem, so she was one tough lady!
(Since my pictures didn't turn out well, there are some lovely pics of Santa Croce here.)
...Back to Basilicas... (3/9)
After Santa Croce, we went to St. John Lateran, the oldest legal church in Rome. 
It was founded by Emperor Constantine in 313, on the site of the battle that made him emperor after a vision showing a cross and the words "In hoc signo vinces" ("In this sign you shall be victorious"). Roman emperors would often build temples to gods when they won battles - in Constantine's case, this was Christ, so the Christians in Rome got their first church...and got to stop being persecuted.
St. John Lateran, considered the mother of all Roman churches, doesn't completely resemble its 4th century origins - it was severely damaged by fire in the 16th century. It is the same size, which is rather large, and some of the mosaics and frescoes salvaged from the original were incorporated into the new. The nave is quite large, with marble tiled floors, and larger-than-life sculptures of the Apostles in ornate marble niches on either side.
The apse has a very large gilt mosaic of Christ and the apostles, reaching up into the dome. There are also two ornate side chapels, at least that I saw. The one downside to being on a tour is that there really wasn't as much time as I'd have liked to just explore the place further.
The next stop in our whirlwind tour of really early churches was St.Paul-outside-the-Walls, built on the site of a shrine that housed the mortal remains of St. Paul after his martyrdom. This church was also rebuilt after a fire in 1823. Unlike Santa Croce and the Lateran basilica, it didn't get a kitschy neo-classical facade in the 18th century. Apparently when tourists looking at classical history started outnumbering the pilgrims visiting Rome, the government put neoclassical facades on the more popular tourist spots. (Until then, the Lateran was just a boring brick building on the outside and beautiful on the inside.)
St. Paul's actually has a large courtyard in front, as initially designed, with a statue of the Apostle in the center. The facade has some nice gilt frescoes, and the nave is quite beautiful, with mosaics and frescoes from the life of St. Paul. At the time of its building, it was the largest church in the world, a title it held until the building of the cathedral in Florence. There are two side altars of malachite, and impressive works in stone and marble.
Before the high altar area, a little staircase leads down to where the sarcophagus of St. Paul is. There's unfortunately not much of Paul left (gee thanks, pirates...) but the chains that bound him are on display. Like the Lateran, I wish we'd had more time.
The one I most regret not staying longer at was St. Maria Maggiore. Like the Lateran and Holy Cross, it ended up with a neoclassical facade, but inside it was absolutely beautiful. It is quite opulent, with mosaics and guilding, but I was most struck by the use of a staggering variety of colors of marble in the decorations.
We had Mass with the Archbishop in the Pauline (Borghese) Chapel there, so I had time to admire the use of marble and sculpture in that small space. I got to see very little of the rest, though, and would love to go back again.
After our all-too-brief tour, we attended a reception for the Archbishop at the home of the US Ambassador to the Holy See, Miguel Diaz. With all the august personages there, I felt a little out of my depth, but it was a nice reception anyway. And the Archbishop was joking about matchmaking DD with the Ambassador's 13-year-old son, which was amusing but embarrassed DD a bit.
The evening after then has been quiet - a gelato and some dinner, and tomorrow will mostly be free.
(The Vatican website has a very nice virtual tours:
St. John Lateran
St. Paul outside the Walls
St. Mary Major
Very good picture quality, and a blessing since most of my interior pics didn't turn out...)
"Tu es Petrus..." (Rome 2010 - 4/9)
I'm sitting in the nave at St. Peter's, waiting for the Pallium Mass to start.
Archbishop Wenski is one of 38 archbishops from around the world receiving a pallium from the Holy Father today. The archbishop held Mass here yesterday, and beforehand we got to wander around a bit and take pictures. There was a sweeper driving around here keeping the floor clean - it looked like a miniature zamboni.St. Peter's is quite huge, and also makes much use of marble and bronze. Where St. Maria Maggiore was vividly decorated, img src="http://www.clioratha.net/images/Rome2010/zamboni.jpg" align=right alt="Zamboni cleaning St. Peter's Basilica" hspace=7 vspace=7>St. Peter's is primarily white and gold,with more muted tones used in the marble.
Yesterday's Mass with the Archbishop was actually a capella, because the musicians had gone with the other half of the group to Assisi. Since we'd been to Assisi in the past, we opted to stay in Rome. We had a large block of free time yesterday, so DD and I wandered around a bit through St. Peter's Square and around. Lesson learned: don't buy from the vendors directly near the square - they charge outrageous prices, and a block's walk can get the same items for half the price. If it's water you want, there are public fountains all over, free-flowing and surprisingly cold. Quite refreshing!
Yesterday evening we attended Vespers at St.Paul-outside-the-Walls, celebrated by the Holy Father. Seating was 90 minutes beforehand, and security was pretty tight. The choicest seats were right beside the aisle, and we managed to sit two seats in from there. We got a very nice glimpse of the Holy Father as he passed by. He seems a bit on the short side, but at 83 that's perhaps to be expected. He did seem to be in good spirits.
Vespers was in Latin, although the prayers and readings were in other languages - each intercession in the Prayers of the Faithful was in a different language. Everyone in the congregation got a booklet to follow along and participate, and it makes a good keepsake. 
Pope Benedict XVI has a nice cadence to his speaking voice, especially during his homily. Many of the Mass and prayer parts are sung, especially in Latin, and either he is a merely adequate singer, or his voice isn't well-suited to Gregorian chant. Or it could be age - the oldest priest at our parish is of similar age and vocal quality.
St.Paul's looks even better with the lights on inside, and I could see details I'd missed the day before. One neat feature it has is portraits of all of the successors of Peter, running clockwise around the nave, with the current pope's portrait always lit.
After Vespers, we walked to Trastevere, about 45 minutes from the hotel. We ate at Taverna de Mercanti, a very nice restaurant across from St. Cecilia's. I had a mixed grill with chicken, quail, pork, beef and lamb, and a very good house wine. For the most part, you can't go wrong with just having the house wine in Italy. I've discovered that the reduced effect I see from Italian wines is because most don't contain sulfites. Why would they, when wine is so prevalent that it doesn't need preservation?
(Virtual tour of St. Peter's Basilica)
"..et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam" (Rome 2010 - 5/9)
Madri Pie, 29 June 2010
We're taking a break - after Mass we went to the Pontifical North American College (a seminary near the Vatican) to a reception for the three North American archbishops - besides Miami, Milwaukee and Cincinnati also got new archbishops.The Pallium Mass was lengthy, but rather neat - most of the Mass was in Latin, but the homily and greetings were Italian. The Prayers of the Faithful were a varied collection of languages, including Korean and Vietnamese. It was fitting,though, considering the 38 new archbishops are spread throughout every populated continent except Australia (which is small enough that they probably don't need new archbishops very often).
Communion was a slightly chaotic affair - although there were quite a number of priests dispensing, spread throughout the nave, it seemed like people would still try to shove their way forward. I suppose, though, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Exiting the basilica was demonstration of that! I got separated from my family several times in the press of the crowd. Kind of embarrassing being cut off by packs of diminutive nuns, but I suppose I probably cut folks off myself trying to catch up to my family. There seem to be two kinds of people when it comes to crowd control - those who tend to queue and wait, and those who just shove their way forward without regard for others. But I suppose that's human nature.
Other than the crowd issues, it was enjoyable. On both the procession and recession, groups of folks applauded or cheered their archbishop as he passed, and of course the Holy Father was the center of attention. And of security - the rather colorful Vatican guards preceded and followed the procession, and a number of other, less conspicuous, men in suits were spaced throughout the nave, keeping people from hanging over the barrier or standing on chairs. I imagine it's a very restrictive mix, being spiritual leader of a billion people with numerous public responsibilities, combined with the necessary security protocols for a head of state.
With music in her heart... (Rome 2010 - 6/9)
29 June 2010
This afternoon we went down to Trastevere - by taxi this time because of the heat - to visit St. Cecilia's.
We'd been there before, but it is a nice little church and we wanted to visit again, since St. Cecilia is DD's patron saint. St. Cecilia's is connected to a Benedictine convent, with a small garden in front. Inside, it's a little baroque, with some white and gold, and vivid frescoes and mosaics. There were lilies everywhere, and the side aisles had painted murals and ongoing restoration.
What made the trip most worthwhile was the crypt area. St. Cecilia's is built atop the original 4th century church, which was built on St. Cecilia's own house and the site of her martyrdom. This time we were able to get into the original crypt chapel - last time we were here, it was locked.
It was amazingly beautiful - floor to ceiling mosaics in red, blue, and gold, with more muted mosaicwork near the ceiling on the walls.
We could see the area behind the altar, where the remains of St. Cecilia and her husband are, stone sarcophagi stacked atop each other. It was very still and cool, since it was underground. Other excavations outside the chapel are ongoing, and it's cool and damp. Some of the original mosaic floors from the Roman house are visible.
Looking at the bits and pieces of old and new (where 'new' means 'only 4 centuries') I got a few ideas for cross-stitch designs. I had an idea in St. Peter's as well, inspired by the marblework on one of the columns. I'll have to explore this further.
(Ed: This is the place I most regret my photos not turning out. There are some photos online, at least.)
Live...from St. Peter's Square... (Rome 2010 - 7/9)
St. Peter's Square, 30 June 2010
We're in St. Peter's Square, waiting for the Papal audience to start.
We're three rows from the front, so we have an excellent view. The cameras and security are being set up, and a marching band just came in. They look Austrian with bright red vests, short black pants, and brown feathered caps. They sound great, and are a pleasant distraction from the sun beating down on us.....
We've been here 90 minutes, with 60 minutes left to go before the Holy Father arrives. I can't even begin to estimate how many people are here. My ticket number is near 18000, though, so 20,000 could be a modest estimate.
Thirty minutes out, and the brass band has been joined by a pipe-and-drum band dressed in black medieval-looking robes and frilly collars.
There was also an impromptu performance by a boy's choir behind us, and the Panamanian contingent nearby was just singing. Not sure if it's Battle of the Bands, or Vatican Idol, but it passes the time.
The Holy Father's address was in Italian, after a reading from Paul's letter to the Romans in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish. After the address are greetings and prayers for groups by language, with a shorter address in each language by the Holy Father - he has a definite German accent to his English. In the callouts, I learned that the brass band was indeed Austrian, the boy's choir behind us is from Ireland, and the pipe-and-drum band from Spain. There are several other choirs in the audience, all of whom have sung when called out.
Mangia, mangia! (Rome 2010 - 8/9)
Madri Pie, 30 June 2010
Back at the hotel, and it's after midnight. We had a formal lunch at the Archbishop's hotel, and a very nice reception tonight at La Perla in Castel Gandolfo. It was a 6-course dinner, and several priests gave speeches. One of them did an absolutely hilarious impersonation standup of Harry Carey and Howard Cosell describing the Pallium Mass as a sporting event, and he was spot on for them, as well as the Holy Father, the Archbishop, and several presidents. The whole room was in stitches.We also got served some nice wine, and prosecco - the rose processo was especially nice.
This was our fourth multicourse meal this trip - we had dinner at Cecilia Metella last night, and I learned a new card game from a couple of boys at my table - a pickup/match game called Scorvo (Ed: this turned out to be Scopa with an American deck...). It definitely passed the time between courses.
Madri Pie, 1 July 2010
This morning we had Mass at St.Peter-in-Chains (S. Pietro in Vincoli), built around the two sets of chains that held St. Peter in Jerusalem and in Rome. S. Pietro in Vincoli dates from the 5th century, but most of the interior is newer. This most famous art here is Michelangelo's "Moses", which was neat, but I found inspiration for future design work in the borders and mosaics. I'm finding a lot of inspiration as we visit old basilicas. Yesterday we had Mass at the cathedral in Albano, near Castel Gandolfo - there was some inspiration there as well, despite it being a somewhat more modern interior. There were some neat frescoes of St. Helen, and Constantine seeing the cross in the sky.
Today after St. Peter-in-Chains, we walked through the Colosseum and the Forum. I'd seen both before, but we had a wonderful tour guide, art historian Dr. Elizabeth Lev, and it was very cool seeing how these places intertwined with early Christianity. Liz also had an engaging speaking style and sense of humor.
The Agony and the Ecstasy (Rome 2010 - 9/9)
Inflight between Rome and JFK, 2 July 2010
Yesterday we had the rare privilege of attending Evening Prayer in the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is nestled in the heart of the Vatican Museums, and is the site where papal elections and other significant events occur. It sees 4 million visitors a year, but opening it up for prayer use by outside groups is rare enough that Dr. Lev, who has visited there a thousand times and has lived and worked in Rome for over a decade, had never done so before.
As for the beauty of the famed chapel itself -- all the pictures and stories you hear really don't prepare you for the sheer awe it inspires. The ceiling, arguably the most famed fresco in existence, really is a masterpiece of color and depth. It has been restored over the past decade or so, with a small unrestored patch left behind so you can see how dark it had gotten from the candles, incense, and the passage of years.
When I'd seen pictures of the ceiling before, I'd assumed Michelangelo was painting between roof supports. I never realized that some of those were just painted! And indeed, a number of the figures and columns look more like sculptures coming out of the ceiling toward you.
The other well-known fresco here, the Last Judgment, is behind the altar. This was painted toward the end of Michelangelo's life, and in some ways is heavier, but it is also full of movement. There are so many little details and it is busy, but not too much so. It was also a chance for Michelangelo to get a little payback - some of his enemies are painted being dragged off to hell, while he painted his friends in heaven. (Apparently such cameos were not unusual, though - I remember a fresco in Orvieto, where the painter painted his ex-girlfriend as a harlot being carried off to hell.) You definitely didn't want to get on a fresco painter's bad side!
There is other art in the Sistine Chapel that you don't hear as much about - 12 murals along the sides showing scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and a marble mosaic floor that reminded me of an elaborate quilt pattern. The side murals are quite beautiful too, but suffer in comparisn to the celing and altar.
(The Vatican website has an awesome
virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel, much better than any of my pictures!)
After evening prayer, we had a reception on a terrace in the museum, and we all received a commemorative medal from the Archbishop.
Our final family dinner in Italy was at a restaurant called La Vittoria, near St.Peters. DH and DD split a mixed seafood appetizer, and we discovered she likes raw oysters, and anchovies. Not to my taste, but to each their own. All of the food was very good - DH had an excellent sea bass, and the limoncello was excellent. DD had watermelon for dessert - and I actually liked it. I guess never knew watermelon to have a definite taste. It does seem like all the fruits tasted more intense in Italy - I guess Europe is content to let fruits be their natural states, instead of breeding for size or appearance.
We took an early taxi to the airport, and are now headed home by way of New York. Driving in Rome is an interesting challenge. There are few lane dividers, and in town it seems those that do exist are rarely heeded. Cars weave in and out, in a close chaotic dance, and yet despite that I saw surprisingly few collisions. I'm not sure what arcane skills our tour bus driver had that allowed him to pass effortlessly through traffic and tight turns without incident. And riding with the taxi driver was almost like being on a roller coaster - a wild ride, but under control.
In some ways it will be good to be home, but I was also a little sad to leave.