Rome Day 3

Well Day 3 of our vacation has come to a close and I am exhausted, but I'm also very happy. We had a wonderful day touring a few of the many beautiful churches (there are apparently over 900) here in the eternal city. We started our morning off at Saint Mary Major, The Church of the Snows (named b/c both a man and a pope had a dream that they should build this church on the place where it would snow the next day in August- and it did snow that day on one hill in Rome- and here we are today). The ceiling is gilded with gold Columbus brought back from the new world. There is also an icon here purportedly painted by St. Luke himself (and it was dated back to apostolic times).

There are so many beautiful chapels off this church- it's sort of laid out like St. Peter's. Marc and I were able to go to confession which was so wonderful. Marky and I did a treasure hunt and found the grave of Bernini and also the reliquary containing parts of Jesus' manger.

We also ran into a priest here that was from Orlando and new all about Noah. God keeps having all these amazing encounters in Noah's life to increase our faith.


The chapel with an altar over which hangs the icon supposedly drawn by St. Luke himself.


After Santa Maria Maggiore we went to St. John Lateran, which is the Pope's actual diocese church and before the "Vatican" it was the heart of the church and you talked about going to "the Lateran".

The front doors- bronze patina originally from the Roman Senate-

The treasures in this church include the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul (hidden in a reliquary under their statues) and the wooden altar used by St. Peter himself is hidden inside the church's altar.

Along the columns are 15-foot statues of the Apostles- here is St. Bartholomew-


After St. John Lateran we headed to the Holy Stairs- they are purported to be the stairs brought back from Jerusalem by St. Helen (Constantine's mother) and they are 28 marble stairs that led to Pilate's office and were descended on by Christ on His way to Calvary. Today, in respect and humility, people ascend the stairs on their knees in prayer.

At the bottom are haunting statues of Pilate handing over Jesus and Judas kissing Jesus as well as Christ's agony in the garden. It's a somber sight.

After visiting the Holy Stairs we went to the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, that is the Church of the Holy Cross. When St. Helen went to Jerusalem to find the relics of the passion of Christ, she found the true cross, parts of the crown of thorns, two nails from the crucifixion, a large piece of the good thief's cross as well as the sign that read "Jesus Christ King of the Jews" in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. All these relics (and of course the story of how she found them and knew they were true is long and detailed) are found in this precious church.


Here are the relics- you get to them by ascending a stair case with the stations of the cross, so you must meditate on His passion before seeing these relics from His passion-


This Jerusalem cross (fitting since the Church was filled with Jerusalem treasures) was in the wall by the altar and nearby it read in Latin, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" from Galations 6:14.


After Santa Croce, we went to lunch, which ended up being a bit of a disaster. I ordered "spaghetti marinara" and got "spaghetti with tons of seafood critters in it" instead. Like crawfish, shrimp, clams, mussels and other things with eyes and tails. Oh my goodness- it was like a horror movie (to me- Uncle Dennis ate a lot of the seafood). ANYWAY...

After lunch we headed to the Pantheon- which was amazing and is now a church. Built in 127 by Hadrian, it is the most enduring Roman architectural treasure.

The original 2,000 year old doors on their original hinges!



Marky found the tomb of Raphael and then went outside to be accosted by Roman guards-


After the Pantheon we went to the Trevi fountain and we all threw in a coin-



After visiting the Trevi fountain we walked over to the North American College in Rome and met the most amazing priests and nuns from America. They gave us amazing tickets to see the Pope tomorrow (Noah will be on the FRONT row!). The priests prayed with us for Noah and gave us a tour of the college and its 400-year-old Baroque chapel. No pictures- just happy memories.

After the North American College we headed out to St. Paul's Outside the Walls, a beautiful, huge church built where St. Paul was martyred. The mere size of the church was breathtaking.

Inside there are pictures of every single pope from St. Peter to Pope Benedict XVI.



The grave of St. Paul (also in this church is the grave of St. Timothy)

The chains of St. Paul- the prisoner for Christ-

Strong St. Paul holding his sword with the fire of God in his eyes. His broad shoulders are a bit slumped due to the weight of his mission.

Our final church of the day was Santa Maria in Trastevere-


Marky was SUCH a good sport to go through all of these churches and kept his spirits and energy up throughout the day. He really took his time to look at the statues, relics, and artworks- but it helped even more when I gave him a "mission" to find things. Of course, he was just as happy chasing pigeons which he did all day-


After viewing the churches, the fountain, the pantheon and the North American College our driver dropped us off at our hotels (right beside St. Peter's) and we were able to enjoy the evening shopping and walking around the square.

On the street leading to St. Peter's they have the most beautiful bronze life-size Stations of the Cross I've ever seen- here is Mary, the other Mary and John watching Jesus on the cross.

So, as you can see- we saw it ALL today in Rome and we are exhausted- Marky dropped on his little twin bed in the corner of our room the minute we walked in. (See how they make it up and put his bear on his pillow? Sweet!)

But all in all we are having a ball and it means so much to be here with Amber, Dennis and Noah. We love our familia! We love our Church! And we love to sleep! Buona Sera!