After Mass we took a long tour of the Basilica. We wore headphones and our tour guide was amazing. He knew every bit of history and significance of the things we were seeing. Our former parish priest went along as well and added amazing tidbits to our tour. We were all in awe.
Charlemagne-
The statues on top are 20 feet high, while the ones on bottom are 10 feet high- yet they look the same because of forced perspective.
The baldacchino is made entirely of bronze, much of which was taken from the roof of the Parthenon-
Michaelangelo's Pieta- breathtaking every time. It's so much more alive than all the replicas I have seen.
Blessed Pope John XXIII-
King Peter- it's at tradition to kiss his foot and pray for God's blessing-
Saint Longinus- one of our favorites! He was the Roman guard who pierced Jesus' side with the lance and saw blood and water flow. He said, "Surely this man was the son of God!" We still have the Holy Lance in an altar above this statue, and it was used in a great miraculous battle during the Crusades.
Saint Helena- Constantine's Mother who, by the grace of God, found the True Cross in Jerusalem.
Father was ordained a deacon on the altar at the very front and was explaining all the symbolism of Peter's throne being upheld by the Holy Spirit.
The dome! In the center God the Father and then the cherubim, seraphim and so on as you go.....
Saint Veronica, who wiped the face of our Lord during his walk to the crucifixion-
The two Julia's with Saint Juliana-
Pope Leo the Great stopped Attila the Hun from sacking Rome by going out to meet him. In this image St. Peter and St. Paul give heavenly assistance to Pope Leo as he convinces Attila to turn back.
Ananias and Sapphira withhold from God what is due Him and die in front of Peter and the apostles.
Raphael's last painting- The Transfiguration- the beauty and symmetry of the top of the painting contrast with the chaos around the demon possessed child at the bottom.
Presenting the Blessed Virgin Mary in the temple-
Looking out into St. Peter's square-
After our long tour we all walked to a bus and drove to the catacombs of Saint Sebastian.
The roof inside the Church is amazing-
St. Sebastian, attacked by arrows-
There is a legend about Peter feeling Rome during the persecutions and seeing Jesus walking on the road toward Rome. He said, "Domine, Quo Vadis?", "Lord, where are you going?" And Jesus answered, "I am going to be crucified again." Peter was shamed for his cowardice and went back to Rome where he was martyred for His faith. The legend says that the rock where Jesus stood left an impression of His feet. Here is the legendary stone-
The tomb of Saint Sebastian. He was persecuted by the Roman Emperor Diocletian for his faith and they tied him to a stake and pierced his body with as many arrows "as an urchin". However he miraculously lived and was cared for by St. Irene. He later confronted Diocletian, who after his great surprise that Sebastian had lived, ordered for him to be killed with clubs and thrown in a river. St. Sebastian appeared to a noble woman in a dream afterwards and asked her to bury his remains, which she did in the catacombs below this Church and right beneath this current tomb.
We lit a candles for several prayer intentions while here-
We toured the extensive catacombs beneath the church. They were amazing and seem to go on and on.
After our tour of St. Sebastian, we went across the street to the most charming restaurant and had lunch.
After lunch we went to San Paolo alle Tre Fontane, St. Paul at the Three Fountains. It is here where St. Paul was imprisoned and then taken to be beheaded. The legend says that his head bounced three times and miraculous water springs burst up at those spots. It is now home to Trappist monks. St. Benedict, the father of Western monasticism, greets you at the gate. :)
St. Paul's cell-
We prayed and walked the road he would have walked from his cell to the execution pillar.
The original Roman road that he would have walked is still there to see-
This is the site of one of the springs, they were capped off 50 years ago.
St. Peter's martyrdom-
Pope Anastasio-
The execution pillar-
The austere Trappist monastery church-
Our final stop of the evening was St. Paul's Outside the Walls. Oh how lovely this church is!
It's very Classical- as in how Church's looked in Constantine's time. Pagan Roman temples, even civic temples, were very similarly designed.
The Romans used arches to celebrate their triumphs, so naturally an arch would go in a Church where Christ has conquered death and sin!
This church is built over the grave of St. Paul. You can walk down here and see the end of his marble sarcophagus.
Above it are the chains which held St. Paul, prisoner for Christ.
The image of every single pope from St. Peter....
...To Pope Francis are displayed-
A base for a Paschal Candle- if the base is this big how big is the candle?!
Holy Water font- Demons shutter-
Walking to dinner we saw the guest house where Marc Jr. will be staying this summer-
Another wonderful, blessed, exhausting day. :) Thank you, Lord, for this pilgrimage.
1 comment:
My mouth is open by all you saw. Such holy relics, such antiquity preserved. Can not imagine! So happy Tucker had the great honor of being an alter boy at the Vatican. He will never ever ever forget this!
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