Today is the feast of St Lawrence the Deacon. I wanted to go to the church dedicated to him, but due to scheduling issues, we had to cancel that trip. In any case, we began our trip to the St Maria in Vallicella Church where St Philip Neri's body is buried.
 |
| Picture of St Philip Neri and his Incorrupt Body |
St Philip Neri is called the Apostle to Rome because he gathered the poor children of Rome and started to teach them and gave them hope. The movie I watched about him has him teaching the children the song "All I want is Paradise". And I think this sums up what we should all desire. His body is incorrupt so it is displayed to the public.
Next stop was the Pantheon. It used to be a temple for the Roman gods
and goddesses but was converted to a Catholic Church. I could just
imagine at that time, what kind of temple it was, with all the statues
of gods and goddesses. Now, the places where the gods and goddesses had
been are replaced with statues of Christian saints. It is now called the
Church of Mary and the Martyrs.
 |
| Pantheon |
After this, we roamed around the city and came to the St Ignatius Church. As we entered the church, we hear chanting. At first I was surprised to hear them thinking it was the Jesuits who were doing their liturgy of the hours. It turns out the music was a piped in music.
The church is magnificent and it has the incorrupt body if St Robert Bellarmine and Aloysius Gonzaga.
 |
| St Ignatius of Loyola Church |
One thing I discovered is it is good to get lost in Rome. There's a lot of churches that have their own secrets and one just needs to be open to the things these churches hold.
We then went to the Trevi fountain and the sculptures are very impressive. What impresses me is the water is so clean. There's a lot of people at the fountain and a lot of them throwing coins into it.
After the Trevi fountain, we saw a triumph column which I am not sure what it is. But at the top looks like the statue of St Paul.
We walked towards the Mamertine prison where Paul and Peter were held before they were executed. Sadly, the site is closed on Tuesdays so I had to just take the picture from the outside.
 |
| Prison of Peter and Paul |
From here, we had lunch and went to the last two Papal Basilicas: Mary Major and John Lateran.
 |
| Hail Queen of Peace at Mary Major |
Mary Major is the first Basilica dedicated to our Lady. It was erected shortly after Mary was proclaims Theotokos or God-bearer in the council of Ephesus in 431. This proves that veneration of Mary is not a modern day invention but has been in the history of the Church since the early centuries
There is also a chapel underneath the main altar with the wood from the manger where Jesus lain after his birth.
 |
| Main Altar and Relic of the Manger |
 |
| Wood from the Manger where Jesus Lain |
After Mary Major, we went to John Lateran.
Contrary to popular belief, St John Lateran is the Mother Church of Christianity and not St Peter's. It is dedicated to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. As I entered, I saw the columns with statues of the Apostles. This echoes what St Paul says in Ephesians 2:20 that the Church is
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
 |
| St Paul |
 |
| St Peter |
|
|
 |
| St John Lateran with Statues of Apostles |
After John Lateran, we crossed the street to climb on my knees, the stairs Jesus climbed as he goes to meet Pilate.The climb was quite difficult. It is as if I got heavier. But then it gives an idea of how much Jesus suffered. The stairs had been covered by wood and there are spots that had been marked where the blood of Jesus dropped on the steps.
After this, we had dinner at a Mom and Pop restaurant. Surprisingly, the food was good.
 |
| Spaghetti Carbonara |
No comments:
Post a Comment