2016-08-09 St Paul's Outside the Walls, the Coliseum and Dinner

After lunch we went to St Paul Outside the Walls. I really, really love St Paul because his writings taught me a lot about Jesus and I really, really wanted to go to the place where he died. it is a far ride from the Vatican but taking the Metro was not a problem.

Statue of St Paul

One of the things we notice is there are a lot of faucets along the streets of Rome where water just flows freely. These are very welcome sights because it gets very hot in Rome.

I really want to go to where St Paul died, to get a sense that his martyrdom is real. This man gave up his life proclaiming the gospel of his Lord. And it looks like this is the theme of my pilgrimage: Martyrdom. But then, I do not think I am ready for that.

From the entrance of the church

In any case, it is a huge church and is maintained by the Benedictines. Right at the plaza before going to the church is a huge statue of St Paul. He has a sword, because he was beheaded, and he holds a book because he wrote most of the books in the Bible.

The church is fitting for a great man whom I considered played a major role in changing the course of history with his writings. It is not as noisy and busy as St Peter's but it still has a grandeur that is worthy of such a great man.

Chains of St Paul

What is interesting is towards the front of the church is place where they show the sarcophagus of St Paul, the marble container where St Paul is buried. They found this right under the main altar. And on top of this are the chains that bound St Paul while he was in captivity.

Sarcophagus of St Paul

This was a very profound experience for me because in front of me is proof that this man was captured and was buried in this place. The early Christians revered this man and buried him and even kept his chains as a relic to remind them of what this man had done.

It also shows that the practice of keeping relics of holy people had been done since the beginning of Christianity and is not a modern invention of the Catholic Church.

The added bonus is that we were able to join the mass at the church. I was disappointed because there was no mass at St Peter's when we were there. But here, we were able to join them. Even if the mass was in Italian, I was still able to follow them liturgy. The mass is the mass, whatever the language. Jesus is still present in the Eucharist in whatever language.

After St Paul's we went to the Coliseum and saw this popular destination. I just wondered how this site would have looked like before. With marble all around it, where Christians were executed for fun. Again, the theme of martyrdom. Yet, it is ironic that the marble of this building was stripped when they were building St Peter's. The Roman Empire collapsed centuries after Christianity began and Christianity is still here 2000 years after.

Many people today aim to destroy Christianity. From Muslim extremists, to modern day political extremists and bigots. They think they can silence the Church by killing her members or by intimidating them. Unknown to them, they will long be gone and the Church will still remain. "Not even the gates of hell will prevail against it" according to Jesus. But there will be a huge cost to pay for Christians in the coming years. The good news is Jesus has overcome! Jesus has triumphed! Constantine's arch was at the Coliseum and it speaks of his victory. The Roman empire in all her glory fell after centuries. Her enemies prevailed over her. But Christ's Church will NEVER fall.

Dinner time was at one of the restaurants near the Coliseum. The waiter was Filipino and we had pasta (of course).

Pasta will never taste the same again