Santa Maria Maggiore

I took the above snaps after Mass on Sunday 21st April. The mass was sung in Latin -Missa de Angelis and Credo 3 alternating with polyphony and the proper chants- which were sung by the schola. I have always been keen on "active participation" and this is precisely what the Latin and chant facilitate.

Santa Maria Maggiore is one of my favourite churches. It has a ravishingly beautiful interior. The mosaics are early and on the arch of the apse there is the dedication "Sixtus Bishop to the People of God" in Latin. Along the walls of the nave running above the colonade on both sides of the church may be seen a series of similarly early  mosaic panels displaying scriptural narratives. They are somewhat small for their high placement and I wonder if they were transferred there from a lower position at some point in the basilica's long history.