"Beneath the Apostle's Crowning Dome"

Entering St Peter's

Top: Giotto's "Navicella" (extensively reworked 17th century) Antonio Averlino "Filarete": Panels from the Central Door of St Peter's Basilica showing- above- Martyrdom of St Peter and -below- Martyrdom of St Paul (completed 1445). Bottom: Nave of St Peter's towards High Altar.

The three topmost images are of particular interest in that they were retained from the old basilica. That the mosaic was originated by Giotto seems hard to credit following the later reworking. Filarete's bronze door panels have fared somewhat better having been simply extended to fill the larger doorway of the new basilica.

On my earlier visits in 1979 and 2000 entry to St Peter's was somewhat easier. One could simply wander across the piazza and stroll in. Nowadays entry to the piazza itself involves going through airport style security procedures. I got the hang of remembering to take my mobile phone, keys and other metal objects off my person and put them with my jacket through an X-ray machine in the colonnade. This was, however, less of an irritant than the barriers inside the basilica which prevent access to and veneration of the statue of St Peter.

These shots were taken in the early evening of the Sunday during which we found that we were now able to visit the Treasury which is open as a museum housing such wonders as the monumental bronze tomb of Pope Sixtus IV by Antonio Pollaiuolo. There also may be seen the tiara used on St Peter's statue on feastdays and a couple of splendid  angels in clay by Bernini. These were models for figures in stone or bronze but being direct works had a vivid liveliness which even that master could not match in the finished works.There was also on display an accurate reproduction of the original supposed chair of St Peter which is enshrined within within Bernini's monument at the Altar of the Cathedra. Unfortunately photography was not allowed in the Treasury so I am unable to show these wonderful things.

More of the Lateran

Top: Loggia of Benedictions: Middle: Obelisk; Bottom Towards the Santa Scala.

As is well-known, the Lateran Basilica is the Pope's Cathedral Church. Fewer people are aware, however, of the fact that, for perhaps the greater part of its history, the Lateran Palace was the popes' principal residence in Rome- hence the Loggia of Benedictions from which the Urbi et Orbi blessing could be given. Of the former Lateran Palace only fragments remain and include the loggia and the building seen in the bottom photo the facade of which gives entry to the Santa Scala - the holy staircase believed to have been part of Pilate's residence in Jerusalem and trodden by Our Blessed Lord during His trial on that first Good Friday. It was brought to Rome by St Helena and formed part of the access to the Pope's private chapel - known as the Sancta Sanctorum or Holy of Holies owing to the vast number of sacred relics enshrined there. The actual stone staircase- the central one of three, is now, since the eighteenth century largely covered by a wooden casing for protection. The custom is to climb the twenty-eight steps on one's knees- which I can vouch is extremely painful. The heresiarch Martin Luther is said to have given up about half way up and walked down. This hopefully more loyal son of Holy Church made it to the top during my pilgrimage in 2000! I returned with the intention of making a second attempt, however, whether because it was lunchtime or a Sunday, I found the gates closed. My disappointment was somewhat ameliorated by a sense of relief as I do not think I have ever subjected myself to quite so much physical pain as on that day back in 2000.

The obelisk nearby, like several others in Rome, was acquired from Egypt by one of the old emperors and it rather takes one's breath away  to realise that it stood in Egypt even before Moses led the Israelites in the Exodus. It was, as I say, time for lunch and nearby I was able to get a panino with salami and mozzarella for three euros and very tasty it was indeed!

St John Lateran

The Pope's Cathedral Church. From the top: View from the nave; High Altar and Baldacchino; Apse with Cathedra. 
Our visit to the Lateran Basilica followed upon a failed attempt to visit Santa Croce in Gerusalemme owing to the lunchtime closure.

Santa Pudenziana

Just a little way down the Esquiline Hill from Sta Maria Maggiore and around a corner (just) is the church of Santa Pudenziana, the significance of which came to my attention only recently. It is believed to have been built on the site of the house of the senator Pudens with whom Saint Peter is said to have lodged and to be therefore, in effect, the church with the claim to greatest antiquity in the city. A board from the altar used by St Peter is preserved in the altar- the rest having migrated to the Lateran basilica when it became the popes' cathedral church. Also of note is the apse mosaic which, although somewhat reduced from its original size is said to be the oldest apse mosaic in Rome. Once the titular church of Nicholas Cardinal (Full in the panting heart of Rome/From out the Flaminian Gate)Wiseman it is now home to the Philippino community in Rome. They were awaiting the start of mass so I was only able to grab these shots rather quickly from the back of the church.

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.

Roman Reflections 1

It is now just over a week since I returned from our most recent visit to Rome. The view above is a shot of my first sight of Saint Peter's Basilica after having emerged from the metro station- whence we had been brought from Stazzione Roma Termini at which we had been deposited from the shuttle bus linking  from Ciampino airport where we had landed from a flight from Manchester- courtesy of Ryan Air. It was a sight to lift the spirits and confirmed that we really were in Rome. My two previous visits had been earth-bound. In 1979 I had arrived by train in time for the first Easter Triduum of the pontificate of Blessed John Paul II and in May 2000 we arrived in Rome for the Great Jubilee - again with Pope John Paul II- with children and caravan in tow all the way from Britain. On that occasion I had returned home with two ambitions unfulfilled- of seeing some more of the churches famed for their mosaics and, most significantly, of visiting the archaeological excavations around Saint Peter's tomb under the Vatican Basilica. 

Early in January we booked the flight and, thanks to the wonderful Internet, tickets to visit the "Scavi" beneath St. Peter's. At that point we also considered getting tickets for the papal audience for the week of our visit but decided to wait and see how the papal diary would unfold. My preference was for attending a papal liturgy. As I explained at the time, an audience mainly consists of the pope speaking in some language I don't understand whereas the liturgy in Latin is largely, if not wholly, comprehensible. To pray with the holy father certainly seemed preferable to listening merely to the music of his talk. In early February we booked our hotel- the Hotel San Pietro, on the Via Gregorio VII barely a stone's throw from the Vatican. Things seemed to be falling into place very nicely. Perhaps I might reconsider the papal audience question. Then came the shocking news of Pope Benedict's proposed resignation. 

There can hardly be a soul upon this earth who was not surprised by this news. For my insignificant self, however, it had a peculiar and disappointing resonance. I have repeatedly joked about how no sooner had we booked our visit than the Pope decided to resign,"If that shower are coming then I'm off!"- but I have found it all, and especially the ensuing developments, very saddening in ways I did not foresee.

As the cardinals entered the Conclave someone asked me what kind of pope I would like. Frankly, I didn't feel at all bothered. I am a Catholic.The pope is the pope is the pope. "How about an African pope?" I was asked. "Fine." I replied, "there are some great African cardinals". "Or," I was asked, "an Asian or one from Latin America?"

The last question pulled me up. Something in me was curiously uncomfortable with the idea of a Latin American Pope. At the time I tried to rationalise it. There was, after all the taint of Liberation Theology but I was also aware that, while the Church has its problems in Europe, it is hardly sunshine and flowers in southern America. Repeatedly we are told that the greatest number of Catholics live there but that the shortage of priests there makes us look positively over-endowed with clergy by comparison. And then Pope Francis was elected.

Pope Francis seems to be a very unusual pope. He doesn't do languages at all. On Easter Sunday it was evident that people from many nations had gathered in St Peter's Square with their national flags and banners. As ever the Esperanto lobby were quite visible. Pope Francis  stuck solely to Italian. It is also clear that he does not like Latin and its place in the papal liturgies has become increasingly restricted to little more than the main parts sung by the schola. Before our visit I downloaded the booklet for the Sunday mass at which he was to ordain several priests of various nationalities. Attendance at a papal mass was seeming far less attractive than in the days of Blessed John Paul II and although we arrived outside St Peter's  reasonably early on the morning of Sunday 21st April we decided to make for Santa Maria Maggiore.
(to be continued)

Sacrament of the slightly queasy

An interesting post from Father Zed!

Papal Arms (with corrections)

The eight-pointed star (not five) makes reference to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the nard flower no longer looks like a bunch of grapes...now if only someone would correct the tiara. ...

Oops! Now the pallium seems to have been lost!
Come on! Wake up, chaps!

Papal Arms

The arms of Pope Francis (thanks to Fr Z). Sadly they don't appear to have been able to find someone able to draw the tiara yet. On the bright side the motto has impeccable credentials being from our St Bede's sermon on .St Matthew Chapter 9.