Rome Pilgrimage (Conclusion)

CEBU, Philippines -  Arrived back in Rome late that night on our 2nd day.  We checked in at Sheraton Golf Parco de' Medici Hotel & Resort 2 on Viale Salvatore Rebecchini, just 30 minutes away from the Vatican (if traffic flow is normal).

The next morning was for attending the third of the Triduum Masses in preparation for Canonization Sunday.  It was officiated by Manila Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Cebu's University of the Visayas Chorale did a commendable job as they sang during the Mass.  

Our tour of Rome was to basilicas and churches, in line with our pilgrimage. Our first stop was the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Wall. In the 5th century, this was the largest church until St. Peter's was consecrated in 1626. St. Paul's remains second largest, next to St. Peter's. This church was founded by Emperor Constantine in the 4th century over the tomb of Paul the Apostle, in a burial ground outside the great Aurelian Walls (fortification built in 4 years by Emperors Aurelian & Probus in 3rd century AD, 19 km long around the city of Rome). We viewed a portion of the rough marble sarcophagus bearing the body of St. Paul through a grille under the High Altar. Above it is the chain that tied him during his imprisonment in Rome before he was beheaded by Emperor Nero (Christian persecution lasted three centuries!). According to Church tradition, his head is kept in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

St. John Lateran is the only Archbasilica, the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome.  It holds the official ecclesiastical seat (the "cathedra") of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Holy Father the Pope. The name is in honor of Sts. John the Baptist and John the Evangelist; Lateran is in honor of the Laterani family - owner of the land and of the Lateran Palace which was the Papal residence until the 15th century when the Pope transferred to St. Peter's. On the façade of the basilica is written: eccles omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum, mater et caput (the mother and head of all the churches of the city and of the world).

Lateran is the oldest of only four ancient major papal basilicas: St. John Lateran, St. Paul's, St. Peter's and Sta. Maria Maggiore. It was built by Christians when they could worship freely, as the convert Emperor Constantine legalized the religion through the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. Its ceiling is gilded with the first shipment of gold from the New World, done by pupils of Michaelangelo and finished in 1562.  The basilica is keeper of the wooden altar used by St. Peter and all the popes after him, as well as the wooden table of the Last Supper (in a chapel). In silver busts are the remains of the skulls of St. Peter and St. Paul.  The Vicar of the Pope is in charge of the basilica, and that is currently Cardinal Ruini.

400 meters away is the Minor Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem (Basilica di Sancta Croce in Gerusalemme). It was consecrated in 325 AD to keep the Relics of the Passion brought by St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, from the Holy Land. We saw how the basilica floor was covered with soil from Calvary, earning its name as "in Heirusalem." We were awed as we saw up close (no photos allowed!) in the Chapel of the Reliquary: 1) part of the INRI panel, 2) two pieces of the thorns from the crown of Jesus, 3) an incomplete nail, 4) three small wooden pieces from the cross - the bigger piece of the Cross was transferred to St. Peter's and placed beside the imposing statue of St. Helena near the apse, 5) a large piece of the Good Thief's cross, 6) bone of the index finger of Thomas the Apostle which touched the wounds of the Risen Christ, 7) in a single reliquary: small pieces from the Scourging Pillar where Jesus was lashed, pieces from the Holy Sepulchre and the Crib, with fragments of the grotto in Bethlehem.

Being one of seven pilgrim churches of Rome, it is connected directly to the Major Basilica of St. John Lateran and the Major Basilica of Sta. Maria Maggiore, forming the Mystic Triangle - according to our local guide - of the most important churches in Christendom. Its façade is typically Roman Baroque, like the two other basilicas.

Nearby is the Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs), 28 marble steps taken from the palace of Pontius Pilate where Jesus walked many times during His trial -- also brought by St. Helena from the Holy Land. The steps are now covered with wood and devotees climb kneeling up to the Sancta Sanctorum (gaining plenary indulgence in doing so, especially after confession and Holy Communion). St. Lawrence Chapel, early chapel of the Pope in the Lateran Palace, holds "the holy of holies" which are reliquaries no longer accessible to the faithful, only to a few prelates.

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is the largest of the 26 Marian churches in Rome. Also known as Our Lady of the Snows because of the miracle of the snow where the basilica is erected, Santa Maria Maggiore was built soon after the Council of Ephesus (431AD) which proclaimed Mary as the Mother of God. Under the High Altar is the Crypt of the Nativity containing a crystal reliquary holding wood from the Holy Crib of Christ's Nativity.

We ended our two half-day tours in St. Peter's where we viewed Michaelangelo's Pieta now enclosed in glass, high above and far from the spectators. I was able to touch it when I first saw it as a college student in the early 70s. A few years later, a deranged man damaged the masterpiece with a hammer. Once again, I was overwhelmed by the treasures inside St. Peter's, and I made a silent prayer of thanks to Pope Pius XII for negotiating with the conflicting powers to keep the bombs away from the Vatican in the Second World War.

On our 6th day in Rome, we were heading for the Leonardo da Vinci Airport for our flight back to home sweet home via Cathay Pacific