In this post, you will see the rest of St. Paul Outside the Walls, our visit to the Catacombs (although we were not allowed to take photographs there) and more narrative on our day.
This I have to say first though. We didn't really see a lot of the Vatican... there was SO much we didn't see. But what we did see was enormous and impactful! It is difficult for me to label the pictures I took, cause I was just clicking to try to capture my experience. Through the 'whispers' that we constantly had in our ears, our guides were giving us a detailed description of what we were looking at. But to capture that, I would have needed lots of video with sound. It was all very humbling. Throughout my posts, I am including links to many of the things I saw that I cannot explain. Clicking on the links will certainly give you better pictures than I could have taken and probably give you a lot of the detail that I was hearing at the time. But know that if there is a link, you will be looking at something that I saw!
To me, probably the most humbling and sacred part of the Vatican tour was when we went downstairs to where the Popes are entombed. Below are interesting links to more information about the tombs.
OK, so on with day two. I haven't even seen Pope Francis.... yet :-(. I have to say, that when family and friends ask me about my experience, I become tongue tied.... unable to articulate anything about what I saw and heard. That is why this exercise to re-live my pilgrimage is so important to me.
Before we went to St. Paul outside the Walls, we enjoyed a little shopping time and then lunch nearby the Trevi Fountain. It was the atmosphere of a town square with LOTS of people and shops. Trevi Fountain is well known (Three Coins in the Fountain). It had just recently been refurbished and was beautiful. Funny, I didn't take any photo's though. Guess I was too interested in the 'gelato' that my roommate Jeanne and I picked up at the corner gelato (ice cream store). Below is a link to Trevi Fountain that may be helpful.
So I can't remember if I talked about 'Holy Doors' for the year of Mercy. If you weren't aware, there were three Holy Doors in our Diocese. One was in Portland, one was in Medford, and I can't remember where the other one was. But each time you walked through a Holy Door, and met the criteria set forth by Pope Francis, one could receive a plenary indulgence. The following link explains this a little better:
They are named after the deacon Callixtus who, at the beginning of the third century, was appointed by pope Zephyrinus as the administrator of the cemetery and so the catacombs of St. Callixtus became the official cemetery of the Church of Rome."
Before we went to St. Paul outside the Walls, we enjoyed a little shopping time and then lunch nearby the Trevi Fountain. It was the atmosphere of a town square with LOTS of people and shops. Trevi Fountain is well known (Three Coins in the Fountain). It had just recently been refurbished and was beautiful. Funny, I didn't take any photo's though. Guess I was too interested in the 'gelato' that my roommate Jeanne and I picked up at the corner gelato (ice cream store). Below is a link to Trevi Fountain that may be helpful.
After a visit to the fountain, we had a lovely lunch before we continued our pilgrimage. Incidentally, I could probably write a separate blog on our meals alone; and the conversations; and the fellow pilgrims we met each time we dined. It was the best food, the best service and the best fellowship, sharing and conversation ever. And it was always first class! I can't say enough about the meals and opportunities we had to meet and get to know our fellow pilgrims.
So I can't remember if I talked about 'Holy Doors' for the year of Mercy. If you weren't aware, there were three Holy Doors in our Diocese. One was in Portland, one was in Medford, and I can't remember where the other one was. But each time you walked through a Holy Door, and met the criteria set forth by Pope Francis, one could receive a plenary indulgence. The following link explains this a little better:
On this pilgrimage, we had the opportunity to walk through, I believe, four Holy Doors. St. Paul Outside the Walls was one of those Holy Doors. So, once inside, the beauty and breathtaking architecture was second only to the reverence that we all felt as we entered each one of these most important Basilica's. Following are my picture memories...
There were portraits of all the popes above the arches
Below: The apse mosaic was made by Venetian artists.
Below is the tabernacle inside St. Paul Outside the Wall Basilica
One of the altars inside the Basilica
Below is where the burial tomb of St. Paul is. . .
Click the following link for more information about this tomb.
Below is the chain that, according to the most ancient tradition, attached the Apostle Paul to the Roman soldier assigned to guard him while in prison in Rome. It is the most precious relic on display in this chapel.
So the next photo's you will see are of our bus ride to the catacombs of St. Callixtus. I'm going to show you lots of photo's, but keep in mind, we were not allowed to take photos when we were in the catacombs, so I'm including a link below:
The following quote is taken from the website:
"The catacombs of St. Callixtus are among the greatest and most important of Rome.
They originated about the middle of the second century and are part of a cemeterial complex which occupies an area of 90 acres, with a network of galleries about 12 miles long, in four levels, more than twenty meters deep. In it were buried tens of martyrs, 16 popes and very many Christians.They are named after the deacon Callixtus who, at the beginning of the third century, was appointed by pope Zephyrinus as the administrator of the cemetery and so the catacombs of St. Callixtus became the official cemetery of the Church of Rome."
Clicking on the link below, you can learn more about the catacombs and see a photo. The photo is pretty close to what we saw throughout the tunnels and underground pathways of our visit. It really was an experience that I will never forget.
So as promised, here are the photo's of our trip to the catacombs after lunch. We were in the front seat, so got some pretty fun pics just to show you the countryside, etc.
Pictured below as we were waiting for our turn to enter the catacombs is Jeanne, my roommate, our amazing tour guide and another pilgrim. Looks like it was a good time to check our phones (or maybe take a couple pictures).
After we completed our tour of the catacombs, it was back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at Ristorante Da Meo Patacca for pizza!
Check out this link:
Whew! It was a long eventful day, so after dinner, we all slept well since we had to be up and ready to go at 6:15 am on Wednesday the 9th. I believe that will be Pope day.... yea!!
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