Rome

This pilgrimage is not for the faint of heart, as I am figuring out. It seems that we are getting up early and going to bed late. We are always on the go and it seems that we do not have much time to rest in between the days. I have heard stories about pilgrims in the medieval times, who would travel from as far away as Sweden, ON FOOT, to Rome. So, who is it that I should complain - right? We pilgrims, are only human and at times being human we grumble about how hard it is. Sometimes thinking this should be easier and we should be doing a more leisure pilgrimage that allows for comfortable rest. We all know that if it were to be easy we would not have the true feeling of what a pilgrimage is. Jesus did not give us the answers to his parables, but allows for us to wrestle with them because he knew that way we would get more out of them. As Jesus said to his Apostles, "The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables..." (Mark 4: 11-12) So, with that I begin the blog of our pilgrimage to Rome!

Wake up call - 1:00 a.m., load the bus at 1:45 a.m., in the Tel Aviv 3:00 a.m. to catch our plane to Rome. Arrived in Rome at 8:30 a.m. We did not go to the hotel but loaded the bus to begin the Rome pilgrimage. Out first stop, the Basilica of St. Mary Major. This grand church was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is said that that the Virgin Mary appeared to Pope Liberius and the patrician Giovanni Patrizio on August 4, 352 AD, instructing them to build a church on the Esguline Hill. Searching for the spot to build was tough as it was a high hill above Rome (at that time) and they couldn't agree upon a spot. Through prayer, and I am sure some frustration, a  miracle was sent to them and snow appeared in Rome on a summer day in August. In that snow they began to draw out the floor plan for the Basilica. Although this church does not sit within the walls of Vatican city, once you enter its doors you are in the Vatican.

Our next stop, the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. As I had mentioned in a previous blog, St. Helena dug all through Jerusalem looking for relics of the Holy Cross and Christ's passion. Upon finding them she sent some to this church, which she build. Here you will find the relics of four small fragments of the Holy Cross, two thrones from the Crown of Thrones, a couple of rocks from the Holy Sepulchre, The finger of St. Thomas, a nail from the Holy Cross, dirt from the holy ground of Jerusalem (why the church is called by it name), a stone fragment of the scourging pillar, and a large piece of the cross of the repentant thief.

Our last stop is at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. This Church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. It is decorated with many icons, paintings, statues of the Apostles, and paintings of Popes. So very beautiful, I could spend a few hours there meditating on the artwork.

Thus ends the day, I need to get some rest as we will rise early tomorrow to have a general audience with the Pope!

Peace,

Fr. John.