Lots of stuff over three days

I haven't had time to update for a few days, so here goes...

We had gotten in late from Assisi on Friday so everyone slept in a while on Saturday. Since most places close for a few hours of siesta in the afternoon we tried to schedule our remaining time to the fullest.

We started with the basilica of St. Peter in Chains, which houses the chains which held St. Peter in Jerusalem, fused together with chains that held him in the nearby Mamertine prison. The church is also famous for Michelangelo's statue of Moses. The church is not far from our apartment, but it is in an out-of-the-way location and the hills confused us, so we wandered and backtracked a few times until we located it. This was one that we did not visit during our last time here, so we're glad we were able to.

From there it was down the street to St. Mary Major, with a brief stop (before we were kicked out for siesta) at the nearby Santa Pressede with its exquisite Byzantine mosaics. Our last time at St. Mary Major we did not have a chance to really explore, so we were glad to have another opportunity there. Previously when we visited we were not able to descend to the confessio under the main altar, but it was open for us this time. The principle relic located there is some large fragments of the manger, which was very cool to see and venerate just two days after Christmas!

After lunch we headed to St. Paul Outside the Walls. Pope Benedict has declared this to be the Year of St. Paul, so it was a great honor for us to be able to visit this basilica during this special year. We lit a cande for our pilgrimage intentions from the "Pauline Flame" which Pope Benedict lit when he inaugurated the Pauline Year, and entered through a special "Pauline Door" which was designed and decorated for the occasion. In the confessio we could see the end of the sarcophogus holding St. Paul's headless body. (The head resides along with St. Peter's in the Lateran basilica).

We finished off this busy day with a visit to the Capuchin Crypts, which are lined with the bones of 1000's of Capuchin monks as a way to remind us of our own mortality (Beth didn't care for this at all!) and then went to visit the basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, which houses several remarkable relics of Christ's passion, including the True Cross, one of the nails from the crucifixion, two of the thorns from the crown of thorns, and the finger of St. Thomas.

And that was just Saturday.

On Sunday we got up early so we could make it to the Mass at St. Peter's Basilica. We got there in plenty of time to get a good seat. The mass was in Latin with all of the major prayers done in Gregorian Chant. Pretty cool. Immediately after mass we had to rush outside because the weekly Angelus was already in progress. We were not able to get anywhere near as close as we were previously, but still it was cool. It was also cold, wet, and rainy!

We decided to see the neighborhood of Trastevere, which is located south of the Vatican. The bus ride there took us through some beautiful areas high on a hill with some incredible views of Rome. In better weather it would have been nice to get off the bus there and have a picnic. We found a good place to eat with a friendly waiter and then visited the church of Santa Maria in Trestevere, which is the oldest church to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

We didn't have much time left before things shut down, but after returning to our apartment we did get to visit the Mamertine prison, which is right next to the Roman Forum. This is where Peter and Paul were both held prior to their executions. We saw the pillar to which Peter was chained while he was a prisoner there, as well as the spring from which he baptized his fellow prisoners whom he preached to.

Today (Monday) we first visited the Catacombs of San Callisto, which is where 16 of the early popes were buried, as well as St. Cecilia. The priest who led our English-speaking tour was very good, and included the theological significance of the symbols which we could see on the walls.

Then we headed back to the Vatican to tour the Vatican Museum. The clear high-lights for me were the Raphael rooms (a series of rooms containing frescoes by Raphael) and the Sistine Chapel, with Michelangelo's famous ceiling and fresco of the Last Judgment. Our feet were killing us by the end of the day.

We only have a couple days left before we have to return home. It has been a great trip so far.