Vatican City Tribute

     My gingerbread men this year. I'm exceedingly proud of them. :)

     It only took an hour to do the three of them; shorter than I expected. I owe the candy-cane-halberd-idea to my sister.
     I just realized how silly it was of me to have the Pope be on the right and not in the middle... Oh well.
     More chronicling is on its way! I'll try to have the Florence post out by tomorrow morning.

My Last Sunday

     Today is my last Sunday in Rome. It's pretty sad, even though I'm fairly ready to go back home. I went to Mass at St. Peter's today, the last Sunday Mass at my special parish. Turns out that today is the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica (St. Peter's), so they had special choir pieces for Mass, as well as a program that I got to keep. :-D  I always love those. You can't keep the ones for normal Sunday Masses because they reuse them.

     Celebrating Mass were a cardinal, 15-20 monsignors and bishops, and 40 priests. Helping with Mass were 10-20 altar servers, the choir, and sundry Vatican workers.

     Oh, those Vatican workers. Those dear, dear Vatican workers. Some are helpful, some are not. Some are young, some are old. Some wear this kind of suit, some wear that kind of suit. Some are cranky, some are normal, and some are flirts. (Really, though, they have nothing else to do while they are standing around. And they ARE "Romantics" in one sense of the word.) We have the grouchy guy very annoyed at everyone trying to get in through the exit, and then we have the guys who welcome you into Mass with (literally) open arms, slight bows, sweeping gestures, and smiles. They make you feel like a VIP when you do that, especially when you see that the same guys in uniform suits just stopped five other people from coming in. (If it's clear that you don't want to go to Mass but only want to explore and take pictures, they won't let you in. It's really good, though. Helps keep a proper atmosphere for the people who want to pray and go to Mass.) Don't expect such treatment unless you're a young woman without male companions, by the way. If you're a guy, they might be polite and nice to you, but not half so much as they would to a girl. That's the way things work here in Italy. In France, too. And probably Spain, but I can't say. (But hey, at least you guys don't have 40 year old men hitting on you. :-P )

     In fact, I think we made this particular guy's day. The ushers at St. Peter's walk through the aisles when taking up the collection (the pews are farther apart there than they are at home, so there's room), so they are right in front of you when you do or don't put money in. Well, Katie Shannon and I managed to cough up all of eleven cents, it being our last Sunday in Rome and all. Putting in those three measley coins somehow made the usher break into a big smile. (I'd like to point out that he was a young usher. The ushers usually are young. Probably because they have an easier time weaving through the pews and stepping over coats and purses than the older guys.)

The cardinal blessing us after Mass

     I'll miss the silly Vatican workers, even the ones with the awful Italian haircut that has been dubbed the "Lazy Mohawk." I'll even miss the policemen who kick me out of the square and the guys who insist, "Prego," that I leave this area of the church to clear the way for the next Mass.

     I'll miss having the Gospel sung, having plenty of priests, having incense, having Latin. I'll miss the Pope.

      Speaking of the Pope, I went to the Pope's saying of the Angelus, which he does every Sunday and then blesses everybody from his window.

     Just now I got back from Vespers sung in French by the Community of Jerusalem at Trinita Dei Monti, the church at the top of the Spanish Steps. It was lovely, although just before going in to Vespers I had to say "Basta" (in the leave-me-alone sense) for the first time: Some genius vendor sees me sitting on the steps, and decides to say "Miss!" Not having the decency to note the fact that I was ignoring him and then act accordingly, he shines one of those laser-toys in my face and says, "Hellooooooo!" Therefore, I said "Basta." He acted confused, "Basta?" (As if he didn't know what that meant....!) Then I got up and left in a dignified and justified huff.

     Back to Vespers: It was very nice to hear French again. There's something calm about read French in comparison to read Italian.

     And now, back to studying and my Chicken Cordon Bleu.

 

My favorite side chapel in Trinita Dei Monti. Indeed, one of my
favorite side chapels ever. Other favorites are the Adoration chapel
 at St. Peter's and the chapel of Santa Maria in Cosmedin which houses
St. Valentine's skull.

 

Meditation (sort of) and Summary of What's to Come

     Okay, I know I've been abominably bad this past week and a half, but I have had makeup classes (making up for time lost, not cosmetics), a test, a paper, a presentation, a trip to Florence, a Canonization, a tour by the president of the college, and lunch with a cardinal; so I hope you'll forgive me my business. (I also have a trip to Paris coming up this weekend.)

     However, I am not going to write about that here. I will instead share with you some of what I wrote in between homework this evening as I sat in front of St. Peter's. It's kind of messy, but that's because it's diary-style, not academic paper-style.

 

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     Oh my gosh, I’m like the luckiest kid ever. I’m doing my theology homework in St. Peter’s Square, and the Pope’s at home, and I can see the lights are on in his windows; I’m listening to “Ave Maria” in one ear; the other ear hears seagulls flying above my head, their white bellies against the dark blue sky like moving stars, more like snow, with their pretty voices. I can hear the fountains behind me, and pilgrims and priests are walking past me every few minutes. There are still tapestries of the new saints hanging from the windows of St. Peter’s, AND my computer shows that there’s a network called “SANTOSPIRITO” that I could connect to if I had the password. It’s a fairly clear night, the weather is lovely. The Swiss Guards at St. Anne’s were wearing the stripes, which means a special occasion is tomorrow (because tomorrow started at Vespers or some other prayer this evening). I am drinking water from  the drinking fountains in St. Peter’s Square; and as my computer’s background, I have a picture which I took at the Papal Audience, in which I sat in the FIRST row, and the Pope-mobile was RIGHT in front of me. I almost could have touched the Pope! I’ve seen him in person like 4-5 times, heard his voice live at least as many times. I’ve gotten his blessing thrice, once for each time I’ve gone to a special thing. I was at the Canonization of like the second Filipino saint EVER and of St. Kateri, which is huge for America. I’ve heard the Pope in ten  different languages at least. I don’t even know how many times I’ve been in St. Peter’s Basilica, for Mass or not. At least ten. I just can’t believe this. The Pope is practically my next door neighbor! If I ran out of my bed and there were no cars, I could probably get to the Holy Walls in under 60 seconds. 60 seconds! I’m in St. Peter’s Square on average at least three days a week. Probably more like four. I’ve had the chance to gain SO many indulgences since I got here and I don’t even know it. I had lunch with Cardinal Arinze yesterday. I sat next to the president of my college at lunch today in a totally informal setting; he gave me a hug and remembered my NAME when he saw me yesterday. How many people can say they’ve done that? Gotten a hug from the president of their college?! And in St. Peter’s Square?! How many?! How many people have had the Pope mention their college? Not while we were here, but I know he has before. Man, I’m one lucky kid… To have been in the Vatican enough times that you recognize about five of the people who work there. That many times! I can follow the Latin Mass (Novus Ordo) pretty well without having anything in front of me, I can sing at least the first verse of "O Sanctissima" by heart; I actually know the meanings of some terms that so many people take for granted, like “cosmos.” Heck, I even know why we think of apples when we think of Adam and Eve! So much stuff that almost no one knows anymore. I can follow chant notation; I can’t read it, but I can see when to go up and down, and when to hold. I can PRONOUNCE Latin! I can pronounce it ecclesiastically! I understand the symbols in Christian art, I know the stories in the Bible and the stories of the saints. Not many, but a number.     St. Peter’s is like LOTR. [The Lord of the Rings] Actually, I should say that LOTR is like St. Peter’s. You notice something different every time you’re here. I just noticed either more gold or more lights or both on the cupola. Just WOW.     I also saw them open the special doors in the Holy Walls when they had to fix something.
     I also know what incense smells like, and have noticed the different smells of different kinds.
     And the moon is REALLY bright and really clear. And I see bishops every time I pass through here; or at least everyday. And on Sunday there are always bishops and a cardinal concelebrating Mass.
     Now it’s getting cold. I just want to sleep here. [NO, I wasn't going to. I'm not that stupid.] It’s so peaceful at night, even with people taking pictures and goofing off.      I’m now listening to Christmas songs, the more traditional kind. The REAL traditional kind. I can’t imagine how cool it would be to be here at St. Peter’s for Christmas if it snowed and there were pine branch decorations… That’d be so cool. But I think the American idea of Christmas is not what would be experienced in Rome so much. That’s more English and German.      Everybody keeps staring at me. I guess it IS weird for someone to just be sitting on the ground against a fence facing St. Peter’s, especially when they’re typing on a computer. I’ve never seen anyone else do that, but it can't be THAT weird. Who cares. I’m not doing anything wrong. And the police must’ve seen me, because the laptop is bright. And they don’t seem to care. I’m not  blocking traffic, I take up less than half this aisle. And I’ve had a number of Americans pass by.

The Pope.... Again!

     As if the Papal Mass on Sunday wasn't enough, I got to see His Holiness again on Wednesday! That did, of course, involve getting up early, walking for fifteen minutes with wet hair, and starving for a couple of hours, but that's okay. (Especially since Erin and I got to pick-pocket Theresa while bored in line. That was fun.) As close as I was to the Pope on Sunday, I was even closer on Wednesday. Front row, man!

 

 

Not zoomed up. :) We were THIS CLOSE.

 

   Christendom College was also announced during the English part of the audience, so that was really cool. Besides speaking in German (duh), English, and Italian, the Pope also spoke to the people of the following languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic. It was so cool to hear the Pope reading in Arabic. I was really surprised that there were Catholics in the square who were from the Arabian world. Good for them! Go Catholics of Kazakhstan! The cutest part was when the Pope got to speak to his flock in his native tongue. He barely glanced at his notes for the first half of the German part. It was so nice. I like German. I don't know why some people insist that it's an ugly language. (Then again, I'm the girl who will listen to 80's British pop, Bollywood soundtracks, Japanese techno-pop, mainstream 90's and 2000's things everyone knows, modern Arabian hits, and Korean boy band songs in the same sitting..... Then I'll often go from that energetic stuff and change the mood with opera and chant. Apparently that's not exactly normal.)

     Anyway, we and our families got a special blessing from the Pope at the end of the audience. I loved the fact that people were there from all over the world. There's nothing like going to the Vatican to really feel the universality (catholicity; "catholic" means "universal") of the Church: you've got people of every age, language, and color all packed in the same space to see their spiritual father on earth and show him their love. You get the same feeling going to the Vatican at any time, really. You hear all sorts of languages as you wait in line; you see Korean nuns and African priests; you find vacationing couples from everywhere stopping in the adoration chapel to say hi to Jesus. Can you guess what my favorite foreign country is? :-) :-) So happy to be here... Now I know what the Christendom brochures mean when they stress the coolness and importance of being here "in the heart of the Church." It really is spectacular if you take the time to notice it.

 

There was this group of Italians in traditional dress; they all got
 up and danced at the end of the audience. I soooo wanted to join them.

The group above had a billion pictures taken with the Swiss Guards;
 during the photoshoot this one guy looked SO bored, that I just had to get a picture.
The look of sheer and utter ennui on his face was just hilarious.
And I knew my brother would appreciate a shot of a dude with three medals.



     And speaking of taking the time, I learned something in the first week of the semester: DON'T always take pictures of cool stuff. Don't. It's a bad idea. (Taking the pictures above, however, was a good idea. ;-) ) Sometimes you really just need to relax and to look with your eyes only. It's more rewarding in the end. Sometimes you ought to take pictures, and you'll be so glad that you did, but other times you just can't. They won't always do the subject half the justice anyway. This is why I was really glad, though vexed at the same time, that a lot of the churches on Pilgrimage forbade the taking of pictures. Of course, some people do it anyway, but that really is to their detriment. If you're just seeing everything through your camera, you really miss out on the experience. Sometimes technology just needs to hide in a corner and not exist. I didn't take my laptop with me on Pilgrimage, and that was such a good decision. Did I miss it? Not till the end. I was relieved to not have it with me. I felt as if a great burden was taken off me. It's amazing how attached and addicted we get to things. Those things grab us and hang on; we want to let go, but we're to weak to even try.

     Anyway, back to the chronicling of events. After the audience and lunch, we headed toward the Catacombs of St. Priscilla. When I hear that name, I tend to think of a stereo-typical British spinster, prudish and everything. It's actually a Latin name, though. If I'm not mistaken, it is the feminization of "Priscus," as in Tarquinius Priscus. (Roman naming was patronymic: all the kids were named after the dad; kind of like the Russian naming tradition, only the Russians had the middle name of the child be the father's, not the first name.) Not sure what the name means, though.

     On the way to the catacombs, I learned that the Capuchin monks invented cappuccino. Thank you, brothers!

 

Yeah.... Some of the guys stopped at Burger King after lunch to get MORE food...
And yes, they wore those cardboard atrocities all the way to the catacombs, not taking them off until we got there.

     Down there, we got to see THE oldest painting of the Madonna and Child known to us, dated around 180-220. We saw some other early paintings: the three men in the fiery furnace (from the Book of Daniel), the trial of Susanna ("), the Good Shepherd, Jonah being spit out by the whale, Moses striking water from the rock. We had Mass after the tour, said for us by Fr. Sean, an American priest.

     Yesterday, the Pope officially declared the start of the Year of Faith. Alas, we were not there when he did, for we had class.

     The Terminal, a weird place where we had group lunch on class days, is such a priest hangout. After being at St. Peter's Square, they'll often go to the Terminal for lunch, dozens of them in cassocks. It's so cool to see priest in cassocks; way cooler than the normal outfits you see priests wear back home.

 

Bishops looking cool in their cassocks and whatever-the-sashes-are-called

 

     Last night was a small dance party held in honor of Katie Shannon's birthday. I was SO happy to finally dance for the first time in five months. I even got to do this (in a simpler and sloppier form)!!!



 

 

     By the way, O you who will come here later, have fun with the singing washing machine. :)

What a Weekend!

     This weekend was the first of the three free weekends of the semester. These weekends are long (starting Thursday evening), and many students use them to travel to different places in Europe. The second free weekend, I will be going to Paris (and I can't wait), but this weekend I decided to just hang around and chill. Is that what I did? Well, kind of.... Not really.

     Friday morning, I slept in, even though I didn't want to. It's really hard to wake up here, due to the fact that the shutters and the blinds make the bedroom super dark, and it looks like it's 2am, even when it's 9. After my late breakfast, I did mega-laundry and cleaned the "house." The refreshing feeling when I was done was extremely rewarding. I also made garlic mashed potatoes, which are wonderful when you're starving. In fact, I feel like eating some now, even though I just had two bowls full for dinner, and dinner was kind of late.

     That afternoon, I went to the Spanish Steps. I actually didn't climb up them, I went around because I saw a cool little fountain and a golf ball. At the top is an Egyptian obelish with hieroglyphs on it, and a church with French nuns. Before I went it, I enjoyed the amazing view-- until one of the obnoxious rose guys found me, when I left and went into the church. (There are these immigrants to Italy, Indian and Middle-eastern, who walk around with roses at night in Rome, and probably all day at the Spanish steps, due to the large number of lovebirds who go there. They will give women roses, and then demand that they pay for them.)

 

 

Beautiful painting inside the church

 

The church, the obelisk, and some of the steps.
The bottom ones were really crowded.

     After seeing the church, I wended my way back to the Metro, which was very slow and VERY crowded that day: I was literally pushed into the train by the mob behind me. I got off at Ottaviano, which is closer to St. Peter's than it is to Candia. Got this feeling that I should go to St. Peter's, so I went. On the way there, I found this really cool gothic-style church, a rarity in Italy. (Italians were not fond of the style; they thought it uncouth, since it originated in the countries which were barbaric in the time of the Roman Empire.) I couldn't look around, though, because Mass was going on, so I went to St. Peter's, hung out, and started heading back. At the Gate of St. Anne, I realized that I had only a few minutes left before the girls were heading out to dinner, so I dashed off to Candia, arriving at the back gate in only seven minutes. (It usually takes about ten minutes of fast walking.)

 

The facade of St. Mary of the Rosary, which I got to look at in depth on Saturday.

 

     After dinner, Elizabeth Walsh, the female residence coordinator, took us to the island that's in the middle of the Tiber. It's a pretty big island, considering the size of the river. It's even got its own church! Thus ended Friday.

 

Tiber Island

 

     Saturday was an even more eventful day, even though I slept in then, too. Saturday was homework and voting day. Mailing in my absentee ballot via the Vatican Post Office and with a Vatican stamp on the envelope was one of the coolest and funniest feelings ever. As my roommate put it, "So much for separation of church and state!"

     Before 2pm, I went into St. Anne's, but I had to leave because there was a wedding. I went into St. Peter's at some point that day, as well. I think after I mailed my ballot.

     After that, I went church-hunting, and went into eight more churches in about four hours, about three of which were spent walking.

     Because I was only able to pray in seven of the ten churches (I crashed a vigil Mass in one, and the wedding at St. Anne's; St. Peter's was too crowded to pray and the adoration chapel was closed), I guess I kind of did my own unofficial seven-church pilgrimage. We'll be doing the real thing later on this semester.

     I was able to go into Santa Susanna, which was my family's parish while we lived in Rome. My sister was baptized there, and there I made my First Confession and my First Communion. What's awesome is that I remembered part of the church.

 

Santa Susanna! And check out the American flag to the left of the altar! :D

 

     The church down the street from Santa Susanna, Santa Maria della Vittoria, had what looked like an incorrupt saint there, but I can't figure out who she is! It's so frustrating! I want to find out, so I can see who she is and if she's really incorrupt, or if that's just a really good statue. She was young and pretty, and had a slash-mark in her throat.

     On the way home, I found the Coliseum again, which was cool. By the time I made it back, I had taken two Metro lines (switching lines, I had to hop a turnstile, and from the wrong side, too; because I was a genius and started going the wrong way), a bus, and had done tons of walking. I was very happy to get back home, where I could eat and get water. And go to sleep. Before that was an amusing conversation with Donna, Colleen, Elizabeth, and Gabe (our other residence coordinator), swapping stories about junky cars and tickets.

     Now for the events of today: the Papal Mass. It was AWESOME. I cannot sufficiently stress its awesomeness. So after going to bed rather late last night (because I got distracted and wanted to Skype my family), I got up at 6:15, and made it to the place along the Vatican walls between the Gate of St. Anne and the Doorway of the Angels (Rome ones-- do I have that translation right?), where I met up with Colleen Anderson, Donna Kelly, and Annie Willson. They got there some 5-15 minutes before I did, which was at 7. We stood in line for about an hour, and then they finally let us all into the square. Between Colleen's charging and my speed-walking, we managed to get really good seats. We would have gotten decent seats even if we had been slow, due to the fact that we had tickets, but the speed helped us to get even closer. Then we sat and waited an hour and a half, part of the time being spent saying a Rosary with everyone else in the square.

 

It was pretty chilly outside until nine, when the sun started hitting our backs.
The rays were very welcome.

     Finally, Mass started, and we got to see the Pope!!!!!! Because his chair was behind the altar, it was not possible to see him for the ceremony and for the first half of Mass, but we did get to see him incense the altar, which was so very cool.

 

YAY!!!

 

 

     Today the Pope proclaimed Sts. John of Avila and Hildegarde of Bingen to be Doctors of the Church, which was pretty sweet. There were plenty of very excited Spaniards and Germans to be found at Mass. Some of the more important Spanish women who were up at the front were wearing these HUGE mantillas, complete with big combs. The Germans weren't as decked out, with the exception of the lady in front of us who was wearing a dirndl.

     There was row after row of clergy, and we thought that they would be giving out Communion, until the Liturgy of the Eucharist, when suddenly, MORE priests come pouring out of the Vatican and onto the steps. The priests who were giving out Communion in the main aisle had these dudes next to them with these Vatican umbrellas. It was both awesome and hilarious at the same time. I was very disappointed that our priests didn't have them. Alas. The deprivations we suffer.

     After Mass, we had the Angelus and the Pope read to us concerning... Well, I honestly kind of forget. Sad, I know, but I was so psyched that he was speaking English, that I kind of had a hard time paying attention. He read in several other languages as well.

     Next, the Pope-mobile came careening up the church steps, and the Pope got inside and drove past everyone. People everywhere, including priests in cassocks, got up on the plastic chairs to get a better view/picture of the Holy Father. We thought he was done, the girls and I moved to the back of our section so we could leave once the gates opened. Then the Pope came right past us. We were SO CLOSE! I was standing just three people away from the barrier! It was amazing!

 

 

 

     Getting out was, of course, something of a miniature madhouse, but that's okay. It was a happy madhouse, and we were too psyched to care. It wasn't that bad, anyway. Getting in was worse. No sense of personal space. :) On the way out, there was a fence to my left with people lined up against it, and a Swiss Guard on my side of the fence. I think the lady behind tapped him, because he turned around, and there was this adorable little girl (she was about three years old, with curly blonde hair, so cute). So he shook her hand and wished her a happy Sunday before he left for some other post. I think that made the mom's day. It was adorable.

     By the time we got out of the country (so much fun when you remember that it's its own country), it was about 12:15. I realized that I had spent five hours going to and being in the Vatican. Five. Then came the rest of my breakfast and a very long nap.

 

     And that was my totally awesome weekend, with each day better than the last. The awesomeness level just kept escalating.

     So is living in Italy inconvenient? Definitely. Is it fun to get up early and stand in line for an hour, only to have to wait for another hour and a half? No. But it's so worth it. If nothing else, the events of today make up for all the annoyances of the past month.

Three-Church Day

     Yesterday (Wednesday) was quite an eventful day.
     First we met our Art and Architecture teacher, Prof. Elizabeth Lev. She is quite the character. Very funny, very dry, very sarcastic.
     After class... WE SAW THE POPE!!! There was a general audience yesterday (which made getting to class a bit inconvenient, as our usual course is to cut through St. Peter's Square), and it was going on as we were heading back from class. Coming out of the terminal and towards St. Peter's, we could hear his voice, so I raced around to look for him in between the columns. I finally got a glimpse of him and was even able to take a pretty decent picture, considering how far away I was. SO EXCITING! I easily could have jumped up and down and screamed if it weren't for the fact that the Holy Father was talking. :)

GAHHH!!!!!!! :-D

     That afternoon was devoted to church-hunting, the object being a Russian Orthodox church that I spotted the other day from the roof of the North American College (Pontifical; it's a seminary). This hunt, unlike a previous hunt for a Syrian church, was a success. It did take a good hour and fifteen minutes to find it and get there, though.

     So St. Catherine of Alexandria church was found, and it was totally worth getting lost twice and having aching feet. Sadly, they were touching up on the paint, so the candles weren't lit. I was also sad that I couldn't smell incense. It was still awesome.

     Before dinner the whole group went to see the church of St. Pressede; beforehand, I saw St. Mary Major as well. St. Mary Major has what is believed to be the crib of Christ, and St. Pressede (a woman who aided St. Peter) has part of a column that might be the one at which Christ was scourged. Whether or not it is this particular pillar is debated.

Reliquary of the Crib

Exterior of St. Mary Major

 

Inside St. Pressede

    And dinner..... We had hamburgers at an Irish pub that was in a Chinese area. The American food and the Irish decor made us all SO happy. It was very homey. :)