The Absent-Minded Professor's Travels: Italy 2014 Day 09

The Basilica of St. John Lateran

Our last full day in Rome – and it was full – began with a relatively late wake-up at 07:00, 08:00 breakfast, to be met by Roberta in the lobby, thence immediately onto the bus for the drive to St. John Lateran, the last of the four Major Basilicas of Rome we would visit on our pilgrimage [LINK]. It is the oldest of the Basilicas, the first in rank (thus formally called the “Archbasilica of St. John Lateran”), indeed, the oldest surviving church in the West. It, moreover – not St. Peter’s – serves as the Pope’s cathedral in his capacity as Bishop of Rome.

Constantine the Great

The Basilica as a church building goes back to the very time of the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in the early 4^th century, when it was given by him to the Pope – but it is in fact much more ancient than that, being part of the complex making up the extensive Palace of the Lateran branch of the Sextian family, one of the more ancient families in Rome. (Among the early notables was Lucius Sextius Lateranus of Licinian-Sextian Law fame and first plebeian Consul in the 4^th century BC). Constantine had inherited the Lateran Palace by marriage, but from the early 4^th century AD it would serve as the usual Papal residence through most of the Middle Ages, undergoing the usual periodic restorations after fires or earthquakes, such as in the 10^th century, before being magnificently embellished by Pope Innocent III in the early 13^th century. There, of course, in 1215, Innocent would preside over one of the four most important Ecumenical Councils in the history of the Church, Lateran IV. Then an extended period of vacancy in the 14^th century during the Avignon Papacy (1305-1378) would leave it in near ruins to be rebuilt yet again. The Basilica also suffered during that period, to be rebuilt and embellished over the course of centuries once the Popes had returned to Rome. The modern façade was designed by Allessandro Galilei (related to Galileo, but a century later), “remov[ing] all vestiges of the ancient basilica architecture, and impart[ing] a new-classical façade” [op. cit.]. Nevertheless, some elements of the most ancient structures were preserved throughout, including the Scala Sancta … but we’ll get to that.

Our tour of the church itself went pretty normally, Roberta giving us a running commentary as we examined the exterior and made our way around the interior, but late in our time inside we started noticing an increasing number of people taking their places up around the altar, then attendants started shooing sightseers out of the area around the main altar and the forward part of the nave. It turned out that that a Cardinal (I never heard which) was to say a special Mass, which commenced with a procession from the right transept a little past 11:00. Which unexpectedly explained a guy I saw earlier coming it with a guitar strapped to his back – not what I’d seen so far as typical tourist attire. I must say it was a bit surreal to be standing there in that majestic, ancient Basilica hearing the beginnings a guitar Mass! – with a Cardinal!

Soon after that Mass began, we moved out of the Basilica and across the street to another part of the Lateran complex, which today houses more museum space as well as pastoral offices for the diocese of Rome, as well as other ancient treasures. Such as the Scala Sancta – the Holy Steps – according to tradition the very steps up to the Praetorian Palace in Jerusalem that Our Lord scaled, after he had been scourged, to face Pontius Pilate again. They were among the many relics brought from the Holy Land to Rome by the Emperor Constantine’s mother St. Helena, in the early 4^th century. The original marble is covered by wood, but there are narrow frontal openings through which the marble can be seen, as well as several very small (4”x4”?) glass windows in the tops of several steps through which dark stains can be seen – drops of the Precious Blood from Our Lord’s wounds.

[SOURCE]

Indulgenced custom is that pilgrims ascend the Holy Steps – on their knees, praying an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be for the intentions of the Holy Father. There were a great number doing so – more than the comparative few in the picture I pulled from Wikipedia because we were told not to take photos. Most of our group joined them, including myself. It is harder than you might think – there are 28 steps, and it takes about half an hour – but all who started persevered to the end. Roberta had cautioned that once you begin there is no turning back. Several of our group afterward called the experience the most moving part of their pilgrimage. For myself, it is indeed right up there with hearing the Traditional Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, which I identified yesterday as the high point of my time in Rome.

Standing up with great relief once the ordeal was completed, I could look into but not enter the Sancta Sanctorum of the Pope’s private chapel at the Lateran, the Chapel of St. Lawrence, which contains a wealth of relics. Front and center was another icon of Our Lady traditionally painted by St. Luke. (Latinists: "Sancta Sanctorum" is indeed correct in this case [LINK].)

Fr. Luke, myself, and Anne

As I made my way down the exit stairs, I heard a voice call my name from behind, and had the great pleasure to turn and find Fr. Luke Melcher. He is one of our priests of the diocese of Alexandria currently in Rome earning a doctorate in liturgy. We have very fond memories of him from the year he served as an assistant at Immaculate Conception about eight years ago. He is also friends with Frs. Ryan and Chris, and had come to link up with them at the Lateran. It is a small world.

Relics of the Passion in
Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

After a few minutes reassembling our group outside the Holy Steps, we made our way back to the bus for a short (apparently Luigi made a comment that we could actually have walked and saved him finding a new parking space) trip to an “off-the-books” church (by which I mean, not part of our formal itinerary, which was getting somewhat scrambled by now anyway, as you’ll see if you go back and examine the “final” itinerary we were given at the meeting in September [LINK]) – the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, sometimes called the Basilica Heleniana after St. Helena, because it was dedicated by her to hold the most precious relic she brought back from Jerusalem – fragments of the Holy Cross itself. There were various other relics of the Passion there, as well as a full-size reproduction of the Shroud of Turin donated to the Basilica by Turin and a life-size crucifix with a Corpus accurately depicting the wounds shown on the Shroud. The latter mainly impresses on the observer the savagery which Our Lord suffered during the Passion – most crucifixes you ever see are literally sanitized, “clean” as one of our number commented as she beheld it. Incidentally, here was an instance where being pilgrims cut us a break – technically the Basilica closed for lunch while we were there, but Roberta explained and got us the few minutes we needed to finish our tour.

Our view of the Trevi Fountain

From there we drove to the Trevi Fountain, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Rome and the site of many movie scenes, most notably in the Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck movie, Roman Holiday. It’s near where Princess Ann got her hair cut. It is unfortunately out of commission, with scaffolding erected all around it, undergoing a major restoration and cleaning. We could see very little of its Baroque/Rococo magnificence. [Virtual tour: LINK] Nonetheless, we broke away for an hour or so for lunch in the immediate area and, yes, some more shopping. We and another couple took this opportunity to grab up gifts for our tour guides and driver, Alexis from Magnificat, Debra our overall guide in Italy, and Luigi our driver.

The Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum

From the Trevi Fountain we traveled out to another “off-the-books” site, the Colosseum. It had always been mentioned as a possibility for individuals to break off and do during our “free time” (?!), but was never part of the official itinerary. That fact was the main thing that garnered protests at the September meeting, the explanation being given that this pilgrimage was meant to concentrate on religious and spiritual sites. It’s a testament to the adaptability of our leaders that they responded to the considerable demand for at least some time at one of the major tourist sights in Rome. Debra even attempted to procure a last-minute time for a tour of the interior, but was unable to do that. Nevertheless, we did get to walk around the outside, as well as view the immediately adjacent Arch of Constantine and the Roman Forum from a bit further distance. [NOTE: In a disappointing lapse, our pilgrimage's resident historian (err... that would be me!) did not connect while we were there that the Arch of Constantine was built to commemorate Constantine's victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge ... on 28 October 312! Argh!]

Top: The Miraculous Chains
Bottom: Michelangelo's Moses

The final church we would visit in Rome, and the site of our last Mass, was the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli, St. Peter in Chains [LINK], only a short walk from the Colosseum. (Another Basilica? Although there are just the four “Major Basilicas” already visited, there are many Minor Basilicas all over Rome.) According to legend, the chains that had bound St. Peter in Jerusalem until the intervention of an angel (Acts 12:1-10 [LINK]) given to Pope St. Leo I the Great in the mid 5^th century; when they were touched to the chains that had bound St. Peter in the Roman Mamertine Prison before his upside-down crucifixion, the two chains miraculously fused together into one, whence Pope Leo built the Basilica on the Oppian Hill. Nevertheless, the Basilica is even better known by most today for housing Michelangelo’s famous Statue of Moses.

Our last Mass in Rome was held in an ornate Blessed Sacrament Chapel dedicated to the Assumption and Queenship of Our Lady. It was said by Fr. Ryan, and ended with an extended Communion Antiphon beautifully chanted by Fr. Chris. It was all quite moving.

We then took another fairly quick walk down and across several blocks to our Farewell Dinner, which Debra had been teasing us with as a “surprise” for several days. And it was. It was hosted in Le Terme del Colosseo (“The Baths of the Colosseum”) [LINK], in a great arched hall that was once part of the water system for a set of Roman Baths adjacent to the Colosseum. Which was cool enough in itself. But then, after we had time to settle ourselves at the tables for a few minutes, the fun really began. It was signaled by the beginning of very loud music (which made me think, “Oh, no – so much for conversation!) – followed by a trio of singers, two men and a woman, sweeping out and serenading us before the first and every other course of the best Italian dinner we had, with plenty of wine to go around. Everyone had a great time, including Fr. Chris who ended up joining the show!

Unfortunately, it had to end. A bus ride took us back to our hotel. During that ride we found out the “bad news” – tomorrow would be an early day, with wake-up coming … well, you’ll see…. Since this would be virtually the last time we would see them all together, we and the other couple caught Debra, Alexis, and Luigi all together at the end of disembarking from the bus and presented them with their gifts, a bottle of limoncello each, as a token of our appreciation. Truly, this pilgrimage went off without any hitches, far more smoothly than could be reasonably expected. All involved in its organization, preparation, and conducting it deserve our most sincere thanks: from Fr. Ryan Humphries who conceived it, to Ashley Hebert to whom he said “Put together a pilgrimage to Rome, Assisi, Orvieto, and Florence” on like the third day after he hired her as the MBIC’s director of evangelization, to Magnificat Travel whom Ashley found and worked with in putting together the details – Maria Tegre who runs it, and Alexis Darbonne who accompanied us – to Fr. Chris Decker who also accompanied us with pilgrims from Vacherie, and in Italy Debra our escort and Luigi our driver. And of course, the pilgrims as a whole, who quickly formed a small faith community all our own. We left the States and assembled in Italy as friends, acquaintances, or even strangers, and ended up family. Speaking only for myself, I will treasure the memories of Italy 2014 all my life.