Ending with Traditional Latin Mass

Okay, I have a few minutes at the end of my day before I collapse into a walking-induced coma... in anticipation of an early morning for the Station Church for tomorrow's Roman Pilgrimage.  Not only did I walk to Sts. John and Paul this morning (and back), I walked for hours through Rome again, in search of Barbiconi's clerical shop so I could exchange the shirt I bought (and get a second one)... arriving back at PNAC at 1745 in just enough time to dress for a Traditional Latin Mass which was a 20 minute walk back along the Tiber River (and back).  I'm all walked-out today.

So, after pasta and salmon for Pranzo (lunch) at PNAC which is the main meal of the day, a group of four priests, myself included, headed into the city core.  Now, Barbiconi's is not far from the old Roman Pantheon.  How hard can it be to find such a magnificent landmark?  As it turns out, not too hard this time.  I did my Google maps homework (which I should have done yesterday instead of presuming I could find it by some kind of quasi-military sixth sense).  The Pantheon, built in 126 AD, is magnificent externally and internally it is actually a product of Christianization, dedicated to St Mary and the Martyrs but commonly known as Santa Maria Rotonda.

Pantheon

I took this fully realizing that you can't capture this whole massive structure in one picture. Its impossible.  It is actually round, with this porch out front, though you can't really get a sense of it from this photo.

On our way to my shirt shop we stopped again at the Piazza Minerva to let one of our group see the reliquary of the remains of St. Catherine of Siena and to pray.  Returning there made it clear how much more there is to see, even in one church, than you can possible take in.  Can you imagine someone who is only here in Rome for a week trying to do this??  I've spent hours this afternoon and evening with my head tilted back and straining my neck to see the beauty just on the ceilings.

For example, we were looking for an Irish pub on Vittorio Emmanuel (main street) and we thought it might be near the 'Gésu' and so we made the trek toward this Church that I knew nothing about... Energized by a cappacino (I don't drink coffee, so I was really jumped up and far more talkative than usual) we rounded the curve in the Vit.Emmanuel to see the Gésu looming up in front of us. Inside, I realized that it is the Church dedicated to the two most famous Jesuits (Gésuits), St Ignatius Loyola and St Francis Xavier, who are entombed there.

It is, so far, beyond a doubt the most spectacular sacred space I have seen so far.  You really can't imagine it.  Pictures don't convey a tenth of it.  My colleague took our picture and if he sends it to me I will post it here later, but here are a few pics of the interior:

Main Ceiling

The Copula

The Main Altar

Sorry, I'm running out of steam and certainly out of words that would make a fitting description of the Gésu.  I should mention that, yes, in fact the Irish pub was across the street and the Guinness went down well with the HOCKEY GAME that they were televising.

In any case, for all the magnificence of the Gésu, I found a place that I preferred to be later this evening.  Off the beaten track, at the end of a narrow lane-way, tucked into a very small piazza was a Church where the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) serve as pastors to a parish of the faithful in Rome, Santissima Trinita dei Pelligrini.

SantissimaTrinita dei Pelligrini - 
Church of the Most Holy Trinity of Pilgrims

At 1830 this evening they were offering to God the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the ancient use, the extraordinary form of the Mass, the Traditional Latin Mass.  The Lord knows that I am trying to learn the Mass of the ages... and so is the friend that I brought with me.  Tonight, it was like stepping back in time, yet it was perfectly contemporary - that is, perfectly fitting for the world of today that desperately needs to regain a sense of the sacred and to enter more fully into the mystery that calls the Son of God to the altar and offers Him and His atoning sacrifice back to the Father for the sake of our salvation.

I couldn't stay for the Stations of the Cross.  I left just as the Gregorian chant started for the entrance. I knew I was exhausted and the Stations were going to be in Italian.  I took this picture as my colleague and I were leaving.

Somewhere up at the front, in the front pew actually as close to the liturgical action as possible - as expected, was the blogger that I was hoping to meet tonight.  Perhaps another opportunity will present itself.  Most of us never really expect to meet the people behind the blogs we follow... so this was going to be a pleasant exception.  However, like I said, I was pretty tired and wasn't up to the Stations in Italian.  I should know that the pain in my feet is just weakness leaving my body, but tonight I will just acknowledge the weakness and prepare to march into battle again tomorrow.

I am not a blogger.  This blog is only a temporary journal to help folks back home follow my Sabbatical.  Having done it for a few days now (without really saying much in the process) I admire and appreciate more than ever those who repeatedly and regularly inspire us through what they write.  Good on you... and God bless.