SJ Rome Pilgrimage 2015: Day 2: First Full Day in Rome

From Brandon:

A lot happened today, so I have a lot to write. Toan, Thomas, Nick, Mr. Romano and I are in the Angel House (so named because we're right down the street from Castel Sant'Angelo). We woke up, got ready, then sat down and prayed the Liturgy of the Hours together. Then, we headed out the door to meet our fellow pilgrims at the Corso House.

We stopped at a small cafe on our way to St. Peter's and grabbed breakfast. We crossed the Tiber and entered Vatican City. Going towards St. Peter's it's easy to see the Basilica from the main road, but because of the buildings near it, you can't see Bernini's Columns until you're right there. We didn't enter St. Peter's interior, we have a tour coming later, but just standing in the square was amazing. The size of the Basilica facade is incredible. The statues look life size, because of the incredible way all the architecture is proportioned, but when focusing on them and thinking about it, you can see they're really at least 20 feet tall. It's incredible.

We spent a lot of time in the square. We looked at the obelisk, the dome, the facade, the columns, all of it. It was just the sheer realization that we were in the heart of our Church. We bought some rosaries and other items to bring back to friends and family while we were there. We actually spent a good amount of time looking in all the religious stores right next to St. Peter's Square.

After St. Peter's we walked to Campo di Fiori and got some food in open air market. While we were there, I realized how much my Italian had improved in 24 hours, after I started to follow the conversations people were having. After the Campo, we each went back to our own apartments to take a quick rest and reorganize. Toan also finally found the scarf he had been wanting on the way back to the apartment.

We met up with the other house after our quick rest and headed for the Metro to go to St. Paul Outside the Walls, a major Basilica to St. Paul located about 15 minutes south of our part of Rome. It was a hike getting to the closest Metro station, but it gave us some good views of the city. We took the Metro, transferred trains, and finally arrived at St. Paul's (our original plan was to go there this morning, but hey, plans can change).

Once arriving, we agreed on a time to meet up once we finished looking around the Basilica, because it's huge and you won't always be able to find everyone. Everyone else went into the Basilica, but Fr. Bravo and I took a short detour to find what we had wanted all day: more coffee. We ended up at a small coffee bar a stone's throw away from the Basilica. You'll never guess what we ordered: Cappuccino con Nutella. My family knows there are two things I really love: coffee and nutella. Needless to say, I immediately planned on making this myself after we got home.

After our caffeine boost, Fr. Bravo and I joined the other pilgrims. We entered through the front enterance (everyone else took a side enterance) and walked through the couryard with a giant statue of St. Paul surrounded by four palm trees, with an amazing mosaic covering the front facade. I took my time, amazed by the courtyard, not even inside the Basilica yet.

Once inside, my jaw actually dropped. No I'm not speaking in cliches, my mouth was hanging open. The word huge is highly inadequate in describing the opening hall (nave is the technical sacred architecture term for this hall). There are hundreds of massive columns, with mosaic medallions of each Pope from all of history lining the walls. Oh, and the walls are hundreds of feet high.

More than just the nave, St. Paul's is full of all different sacred art you could spend years looking at: the high altar, the mosaics, the side chapels, statues, and even more. I got to pray in front of St. Paul's tomb. I still can't believe I knelt down and asked St. Paul for intercession less than 10 feet from his actual body. After taking in the awesomeness of the Basilica, Fr. Bravo got someone working there to let us use the side chapel of St. Benedict for a private Mass. We celebrated Mass, and Fr. Bravo's homily really spoke to me. Sitting there in the chapel, I felt what Austin wrote about earlier: we were exactly where we were supposed to be at that moment. That is what God intended for us, I could just feel it.

After mass, we left St. Paul's and took the trek back to the main city. It took us 3 tries to find a restaurant that could fit all of us, but we ended up having a great dinner and even stopped to get some gelatto on the way back. By the time we got back to the apartments, it was already after 11. It's 12:07 AM as I sit writing this. I'm exhausted. My iPhone tells me we walked about 15 miles today, and boy do I feel it. I know this is a lot of summarizing, but there's so much we did today. I can't put into words what it felt like. Amazing, awesome, more cliches. But I guess I can attempt to explain better in another post, and I'm guesing this one has gone on long enough. I look forward to tomorrow, a Papal Angelus, visiting the Gesu, the Church of St. Ignatius, and St. Ignatius' personal bedroom for mass. Thank you for the support and prayers, I feel so loved knowing so many people are excited for me to have this experience. Much more to come.

St. Peter's Square and Basilica

Io e Dom Bravo

Saint and future saint

Mr. Romano explaining some architecture

Courtyard, front facade, and statue of St. Paul at St. Paul Outside the Walls

St. Peter next to the front door of St. Paul Outside the Walls

High altar and baldacchino

To all my Eastern Catholic and Orthodox friends (especially Niko), this is an icon of St. Paul given by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople to Pope Benedict in 2006. Let's go ecumenism!