Sunday Walk, Monday Prayer

From the top of the Spanish Steps

 Sunday afternoon under the beautiful Roman skies, I took a walk along the river with two other priests.  Our aim was to enter the churches around the Piazza de Popolo.  There are three churches surrounding the courtyard.  One to Santa Maria dei Miracoli, which has two relics from little known saints of the 3rd and 4th century.   They are Saint Candida and Saint Diodoro.  Unfortunately, the information I have is in Italian which I am still unable to read sufficiently.  There is also the church of St. Maria in Montesanto, but it was closed.  The third church is St. Maria de Popolo.  Unfortunately, St. Maria de Popolo felt more like a museum than a church.  There is all sorts of beautiful art, but it left me somewhat disappointed. None-the-less the day was beautiful and the first church with its two martyrs gave me a chance for prayer.






Churches of Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto

We continued our walk to the Spanish Steps.  I do not know the thrill of this popular tourist site.  The church that the steps leads to was closed.  Some folks more familiar with Rome says it is rarely open.  The area is just very crowded with lots of people sort of just hanging out.  Then we got caught in the rain, so we had gelatos.  Not a better way to finish a walk in Rome than with a gelato (Italian Ice Cream).



Statue of St. Helena with the Cross



This morning was a day of prayer.  We went to the Santa Croce in Gerusalemme which is dedicated to St. Helena and where the relic of the true cross of Jesus is kept.  This was a wonderful moment to pray.  It is beautiful.  St. Helena was the mother of the Emperor Constantine who made Christianity (Catholicism) legal.  She traveled to the Holy Land and discovered the true cross.  Part of this is still preserved in this church.  Another very unique feature is a crucifix based on the dimensions of the shroud of Turin.  I could not take a picture of it.  Yet, what stood out for me, was that Jesus was not a tall man.  It also portrays his suffering very graphically.  Here I prayed for all those bleeding from war, domestic violence and illness.  Stop reading for one moment and offer a similar prayer for them now as well. ...... Thanks.

Another feature here was a small chapel to a small girl child who died at age six.  She died in the 1930's, suffered for a debilitating disease.  Yet she wrote over a 100 letters to God, Jesus and Mary.  They consider her a mystic, but she in not canonized or anything.  Very moving remembrance.





Finally, we had Mass in the Baptistery of St. John Lateran, the oldest baptistery in Rome.  Here we prayed, renewed our baptismal promises and remembered the centuries of folks who have been baptized in the waters of life in Jesus Christ at this church.  We were to enter the Cathedral, but today the Cardinal of Rome was meeting with 300 diocesan priests of Rome.  Therefore, it was not open to the public.  Another day, I will have to share pictures with you of the inside of the church of St. John Lateran.

Thanks for walking and praying with me today.