Roma: Giorni Quattro e Cinque
Saturday:
Thank goodness we are now calm. Well I should say that I have calmed down lol. We completed our Holy Door mission walking through the final two Holy Doors of Roma. The Basilicas of Santa Maria Maggiore and San Giovanni in Laterano.
The line for Santa Maria was huge for its recent resting site of Pope Francis. Again our Pilgrim pass gave us the special reservation line so it was slightly faster. The tomb has a guard and an assistant rushing people by.
“The Papal Basilica of St Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore) is the oldest and most important Marian sanctuary in Western Christendom and is the only one of the Papal Basilicas to have maintained its early Christian appearance.
Although it has been embellished and extended over the years all the commissioning patrons have respected its original layout and design, which, according to tradition, was divinely inspired.
According to the traditional story of its foundation, the Virgin Mary appeared in a dream to the Patrician John and Pope Liberius, exhorting them to build a church dedicated to her on the exact spot where she would cause snow to fall. On the morning of 5 August in the year 358, snow was seen on the Esquiline Hill, the highest of Rome’s hills, outlining the perimeter of what was to become the new church.
Today that miraculous snowfall is still remembered when white rose petals fall from the ceiling of the Basilica during the feast day liturgy. This tradition gives a special nobility to St Mary Major’s – marking it out as a kind of Marian relic, a place that was desired and planned by the Mother of God herself.
The Basilica is home to the most important of all Marian icons, the Salus Populi Romani (Our Lady Saviour of the Roman People). Tradition attributes the artwork to St Luke the Evangelist and patron of painters.
Pope Francis placed all his apostolic journeys under the protection of Our Lady, Salus Populi Romani, stopping off to pray at the icon before his departure from Rome and again on his return.
Seven popes are buried here.”
I assume this is why Pope Francis chose this basilica to be buried.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_Maggiore
Since we are surrounded by the pope history in Roma everywhere we go I thought I would write about a crazy Pope story that we learned from our friend Fr. Juan, that took place at the Basilica of San John.
“The Cadaver Synod, also known as the Synod Horrenda or the Synod of the Dead, was a dark chapter in the history of the Catholic Church.
The event occurred in the late 9th century, during a time when the Church was facing a power struggle between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor.
The Cadaver Synod was held in January of 897 CE in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.
The synod was convened by Pope Stephen VI, who had recently taken the papal throne.
His predecessor, Pope Formosus, who reigned from 891 to 896, had died nine months earlier, and Stephen VI was determined to exact revenge on his deceased rival.
Pope Stephen VI ordered the Cadaver Synod to posthumously punish Pope Formosus for what he believed were various offenses against the Church.
In particular, Stephen VI was angry that Formosus had crowned Arnulf of Carinthia as the Holy Roman Emperor allegedly without proper consultation or approval.
Stephen VI believed that this was a violation of Church law and also that Arnulf had coerced his appointment.
Additionally, Stephen VI accused Formosus of perjury, since he had allegedly violated Church law by being a bishop in two different dioceses at the same time (although this issue had actually been resolved before Formosus became pope).
Finally, Stephen VI likely wanted to legitimize his own claim to the papacy, which was disputed by some members of the clergy who supported Formosus.
While claiming the trial was about Church law, the real motivations were political, as Stephen VI was aligned with the Spoleto faction, which had been rivals of Arnulf and enemies of Formosus.
By staging this bizarre trial and posthumously convicting Formosus of various crimes, Stephen VI sought to cement his own power and undermine the legacy of his predecessor.”
https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/ancient-history/cadaver-synod/?srsltid=AfmBOopeltMtyQFDeQLtjDzto5gDvGba5J3d3Bsw_4_Qs17W5DOot6GS
Our final Holy Doors were San John Lateran, another beautiful basilica and historical site that you can read more about here.
https://thecatholictraveler.com/the-2000-year-old-doors-of-saint-john-lateran
More pope history from the Google AI:
“A papal basilica is a Roman Catholic church that has been granted special status and privileges by the Pope. These are churches that are of significant historical, artistic, or spiritual importance and are distinguished from other churches in the Catholic Church.
Here’s a more detailed explanation:
- Special Privileges:
Papal basilicas are granted special privileges, including the ability to celebrate certain liturgical rites and feasts with particular solemnity.
Major and Minor Basilicas:
There are two types of basilicas:- Major Basilicas: There are only four major basilicas in the world, all located in Rome: St. John Lateran, St. Peter’s, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major.
- Minor Basilicas: These are churches of significant importance that have been granted the title of basilica by the Pope, typically based on historical value, architectural significance, or their role as a center of worship.
- Connection to the Pope:
The designation of a church as a basilica signifies a special bond of communion with the Pope, including the obligation to celebrate certain feasts with particular care. “
Our next stop was the Spanish steps where we found enormous crowds of people and our first marching band concert.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Steps
Our evening was spent being entertained in the Santa Maria square by Banda Folkloristica di Folgaria. “Founded in 1924 as the Alpine Band, the Folkloristic Musical Band of the Magnificent Community of Folgaria is a bit of a symbol of the liveliness of the Folgaria community.
It is a musical ensemble that during its numerous tours throughout Italy and in much of Europe brings with it the spirit of the plateau and spreads the name of Folgaria in the world, through music, attention to choreographic details and magnificent Tyrolean-style uniforms, thus transmitting the folklore and joy of our community. It is always present in the most important events of the community as one of the symbols of our land.”
We walked into Mass at the basilica of Santa Maria.
The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere or Our Lady in Trastevere is a titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the church date back to the 340s, and much of the structure to 1140–43
https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_di_Santa_Maria_in_Trastevere
Fact checks: I read that they didn’t start charging for the Colosseum and the Forum until 2008. We were here in 2007. Phew. My brother was our tour guide.
They did a bulletproof glass in front of the Pieta when we were here in 2007 because on 21 May 1972, Michelangelo’s Pietà statue in St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, was attacked by Laszlo Toth, a Hungarian geologist who believed he was Jesus Christ. With fifteen blows, he removed Mary’s arm at the elbow, knocked off a chunk of her nose, and chipped one of her eyelids.
They installed a new security glass last year between May and September to prepare for the Holy Year jubilee. They had a replica Pieta in place during those months.
Roma: Our final full day-Sunday
The only plans for our final day in Rome was to go to the Pilgrim mass at one of the squares. I believe that they hold this mess every Sunday at the same square. For some reason, I felt like they were gonna sneak something in with the pope so I made Paige walk up to the Vatican first lol. One of the security guards told us that the pope was going to pop out of his window at noon and the Saint Peter Square for a blessing of the people. We left Saint Peter Square and walked over to the other square for the outside mass and all of the bands and folk music dancers were present. When the mass ended, they had a parade to Saint Peter Basilica. We kind of followed the parade back to the square for the popes blessing. It was again wall to wall people but way worth it! I guess you could say I am a little pope obsessed ha ha ha. He also gave a Mother’s Day blessing which was very nice.
We decided to walk to the Catacombs which is about a five mile walk on Apian Way, but we really didn’t have much planned so it didn’t seem like it was going to be too much. We stopped at a local restaurant and had a delicious authentic Italian late lunch.
We arrived at catacombs of Domatilla since it was the first one that we found (it shaved off two miles to our walk since we were going to walk to a different one). But I did read that it was one of the better ones to see. We actually had a tour guide and we went into the catacombs for about 45 minutes and she explained the history and walked us through.
“The Catacombs of Domitilla are the largest and oldest underground cemetery in Rome, part of Flavia Domitilla’s property and dating back to the year 120 AD. The preserved frescoes are an expression of the faith of the first Christians.
In the heart of the catacomb is the only semi-underground Basilica in Rome that is dedicated to the martyrs Nereus and Achilleo, and to the Saint Petronilla, daughter of St. Peter.”
Our guide told us that the catacombs were built there over the saints. Later they moved the bones into Roma in separate churches. The altar remains.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Domitilla
We ended our long last day with a pizza in near our room. Trastevere is a hopping place.
Until next time Roma… I won’t wait 18 years to come back (I can’t bc I’ll be too old lol)!
