The church (which is more like a chapel) is in this building...it took us a while to figure out where to go, as it doesn't exactly LOOK like a church.
Anyway, why there? Because S. Josemaria Escriva is buried there! He's one of my favorite saints, and has been pretty influential in my spiritual life in the past year...so it was HUGE to get to go pray by his tomb (actually, his casket is behind glass, under the altar in the church, so I don't know if "tomb" is really the right word, but I don't know what else to call it). I was actually just thinking a few days ago that at this time last year, I didn't know much about him at all, just that my brother Steve would often tell me about things he had written in one of his 3 books The Way, Furrow, or Forge. I borrowed The Way from him last summer, mostly because its compact pocket-size size was handy to carry around in my Totus Tuus bag, and somehow I ended up with both The Way and Furrow here in Rome, probably for the same reason (Steve, I promise I'll give them back when I get home! Possibly after I buy my own copies, ha...). His writings talk a lot about having a strong interior life while living and working in the world, and how sanctity can come through ordinary work. He gives pretty straightforward advice and doesn't really beat around the bush. His thoughts are organized into short points that are pretty easy to remember, so when one catches your heart you can keep it in mind all day. And he was so recent--he was practically living in the same world we are today. And he was able to be holy, and he's a saint...so why can't we too? Actually, he talks about that himself: "saints are not abnormal cases to be studied by a modernistic doctor. They were--they are--normal, with flesh like yours. And they conquered" (The Way #133). That seemed very real to me yesterday. He probably also wins the award of "only saint to talk about alarm clocks in relation to the spiritual life"...:-)
After praying there for awhile, and getting to go to mass there too, we walked to St. Peters and climbed up the dome! That's one of those things we always figured we'd do "at some point" throughout the year...and it's definitely time to start doing all of those things. And it was an awesome experience! One of the coolest parts is walking around the neck of the dome inside the church. You can see just how huge the letters of the inscriptions in the frieze are (6 ft. high), and looking down on the church from above gives a new perspective (literally) on how enormous it is. The baldacchino is waaay below you, whereas from the ground it seems to go up forever. So in between the ground and the dome, there is clearly quite a lot of space.
Looking down on the apse--that's the cathedra petri and dove window way down there.
And of course, being outside on the cupola was pretty cool too. There were some good views of the piazza below and the Vatican gardens behind.
A cool aerial shot taken by a creative English-speaking tourist.
Looking down the side of the dome.
You can also go out onto the roof of the church. You can get pretty close to the statues that line the top of the facade, and from up there they look kind of goofy. They're out of proportion so that they look right from below--my friend Evan described them as looking like Lego people.
They're also pretty big, as you can see with me as a scale figure.
Looking back at the dome.
Chris and I prayed Morning Prayer up there (even though it was 3:30--we decided we were just doing it on American time), and also got cappuccinos from the bar on the roof. Seriously. I mean, it's not actually in the church, so it's ok, right? Haha.
This is probably where the Pope goes after the Easter Vigil.
After those two very exciting events, we finished off the day in truly Roman style--pizza and gelato. It was a great day!
In other news, I turned 21 last week, and Pope Benedict turned 83 (on the same day)! Unfortunately, we didn't have a joint party. But my birthday has actually been elevated to quite the feast this year--we celebrated the vigil the night before by going to Hard Rock Cafe and eating cake, we went to an Irish pub for awhile the night of my actual birthday, and apparently there's a package for me on its way from St. Louis that should arrive somewhere near the end of the octave:-) Haha. But in all seriousness, it was great to get to celebrate with my friends here in Rome, and thanks to everyone at home for your thoughts and prayers!
Now it's final project time...and also final two weeks in Rome time. So life will be pretty busy from here on out, trying to fit in all the work and all the fun and sightseeing that still have to be done!
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