Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory

I wrote a post before I left about “lasts”. Now, my life has been nothing but firsts for the past two days. My first dish of authentic Italian pasta, my first gelato cone, my first run, my first night in my new room, my first time seeing all the monuments...I've been to the Pantheon, because I live just a few blocks from it; the Trevi Fountain, which I really know nothing about since we didn't learn about it last year in Architectural History, but it's pretty cool; the Roman Forum, just a walk-by, though; and the Colosseum, but again, we didn't go in. I've also seen several churches that I know I recognize but just can't think of which one it is, and wish I actually remembered everything that I “learned” last year.

Oh, and, today was my first time in the Vatican! To me that seems to almost belong in a different category than everything else. All the other stuff is typical for getting settled into a new place and kind of touristy, but this...this was like coming home. I've always identified myself as a Roman Catholic, but it's easy to forget how closely that ties you to the physical place of Rome. But when you're here, you can tell that this is it, the center of the Church.

The hotel where we live is right by the Corso Vittore Emmanuele, which was basically built to run straight into St. Peters, so it's pretty easy to find from where we live, and only about a 20 minute walk (probably less if you walk fast). When we got close, though, we turned off of the Corso and onto a side street that would take us to St. Peter's from the side (clever). See, when the Basilica was built, the Corso didn't go all the way into the Square like it does today, there was another building in the way. Everyone had to come in from the side, and that's how it's meant to be approached. That way, you don't see it as you're walking up. You're going along a regular street with buildings on both sides, and up ahead you can see a dome. As you get closer you can see a colonnade at the end of the street. Then, the buildings on the sides end, and you pop out for a full view of the Square, and you can tell it's huge. You're a little off center, though, so you can't really see the Basilica very well through the columns. You walk around the columns to where they open up, and you're staring at the whole thing dead on for the first time. The massive amount of open space (rare in Rome), the obelisk (probably the last thing that St. Peter saw before he died), and the Basilica itself. It's breathtaking. One of the coolest parts is seeing all the statues of saints looking down from on top of the colonnade. Obviously it brings to mind the communion of saints that are always looking down on the present day Church and praying for her. I wish I knew more about iconography so I could identify all of them (or at least some).

I took a few pictures of these outside views, and then we went inside. The inside is absolutely gorgeous. Gigantic, beautiful, majestic, glorious, awesome in the truest sense of the word—it inspires incredible awe. It's colorful, because of all the different kinds of marble used, and very, very ornate, but it doesn't seem over the top or “too much” whatsoever. It's obvious from the moment you walk in that all of this is done for a reason; to give glory to God. We offer Him our best works, most precious materials, and all our skill and craftsmanship. There are little side chapels all along the length of it, and there are so many they seem to go on forever. The first one has the original Pieta. A few have the remains of saints (mostly Popes). There's also an area on each side that's roped off and reserved for prayer. One side has perpetual adoration with the Eucharist exposed in a monstrance and the other has the Eucharist reserved in a tabernacle. I went in to the one with the monstrance. Praying in front of Jesus there, in St. Peter's, was probably one of the most momentous occasions of my life so far. If you told me a prayer intention before I left, know that I prayed specifically for it (and you) during that time. And if you've thought of any more, or if I forgot to ask you then please please let me know. There's probably a pretty good chance that I'll be back there sometime soon:-)

Anyway, I had a few other thoughts while I was praying. First, I was reflecting on all the beauty and majesty around me and I remembered a line that I think I must have read in a book sometime recently...I can't remember exactly who wrote it but I would guess either George Wiegel or G.K. Chesterton. I also can't remember the exact words of the quote, but the idea is that we need to practice for the beauty of Heaven by being exposed to beauty on earth. It's something that we have to become accustomed to; it's too much to be thrown into all at once. And by golly, I'm pretty sure I was exposed to some Heavenly beauty today. Secondly, I felt the universality of the Church. I miss people back in the States, naturally, but I felt so close to all of you while I was praying. It was like the distance all went away, or at least didn't matter anymore. I was right beside you in this thing called the Church, right along with all the people who have gone before or will come after us. I haven't been to mass yet here in Rome, but I'm anxiously anticipating the next time I get to go and experience that communion even more deeply. We walked around and saw pretty much everything on the inside of the Basilica, but I purposefully didn't take any pictures. My first time there I didn't just want to be another tourist. And somehow it felt like taking pictures would make me an outsider...I wanted to be an insider, a Catholic coming home. I wanted to soak it all in and really experience it. And, I figure I'll have plenty of time to go back and get those pictures (because I will want to at some point...).

After that, we went down and saw the tombs of several Popes, including John Paul II's. Another incredible experience. I remembered watching his funeral on TV, and seeing the people crammed into St. Peter's Square, and then the procession at the end where they carried his body to the tomb...which happened to be right where I was standing (actually, kneeling) at the time. Oh man. I have already been blessed so much.

Ahem. Well, as you can probably tell from the length of my description, St. Peter's has been my favorite part so far. I think it's going to be pretty hard to top.

Oh, and school stuff is going well too...we had a little bit of orientation today and we'll finish the orientating process tomorrow. Then we have the weekend to keep seeing the sights, and classes start on Monday. Buona notte!