St. Peter's and the Other Papal Churches

I apologize for not posting yesterday, but the internet at our hotel is very slow, and I had trouble uploading the photos (and what's a blog without pictures?). I made up for it today with two blog posts. The missing day, Monday, was a pretty light day with a lot of driving -- unlike today, which was crazily busy. Here goes!

Today we headed out on the bus at 6:15 AM. Even though our hotel is very close to the Vatican, we had to get there by 7:00 AM to be able to celebrate Mass in one of the private chapels below the main altar at St. Peter's. It was truly a privilege to enter St. Peter's at that early hour and get to see the inside of the basilica almost empty. We were not allowed to dawdle, but I don't think any of us will ever forget the vastness and beauty of our first glimpse.

After Mass, our tour guide lead us on a race walk to the entrance of the Vatican Museums, where we were to meet our local guide. She said if we were late, we would lose our preferred entry status and would have to get in the general admission line, which was even longer. It was very, very crowded, but our local guide told us that it was not a busy day. We made our way through the museum, and I've got to say that the "group route" we took was not very interesting. We went through some Greco-Roman statues, some tapestries, and then some giant maps painted on the walls. We then arrived at the Sistine Chapel and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with all the other visitors while the docents kept shouting out for SILENCE. I know I'm painting a rather negative picture, but although of course this is a "must see" when visiting Italy, it truly was not very enjoyable. Our local guide was excellent, though, in giving us a lot of information before we entered the chapel so that we could understand the history of the chapel and Michelangelo's masterpiece. No photos were allowed. 

We then returned to St. Peter's for a guided tour with our local guide under much more crowded conditions. We saw the most famous Pieta by Michelangelo. 

We visited the tombs of St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII, and we learned that the beautiful "high altar" by Bernini was created from bronze taken from the Pantheon -- a pagan Roman building. 

We also learned that only the pope is allowed to consecrate the eucharist at the high altar, both at St. Peter's and at the other three papal basilicas in Rome (St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul Outside the Wall.) St. Peter's and the other three basilicas all have a "holy door" that gets opened only every 25 years -- so the last time they were opened was in the year 2000. However, since Pope Francis has declared next year to be a Holy Year of Mercy, those doors will all be opened on December 8 of this year. 

Speaking of the Holy Year of Mercy, it is estimated that about 20,000,000 people will visit the Vatican next year compared to about 6,000,000 last year.

After all our touring, it was finally time for lunch and free time. We had intended to visit the Vatican gift shop but ended up getting so side-tracked with a fun lunch that we never made it. Maybe tomorrow!

After lunch, we got back on the bus and took a short driving tour of Rome. Although Rome is very crowded, I think it is an awesomely beautiful and lively city. Our tour guide pointed out many landmarks and churches, and we stopped to visit St. Mary Major and St. Peter in Chains, which houses the Moses sculpture by Michelangelo and also the chains used on St. Peter when he was held prisoner. 

St. Peter in Chains is very near the colosseum, so most of the pilgrims walked to an overlook to take pictures. Some of our group will choose to spend more time at the Roman sites on our free day on Friday.

So, it was then time to return to the hotel to rest up for dinner. Tomorrow, we return to the Vatican to see the pope.