March 9, 2018 - Afternoon, St. Peter's and the Pope!



After spending our morning seeing the Vatican Museums, we had a little lunch outside and saw a bit of the Vatican Gardens.




We left then left the museum area, even though we knew that there were many things that we did not get a chance to see - it is all so extensive!


Then we decided to brave the long line to get in to see St. Peter's Basilica, or Basilica di San Pietro, which is behind us in this photo.


 It is so enormous, it's hard to take it all in, and it has a huge portico area outside it, that really makes quite a statement!


There is a huge basin shaped piazza, surrounded by two outstretched arms of a columned porch, meant to gather in and make all people feel welcomed. The columns are of a beautiful white stone, and so enormous! topped by statues of favorite saints.





As we got in the long, slow moving line, that wound all around the edge of the piazza, we started noticing large electronic signs that said that the Pope would come at 5:00 today to officiate in a free liturgy celebrating repentance! And that anyone was invited and no ticket was needed! We started to wonder if we were in the line for that!! We could not believe it, but it was true. Pretty nice birthday surprise for Heather! Finally the line sped up and everyone started pouring in.


This is the view out onto the piazza from the front door of the basilica. You can see how huge the area is.


Just before going in, we looked up to see the balcony where the Pope often stands to address the people on special occasions.




As we got inside, we could see that all side areas of the church were curtained off, and the whole central nave was filled with chairs. They gave each us a booklet with all of the words that would be read and the parts where the people could all join in, and the songs that we could participate in. There was a central aisle where the Pope and others would all enter. We were amazed to be there, and to get a wonderful seat! Someone up front started leading the crowd in Hail Marys.





At 5:00, there was some beautiful singing and a large number of Catholic Holy men, came walking down the aisle. We had a good view.


And then there was the Pope, sorry, the picture is not very good, but the video is!








After some scriptures, recitations, and singing, the Pope gave about a 15 minute speech on repentance. Mark translated some of it for us. Then it was announced that anyone who would like to participate in confession right then, was welcome to do so. Hundreds of people got up and went to the curtained edges, where the men who had walked in with the Pope, were positioned in various corners, and semi-secluded areas, with chairs, to do confessions right there! People started forming long lines and we sat for a long time and listened to beautiful singing. The acoustics in there are fabulous! it was all really very nice. We will go back another day to see more of the church, but felt really lucky that we got the chance to be there that day!


As we left, we took one last chance to appreciate the wild uniforms of the Swiss Guard! Crazy!


A pretty awesome day! And we finished it off with a yummy pizza, spaghetti, and carbonara - yum!






Comments

  1. Elaine HurstMarch 12, 2018 at 1:06 PM

    CONFESSION: "Bless me father, for I have sinned. It has been (Blank...one month...or...?) since my last confession. (List your sins...)".

    ReplyDelete

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