Italy Pilgrimage: Updates from the Road
Our parish’s Pilgrimage to Italy is underway! As they travel and pray throughout Italy’s holiest sites, our pilgrims will be sending daily updates, all of which will be shared here. Please keep them in your prayers, as they pray for us.
12 October 2022
Our last day began at St. John Lateran, the first official church built in Rome in 324 AD. This archbasilica and cathedral is one of the 4 major Basilica in Rome. You will see the impressive holy door and a statue of our beloved St. Matthew.
The stairs you see are usually climbed on your knees, stopping at each step to pray. The Holy Steps are reportedly the same steps that Jesus when He went to talk to Pilate.
We celebrated Mass in another of the 4 basilicas, St. Mary Major. This is the first church built that was dedicated to Mary, built in the 5th century. Beautiful artwork including sculptures, painted ceilings and mosaic tile floors line the church.
Our last church was St. Peter in Chains, another of the 4 basilicas. The chains which held St. Peter are encased in glass, right under the altar. We barely got to see Michelangelo's famous statue of Moses as the churches often close for a while after lunch.
We had time to walk around Rome, and you'll see a picture of ruins and another of St. Peter's from a distance. Our final dinner was at a fun Italian restaurant with music and singers. Monsignor was pulled from the audience during a song as the "Barber of Seville" jokingly shaved him with a sword. After dinner we strolled down to the Coliseum for a nighttime view.
We leave early tomorrow for a 9-hour flight to New York and then a connection to Boston. We can't wait to see you all!
11 October 2022
Our day began with a drive along the famous Amalfi coast to the quaint hillside town of Positano. We dipped toes in the Mediterranean Sea before heading to Mass at the beautiful church of Our Lady of the Assumption, the patroness of the town.
We ventured next to the ruins of Pompeii for a tour. We walked along the streets and saw houses, bakeries, “restaurants” stables, an amphitheater, and more. Some of the original frescoes still remain.
Small aqueducts supplied the Roman baths. You may notice Mt. Vesuvius in the distance, “the sleeping giant.” A quick rain shower left behind a rainbow to end the day as we drove back to Rome. If you look closely, it’s actually a double rainbow!
10 October 2022
A very different day today: we traveled for 5 hours to get to Naples for the ferry to the Isle of Capri. Once there, we took busses up to Anacapri and then a chairlift to the top of the island for a 360-degree view. We saw the neighboring islands as well as Mt. Vesuvius.
We spent a very short time on the island before taking another ferry to Sorrento on the mainland. The nighttime photo is the view from our hotel. This is the first day we have not been to a physical church. And while our celebration of Mass was in a hotel conference room, it was simple and profoundly beautiful because of the Presence of Christ in the Word, the Eucharist, Monsignor Anthony, and each other. How grateful we are to be experiencing this Pilgrimage on behalf of our parish!
And...our Skip is doing well. He did break a finger in a fall, but he was seen at a hospital and has a splint. He is a real trooper!
9 October 2022
We spent the day in beautiful Siena. Our first stop was in the church where St. Catherine of Siena prayed, and where relics of her skull and finger now reside. You can see the church in the distance from the street view. We celebrated Sunday Mass there at the main altar, with our prayers echoing throughout the church. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures in there.
The remaining photos are of the Duomo di Siena, a magnificent church built in the Italian Gothic and Romanesque style, begun in 1196 and completed in 1348. Elaborate floor panels line the church, roped off for protection.
We saw manuscripts in a side library with illuminated text and a side altar of the Virgin Mother covered in blue lapis. You will see one photo of a floor panel showing the Massacre of the Innocents. We couldn't resist a photo op with the group in front of a vista of Siena. We had a two-hour drive back for our last night in Assisi.
8 October 2022
We left Assisi early this morning for Florence. We began with vibrant Renaissance paintings at the Academy Gallery and saw the famous Michelangelo sculpture, David, considered by some to be the finest work of art ever. We took a walking tour of Florence and saw the fourth-largest cathedral in the world, Santa Maria de Firenze. The bronze doors you see are the "doors of paradise" leading from the baptistry to the cathedral. The baptistry is entirely separate, an 8-sided Romanesque building.
After lunch, we walked across town to the Franciscan Basilica of Santa Croce and were able to tour inside. You see pictures of the main altar, the tomb of Michelangelo, and a relic of St. Francis's habit.
The final church picture you see is a small church where we celebrated Mass and prayed for our St. Matthew family.
We took a group photo with lovely Florence in the background along with our charming tour manager, Maddalena. Back in Assisi, we had a moonlit walk uphill to our hotel in time to celebrate Paul's birthday! Another fantastic day in Italy!
7 October 2022
We spent a full day in Assisi, beginning with Mass in a chapel in the Basilica of St. Francis. The large white church is actually two Basilicas, one Romanesque and the other Gothic. Beautiful frescoes line the walls, but we were not allowed to take pictures inside. Relics included St. Francis' habit, sandals, and part of a letter written by him. We saw his tomb, a peaceful chapel. What we thought was his tomb yesterday was actually the place he died.
In the afternoon, we went uphill to the Hermitage, a refuge of the beauty of nature and silence. Views from the Hermitage are breathtaking, and we have been blessed with ideal weather! The photo with the wooden railing is showing the "bed" where St. Francis slept, a stone slab. There is another photo of a small chapel in stone where he spent time in prayer.
Assisi is full of charming cobblestone streets with many shops and small restaurants. But the town is peaceful, picturesque, and surprisingly quiet. Another beautiful sunset view from our hotel!
We are praying for our parish family at every church. We miss you all!
6 October 2022
The first photo is from St. Peter's Square last night, where we saw a movie about St. Peter projected onto the Basilica. (Read more about it here.) There is a photo of us riding a funicular up to Orvieto, where we had Mass in a side chapel of the cathedral there. The chapel has the corporal (white cloth covering the altar) from a Eucharistic Miracle.
The statue is of St. Matthew, also in Orvieto. We went to a church in lower Assisi where St. Francis is buried. We weren't allowed to take any pictures there. The final photo is the sunset in Assisi, as seen from our hotel!
5 October 2022:
We saw Pope Francis today in the General Audience and listened to his beautiful message about the importance of prayer in self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-giving. We later toured St. Peter's Basilica and saw the very moving Pieta by Michaelangelo. You could spend days at St. Peter's, the largest church in the world. The photos do not do it justice!
The last three photos are from St. Paul's Outside the Wall. The tomb of St. Paul is there. He is buried underneath the altar, as is St. Peter buried underneath the altar at St. Peter's Basilica.
4 October 2022:
We saw so much today! We started out at the Catacombs of St. Calistoga and Mass in a small chapel inside. We weren't allowed to take pictures there. We visited the small church called Quo Vadis Domine that has footprints of Jesus that Peter saw in a vision. We saw the original Caravaggio masterpieces of St. Matthew and prayed at the tomb of St. Monica at the beautiful Basilica de San Agostino. We flew through the Pantheon and threw coins into Trevi Fountain.
Having very little sleep after an overnight flight, we are all exhausted!
