Where we're praying: St. Peter's Basilica!
St. Peter's Basilica is considered the spiritual center of
Christianity, built over the tomb of the Apostle Peter. There has been a
church on this site since the second century, when a shrine was first
erected near the site of Peter's martyrdom. It is hard to
talk about St. Peter's Basilica without using superlatives. The
classicist Helen North writes: "St Peter's Basilica is the reason why
Rome is still the center of the civilized world. For religious,
historical, and architectural reasons it by itself justifies a journey
to Rome, and its interior offers a palimpsest of artistic styles at
their best - e.g., Bernini's great tomb for Pope Alexander VII,
Michelangelo's Pieta, the Baldacchino, and the dome."
Georgina Masson writes: "We now turn to look at the interior of the
basilica. At first, to be frank, we are disappointed; we have heard so
much about its stupendous size that we expect this to strike us all at
once. Only gradually does it dawn upon us - as we watch people draw near
to this or that monument, strangely they appear to shrink; they are, of
course, dwarfed by the scale of everything in the building. This in its
turn overwhelms us."
Walking through St. Peter's is an experience in itself. Henry James
commented, "If it were not the most beautiful place in the world, it
would be the most entertaining." A few things not to miss
inside the basilica:
- Michelangelo's Pieta is situated just inside the Basilica, on
the right hand side.
- The Dome, designed by Michelangelo, is over 136 meters (448
feet) high. (By comparison, St. James Cathedral's towers are 167
feet high.)
- The famous baldacchino was built by Bernini, and stands directly
over the site of Peter's tomb.
- The "Altar of the Chair," also designed by Bernini, is at the
far west end of the church, shows four doctors of the Church
(Ambrose and Augustine on the left, John Chrysostom and Athanasius
on the right) gesturing to a massive chair, containing the remains
of a "throne" thought to have been used by Peter himself. In more
recent history, Father Ryan was ordained a priest here in 1966.
What we're seeing: The Sistine Chapel
Our visit to the Vatican Museums will include a stop at
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. The Chapel is named for Pope Sixtus IV,
who restored it towards the end of the 15th Century. It was Pope Julius
II who commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling, which was
completed between 1508-1512. It was not until more than twenty years
later that he returned to paint the Last Judgement (1535-1541) for Pope
Clement VII and Pope Paul III.
Giorgio Vasari, in The Lives of the Artists (1568) described the
creation of the ceiling this way:
Michaelangelo complained that from the haste
of the Pope he could not finish it as he would, for the Pope constantly
asked him when it would be finished. "Well, and this chapel, when will
it be finished?" "When I can, Holy Father." The Pope having a stick in
his hand struck Michael Angelo, saying, "When I can! when I can! I will
make you finish it!"
Once he answered, "It will be finished when I
have satisfied myself." "But we will," replied the Pope "that you should
satisfy us in our desire to have it quickly." And he added that if it
was not done soon he would have him thrown from his scaffold.
The work was done in great discomfort from
constantly looking up, and it so injured his sight that he could only
read or look at drawings in the same position, an effect which lasted
many months. But in the ardor of labor he felt no fatigue and cared for
no discomfort. The work has been, indeed, a light of our art,
illuminating the world which had been so many centuries in darkness. Oh,
truly happy age, and oh, blessed artists, who at such a fountain can
purge away the dark films from your eyes. Give thanks to Heaven, and
imitate Michaelangelo in all things.
It is in the Sistine Chapel that the cardinals gather for the
Conclave to elect the new Pope.
On visiting Rome
What, then, is this city of Rome, so profane and at the same time so
mysteriously sacred? Rome is perhaps the most astonishing result of the
union between our Christian faith and the physical reality of history.
In Rome, almost every corner bears witness to both man's wretchedness
and his capacity to be inspired by what is eternal. Why? Because Rome is
the seat of the head of the Catholic Church, the Vicar of Christ, as
ordered by Divine Providence. Sisters and brothers, you who
believe in Christ, when you arrive in this city, you will be able almost
to touch with your own hand the wonderful miracle of your being a
Christian, of your belonging to the Church.
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray
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