Day #52: Rome, Day 5

Lent commenced in Rome for us, beginning with a 7 am Mass a few of us students decided to go to at St. Peter's Basilica, followed by a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI, some free time during which I had the opportunity to visit the center of Opus Dei, which is also the resting place of its founder, St. Josemaria Escriva, followed by a visit to the Church of the Holy Stairs, where St. Helen brought the stairs on which Pontius Pilate condemned Christ to death. I also paid a visit to the Church containing several of the relics of the Passion of Christ, and finished the day with a visit to the Church of St.s Cosmos and Damian, which is the home base for the TOR Friars.
My roommate Marianne and I left with Joey Walsh a little before 6:30 am in the morning to go to 7 AM Mass at St. Peter's Basilica. There are several Masses said at the various altars around the basilica. We went to a Low Mass in front of the altar where is buried Pope St. Gregory the Great, for whom Gregorian chant is named, not because he invented it but because he was the one who organized the chants, which ones go for which days and such. For the Ash Wednesday Low Mass, you receive your ashes before Mass begins. There were a few other students who came to Mass here at this altar as well - among them my friends Brian and Hannah. After Mass we meandered about the basilica, admiring its general splendor in our meditations and prayers. A Mass began at the altar beneath the Holy Spirit window. They played O Sacred Head Surrounded on the organ accompanied by the choir for the distribution of the ashes. I didn't recognize it at first, then I remembered it from J.S. Bach's beautiful St. Matthew Passion, which we were quizzed on last semester.

Ash Wednesday, Rome

Our audience with the pope was at 10:30, but we got in line around 9:30-ish because the audience hall fills up so quickly. My seat was about halfway up the hall, much better than the last time I was in Rome when I saw John Paul II. We had to wait a long while. But to see our beloved Papa was such a joy, and to hear his Lenten message on Ash Wednesday was such a blessing, too! He addressed each group in their own language, and waved his hand in acknowledge to each group as they cheered. There was a German brass band there that played for him. Behind me was a group of Americans on pilgrimage.
After the audience, we had some free time. All I wanted at this point really was food, so we stopped at a pizza shop. Along the way to the metro we ran into a couple people who were on their way to visit the center of Opus Dei, where St. Josemaria Escriva is buried. They invited us to come along, so my group joined up with them. It was rather spontaneous, but I had a headache, was mildly interested, and being more of a follower anyway, went with it. This ended up being one of my favorite parts of the day. The center is located in what looks like an office or apartment building, so it completely took me by surprise. Inside though it was lovely. The chapel was gorgeous! It was obviously very new, but it was built in the style of an old Roman church, with a mosaic on the apse, a canopy over the altar, which was raised up. St. Josemaria Escriva's tomb was beneath the altar. There were choir stalls on either side of the nave, where we sat and prayed. The tour guide showed us a statue of the blessed Virgin sculpted in the Spanish tradition. She is depicted as in the Assumption, but before she is assumed, so she looks dead, or asleep. She was dressed in beautiful silvery white dress. The Opus Dei center had a set of papal robes worn by John Paul II, soon to be a "relic" I suppose once he is beatified. Josemaria's successor as head of Opus Dei is also buried here.

St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei

We could only spend a half hour here before we had to be at the Church of the Holy Stairs for when the church first opened. The Church contains the set of marble stairs on which Pontius Pilate condemned Christ to death. There are places on the marble where His Precious Blood miraculously stained the marble. Many years later St. Helen brought the steps to Rome. I had climbed these steps on my last pilgrimage to Rome in 2003. It is the custom that one climb the steps on one's knees. I had a whole new appreciation for climbing the steps this time, which has been true in general of my whole European experience. I prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as I went up the steps. It was even more meaningful with it being Ash Wednesday.
When I finished in the Church of the Holy Stairs, I went to the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. (They say it's in Jerusalem because they took some dirt from the Holy Land to put somewhere in the church).  I was particularly happy to see this church because the last time I was in Rome, it had been on our itinerary but since they were remodeling the shrine of the relics, we were unable to see them. We did get to see the inside of the church itself though, which bears on the apse the story of the Holy Cross from  the death of Christ to its journey to Rome. The Church contains a thorn from the crown of thorns, the finger of St. Thomas, a relic of the sign that was placed above Christ's head - written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, a nail from the Crucifixion, and a reliquary containing fragments from the cave of Bethlehem, the holy Sepulchre, and the column from the Scourging. This church was also very meaningful because of the coincidence of our visit with the day of Ash Wednesday. It was as if we were walking the path of the Cross with Christ.

St. Cosmos and Damian, center of the TORs

Joey Walsh and I finished in the church and we made our way to St.s Cosmos and Damian. Mass had already started, and we knew we were going to be dreadfully late, but we had gone to Mass at St. Peter's this morning, so we weren't in any hurry. I also had a dreadful headache, so I didn't want to go any faster than necessary. We were able to find the church, after one wrong turn and Joey wandering into another church. We met Craig outside, sitting on the ground waiting for Mass to end, so we waited outside with him. When Mass was over we got to look around the church very briefly, than we went back to the hotel for our last dinner in Rome. The next morning we were leaving for Assisi! Beautiful Assisi!