 Next Sunday, April 27, 2014 the greatest popes of the XXth century will became saints. There is a great excitement on town and lots of people exploring the city. A large number of streets surrounding St. Peter square has already been closed to parking and will be not accessible to the traffic starting from tomorrow. I'm walking to the Vatican museum entrance surrounded by large groups of smiling pilgrims heading to St. Peter basilica. It's only 8.30 in the morning!  The monumental access to the Vatican museum was opened in the 1930s.
In the past months scaffoldings were surrounding it due to restoration. The gate has been revealed again this week with the travertine limestone all cleaned. Atop there are the seated sculptures depicting Michelangelo –left end, bearded and not very handsome- and Raphael – right, young and fascinating. Both artists are considered the symbol of this extraordinary art collection.  One of the two fountains decorating St. Peter's square. Finally the restoration works to clean the colonnade have been accomplished and the square looks beautiful.  8.30am, it's freezing and I'm going to work! Many workers are in St. Peter square to ornate the Vatican Christmas tree.  The early Christian community took care of the burials of their members. Because of shortage and expensive price of the land (nothing changed in the past 2000 years ) they created underground cemeteries excavating tunnels in the volcanic rock where the bodies were placed in niches along the corridors and sealed with clay or marble slabs.
Each tomb had the name of the deceased and was also decorated with simple but meaningful symbols. The most common Christian symbols used in the catacombs are: THE FISH : in Greek fish is written ICHTHYS: each Greek letter is the initial of the words : Jesus Christ Son of God Savior. I- stands for IESOUS - (Jesus) CH- stands for CHRISTOS - (Christ) TH- THEOU stands for - ( of God) Y stands for UIOS - ( Son ) S- stands for SOTER - (Salvatore ) - The MONOGRAM OF CHRIST: it is composed of two Greek letters of the alphabet , X ( chi) and P (ro), woven together . They are the first two letters of the Greek word Xristos , that means Christ . - - The ANCHOR: meaning the hope in the promise of a future life . - A DOVE with an olive branch in its beak : a symbol recalling the salvation of Noah after the flood. Consequently it symbolizes the idea of the soul in a heavenly peace  Wednesday September 25, papa Francesco papal Audience seen from the top of castel St Angelo. St. Peter square was full of people! This morning 8.00am workers are placing back in order the thousands chairs used yesterday.   When you enter St. Peter basilica in the afternoon you feel bathed by light. We always remember Michelangelo's dome without realizing, sometime, that the dome is supported on these many windows that makes light becoming the dominating aspect of the church. A connection with the divine similar to the two fingers of Adam and God painted on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.  Finally I'm starting a touring day from St. John in Lateran, Rome's cathedral: 'omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput' : the mother and head of all churches in the city and in the world.
 This is one of the most frequent questions I'm asked while in the Sistine chapel. As you see in this picture the cardinals gather inside the Sistine chapel, locked inside -conclave means 'with the key- to decide whom will became the new pope. The chapel is closed ahead of time to the visitors to be ready for this important decision. The fireplace is added on the corner of the sistine chapel facing the square, to produce the smoke created by burning the paper used for each vote as to create a black smoke, in case of no election, or white if we have a new pope. The fireplace is connected by tubes to a chimney located on the roof of the chapel visible from St. Peter square. Everybody in St. Peter square wait twice a day to see the color of the smoke... Yesterday we entered St. Peter basilica after touring the Vatican museum and Sistine chapel and I soon realized there was something going on... While admiring Michelangelo's Pieta I heard a big wow and understood pope Francis had just entered the church! It's amazing! There was a mass of a group of faithful from and Italian northern city and He just entered to meet them... Nobody was expecting this, and all of us were very excited! He gave us a speech and a blessing surrounded by the enthusiasm of thousands of people who had entered the church for touring. It has never happened before to just see the Pope stepping inside the basilica without notice... Pope Francis is great!!   Papa Francesco is meeting the faithful more often than the previous popes, and he's rooting his relation with them through prayer.
Every Sunday since Easter he has celebrated mass in St. Peter square. Every Saturday new flowers are arranged...  It’s a 75 meter long gallery with a splendidly vault decorated in trompe d’oeil executed in 1789.
On the walls are displayed tapestries belonging to two different periods and manufactures: on the left wall there are tapestries woven in Rome by the Barberini workshop and commemorating important moments in the life of the Barberini pope Urban VIII.    March 13th 2013, 7.44 pm. The Swiss guards are on the sagrado together with the Vatican band, the Carabinieri band and everyone else is waiting for the new Pope who's going to be introduced to us from the benediction loggia in the facade of St Peter basilica.
 March 12th, 2013 at 12.30.
sPeople who attended the mass in St Peter are exiing the church. The atmosphere is very alive! This morning service was open to everyone to join the cardinal in prayer for the successful election of the new Pope. An historical moment that many faithful participated to.  The Sistine Chapel has closed to the visitors yesterday: March the 5th.
The Conclave preparation begun. From now onwards it's all secret. The Vatican museum can be visited, and are worth of, without having access to the Borgia Apartments and Modern Religious Art sections too.  A view of The Christmas tree in St. Peter square seen from the columnate. Traditionally the vatican tree is the highest in town and is donated to the pope by a East Europen country. I've missed which one donated this splendid one this year.
As you can see the decoration are golden and silver, the colors of the Holy See. Happy new year everyone!!  Sistine Chapel seen from the top of St. Peter The Sistine chapel dimensions are believed to recall the same measures of the great temple of Salomon in Jerusalem, destroyed by Titus in AD 70.
The length is 40,23 meters and the height is 20,70. The Sistine chapel is 13,40 meters wide, the same space occupied by 20 persons standing on the side one of the other.  This is our beloved statue of St Peter, located in St. Peter basilica which was already dressed as a pope this morning in anticipation of the great service the Pope will held tomorrow.
Of course St Peter is only dressed in such a way once every year on occasion of St. Peter and Paul's Day!  Annually, on occasion of the Easter celebrations, St Peter’s baldachin is cleaned and shined with oil.
It’s quite an happening to be there when this happens, as it’s the time we understand better the real dimension of this colossal sculpture conceived and casted by Gianlorenzo Bernini in the 17th century. This year I was in the archeological area when this happened but my sister Marta Marsili, a great local guide of Rome, was there, and she made the picture I show you. |
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Ilaria Marsili MRSLRI67H50H501J . All Rights Reserved.
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