pilgrim blog 15 - basilica of st peter, rome

​St Peter’s, Exterior View

Photo by Vincent

The first thing we did today was to tour the Vatican Museums. They are best seen before the crowds build up. Part of that tour was through the Sistine Chapel. That Chapel is where you can see Michelangelo’s famous Last Judgements; it is also where the cardinals gather to elect a new pope.
The next thing was to visit St Peter’s Basilica. In here St Peter, chief of the Apostles, has his tomb. As do many other popes from throughout history.
​
Here we are, waiting in line to go through security, before we can enter St Peter’s. If you can find a person looking towards the camera, the one with a white hat, that’s Lachlan, one of the members in our small group.
 
St Peter’s, Holy Door

Photo by Vincent
​
This Holy Door is kept closed. It is only opened during a Holy Year. When it is open during a Holy Year, you go through it on your knees, seeking pardon for your sins. That’s why it is also known as the Door of Mercy. The next Holy Year is 2025, from Christmas Eve 2024 to Epiphany 2026, with a theme of “Pilgrims of Hope”. On the panels of the Holy Door are scenes from the Gospel, including the Annunciation, the Baptism of Jesus, the death of Jesus, and His resurrection.
 
St Peter’s, interior, with view of St John Eudes

Photo by Vincent
​
Looking up along the nave of St Peter’s, the statue of this saint caught my eye. My birthday falls on the day the Church celebrates his optional memorial. An optional memorial means that any priest saying Mass that day can choose either to remember him, or not. St John Eudes had a particular devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary – that’s why he is depicted with an open cloak showing those Two Hearts, one surmounted with a cross, burning, and circled by thorns, and the other also burning but pieced by a sword. This saint wrote the specific Mass texts and Liturgy of the Hours texts for the feast days of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart; he also founded a religious order of women to give refuge to those seeking to escape a life of prostitution.
 
Our guide at the basilica

Photo by Vincent
​
Our tour guide was a deacon from Holland, that’s why you can see a partial clerical collar. He was alive during the pontificate of Pope St John XXIII. Also in this photo are fellow Broken Bay pilgrims Sean and Jess.
 
Body of Pope St John XXIII

Photo by Vincent

Look carefully and see why he is still known as the smiling Pope.
​
This is the Pope who was elected in 1958, just before his 77th birthday, and who inaugurated the Second Vatican Council. When he died of stomach cancer in 1963, Pope Saint Paul VI completed the Second Vatican Council. Pope St John XXIII was canonised in 2014.
 
 
Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
29 Jul 2023, 1.41pm Italy: 29 Jul 2023, 9.41pm Sydney