I took regional trains through the middle of Italy to get to Rome, which took I a while. I had to go through Pesaro, so I basically went from the west coast to the east coast. The trains are pretty nice, and it gave me time to read. I finally got through a book someone recommended to me for this trip- “Chasing Francis,” by Ian Morgan Cron. Aspects of the book I really liked; other aspects I really disliked… The important things I got out of the book were a renewed interest in St. Francis of Assisi, an adjustment and deepening of my understanding of pilgrimage, and some thoughts on the purpose of art and the nature of beauty. Many of the events in the book occur in Rome, and the book provided some interesting background information. It was pretty fortunate to have read the book on my way to Rome…
A part of the book describes the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. The long story short, is that this is the highest ranking/oldest church building in Roman Catholicism. It’s the oldest and highest ranking of the 5 Papal Basilica’s, notably, being prior to St. Peter’s in Vatican City. It’s the official ecclesiastical seat of the Pope, it’s the Cathedral of Rome (and of the Bishop of Rome, ie the Pope,) and holds the title of Mother Church for all Catholics. It’s also the church originally dedicated directly to Christ- the full name of the church is Archibasilica Sanctissimi Salvatoris et Sanctorum Iohannes Baptista et Evangelista in Laterano, which translates in English as Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the Lateran. (Thanks wikipedia.)
It’s also site of the Legend of the Companions, the story of when St. Francis of Assisi and two companions sought a blessing and confirmation of a rule, from Pope Innocent III, for the newly established Franciscan order.
I made it a priority to visit.
I went Saturday night, and went in time for Mass.
Just for reference, earlier the same day I had stopped by Vatican City and St. Peters. The line to get into St. Peter’s was over 4 hours long by around noon that day. The entire place is a complete shit show- thousands of tourists and all the accompanying insanity, noise, and stress. Frankly, there’s no sense of the sacred as far as I can tell. It’s just people taking pictures and pushing and shoving. I get the distinct impression that some massive hoax has been perpetrated on everyone involved. I don’t think people actually know why they’re going, other than that they’re supposed to go see some cool old shit. On the way there, at least 10 people tried to sell me tours, and another 20 just tried to sell other random tourist crap.
In contrast, at St. John Lateran, (and technically the more important church…) it’s quiet and a relatively deserted. There’s a little bit of the sense of the sacred. Some restraint, some respect, some propriety. There’s always the idiots taking selfies with flashes, but it’s not en masse, which makes a difference. I visited the cloister- there was maybe one other person there. The thing that really struck me was mass and Eucharist. In that enormous cathedral, with room for thousands and where all kinds of important shit happened, there were maybe 70-80 people that showed up for mass. The vast majority were grey and kind of bent over. They didn’t show up to post selfies on FB. This wasn’t the cool place to be. They went because it was important to them, for whatever reasons. There’s some sincerity and authenticity in the choice to participate in that mass at the place. Whenever I’m in proximity to organized religion, generally I get hives and that impression of a massive hoax; but at the same time, when I have experiences like this, there’s something undeniably special and kind of moving. Something about the place, the history, the ritual, and the authenticity of the people there…
Other highlights from Rome:
Exhibition of war photography at the Museum of Rome, from two perspectives: the American Signal Corp., and the Italian Instituto Luce.
Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, etc. etc. Trevi Fountain was an awful experience… seriously just… hordes of people taking selfies and shoving to get a decent angle. Would not recommend to visit in person. Pantheon wasn’t a whole lot better… there are signs every where telling people to be quiet and respect that it’s a church, but it’s just chaos in there.
Generally, my impression of Rome is that it’s kind of a exhausting. As I mentioned before, I think I really prefer small towns now…
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