Pilgrimage 2009 - Rome, Rotondo, Lourdes

(Note: These posts were largely written on the road, but edited and posted upon return to Singapore. I'm backdating them so that they describe the events of the day.)

I had been meaning to take my mother on a pilgrimage for a few years – so this year we finally got round to signing up for a 13 day Rome-Rotondo-Lourdes pilgrimage.


Our group is some 27 people, excluding our tour leader and our spiritual director. Mostly retirees, but about 6 younger people (including me). In true Singapore style, I find one ex-colleague, one colleague of a cousin and the parents and aunts of my primary school classmate. As we always say, Singapore is a small place.


Our first day was meant to be an “easy” day, but I must admit I was truly exhausted at the end. Probably because I didn't sleep on the plane, beyond dozing off for a few minutes here and there.

We started off at the Basilica of St Paul outside the Walls, or Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura (there is another St Paul within the walls of Rome but it is an Episcopalian aka Anglican church), which was erected over St Paul's grave. Here, we met our guide, Roberta, who displays a truly impressive knowledge of church history, the popes, and Roman history. I am amazed that she can remember whether a building was built under Pious V or Pious VI or Sixtus V or Sixtus VI. Roberta herself is an elegant Italian woman – unlike the stereotypical fast-talking Italian, she pronounces each word deliberately, accompanied by graceful hand gestures. She has to speak softly in a little radio transmitter; we get headsets to listen to her. With the large number of tourist groups around each church or site, I can imagine the cacophony which would have resulted if all the guides attempted to communicate to their groups over each others' noise. So each day we wait for the aptly named “Whisper” man to arrive to bring our headsets in.

St Paul's is one of the four papal basilicas in Rome, where the high altar can be used only by the Pope or his nominee saying a mass in his place. It is full on columns on each side, with a glorious ceiling and the portraits of the popes lining the walls.


We then went to Tre Fontana – where Paul was decapitated by the sword. The place is so called because tradition has it that when Paul was beheaded, his head bounced on the ground three times and where his head hit the ground, a fountain emerged, according to church tradition. Today the springs seemed a little sluggish with the water moving only slightly. I thought of Paul at the end of his life, proclaiming “I have fought the good fight; I have won the race.”


After lunch, we went to Santa Croce – the church of the Holy Cross, which had within the relics of the True Cross, brought back to Rome by St Helen, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, sometime around the 3rd Century AD. Apparently the church was built or originally converted from the house of Helen, after her death. Sorry no photos, the relics were in a very low light environment and they just didn't come out well.


Along the way, we passed the Circus Maximus, where many of the early Christians were killed by the Romans. It was next to the Palatine, the home of the Emperors (so they didn't need to go far for the executions). Today it is a green grassy plain with a raised hump in the centre. Rome is drenched in the blood of the martyrs; apparently half a million Christians were executed by the Romans, principally by the Emperor Nero.


Thereafter, we went to Sancta Scala (the Holy Stairs) and the Basilica of St John Lateran, just next to each other. At Sancta Scala, it was incredible to see all the pilgrims going up the stairs on their knees. Don't know whether it is truly the steps leading to Pontius Pilate's rooms but the deeper beauty and truth of this place is the faith and contrition displayed by all the pilgrims who are taking this painful journey to repent of their sins. Alas, where I was concerned, the spirit was willing (well sort of willing) but my knees are weak. I would be prepared to give it a go on the last day but wasn't willing to hobble for the rest of the pilgrimage.

Our next stop was the basilica of St John Lateran, or more accurately, the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour, St. John the Baptist and the Evangelist at the Lateran. The name came about because the hill the Basilica was built on and surrounding lands were originally owned by the powerful Lateran family of ancient Rome. Constantine took over the lands to build the church, the first official church in Rome. Thus Christianity was institutionalised within the Roman Empire. This is why the church of St John Lateran has also the title of "ecumenical mother church" (mother church of the whole inhabited world). It is also the cathedral of the Pope as Bishop of Rome. So from the blood of the martyrs, rose the early church.

The popes stayed here at the Lateran basilica until 1309 when the papal court moved to Avignon; it would only return 68 years later in 1377 (see my post on the Pope's Palace here). But it was felt that the palace was in too poor condition and not fit for habitation (especially if one compares it to the papal palace at Avignon ). So they moved over to St Peter's where the pope has stayed every since.

St John Lateran has been re-built a few times over the years. It has an imposing nave with gigantic statues of the apostles on each side, each with their iconic symbol (eg two keys for St Peter; coins for Matthew). The floor is beautiful with multi-coloured marble in geometric patterns. Here, we had our first mass together as a group. Father looked at the sorry, exhausted state of his flock and kept his sermon short.


We went for dinner, checked in at the hotel and went to bed quickly.

I've not put in the links for many of these references, but more information on many of these places can be found here. My photos can be found here.