Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran {November 9}

i'm still sorting through the photos of our Great European Road Trip, so the Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran seems like the perfect opportunity to recap our visit to the Basilica a few weeks ago. each month, the seminarians have one weekend off to travel, so Nick didn't have to play for Sunday morning mass at the college. so we packed up the girls and took the bus out of the center of town to the basilica.

the bus let us off in the Piazza di San Giovanni behind the main church, so we had to walk around. in our haste to get to mass on time, we didn't pay any attention to the massive Egyptian obelisk in the piazza. now i realize that this is the oldest, largest Egyptian obelisk in Rome. according to historians, it's very likely that Moses himself would have seen this very obelisk. i still can't comprehend that. the obelisk was brought to Rome in 357 and originally erected near the Circus Maximus. it was rediscovered in the 1500s, restored under orders of Pope Sixtus V, and brought here to the piazza where it remains.

the Lateran obelisk (photo credit here)

the front of the basilica

the Basilica of Saint John Lateran is the actual seat of the pope, the oldest church in the West, and the official Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome -- not St. Peter's, as could easily be inferred. the building was consecrated in 324 A.D. and it was dedicated first to St. John the Baptist in the 10th century and also to St. John the Evangelist in the 12th century. the name "Lateran" refers to the Lateran family, who donated their palace to the Emperor Constantine for the building of the basilica in the 4th century.

the title of the church, inscribed in its facade, is "OMNIUM URBIS ET ORBIS ECCLESIARUM MATER ET CAPUT" ("The Mother and Head of all Churches of the City and of the World"). 

the portico of the church. on the left, you can see the original green bronze doors, which were taken from the Roman Senate!

despite its importance, the Basilica of Saint John Lateran has just a fraction of the tourists that flock to St. Peter's, and we walked through the security checkpoint without a wait. the beautiful interior has a much more reverent atmosphere than St. Peter's as well. no big tour groups walking through, nobody with eyes glazed over listening to an audioguide. visitors were still taking pictures, of course, but i got the impression that everybody was conscious of the fact that this is a church and not a museum.

we walked up close to the front of the church for mass. we were looking forward to the music. Palestrina himself was the music director and organist here, and so we both had visions of "Sicut Cervus" in perfect polyphony floating out over the congregation. alas, the state of church music in Italy is not what it used to be. both the repertoire selection and musical execution were mediocre, and Nick's jaw was pretty much on the floor for the entire service. the music in our own dear St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in Carnegie is better! regardless, the Holy Mass is still the Holy Mass, and we were privileged to worship together with the universal Body of Christ in what has been called the parish church of all Catholics.

putting her sunnies on

after mass, we had the opportunity to walk around a bit and explore the beautiful art and sculptures in the interior. the nave is lined with larger-than-life sculptures of the twelve apostles.

St. Andrew with his X-shaped cross

St. Bartholomew, who was flayed alive, holding his skin (the face is really what gets me)

St. Peter, with the keys

St. Paul

the church holds many treasures, including a piece of wood from the table used at the Last Supper, and the heads of St. Paul and St. Peter. all of these relics are preserved in beautiful cases, and at the time, i didn't recognize what they were. now that i've done a little research, it's amazing to look back through the pictures and appreciate how close we were to these important relics.

a glimpse outside towards the cloister, which was previously used by Benedictines

looking into the sacristy

the baldacchino, which dates from 1369. in the top of the baldacchino is a reliquary
preserving the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul.

the apse contains one of the earliest depictions of Christ, in 4th-century mosaic

the tablernacle. above the tabernacle, behind the golden grate, is a piece of wood from the table used at the Last Supper. the bronze columns came from the Temple of Jupiter, on the Capitoline Hill. the columns were originally made from bronze melted down off the prows of Cleopatra's ships.  

St. John the Baptist, keeping guard over the tomb of a pope

some high rollers here...

the organ

view of the church from the altar

we finally walked back out to the portico, admiring this statue of Constantine which was moved here from the Baths of Diocletian. 

then it was back out into the brilliant sunshine. we decided to visit the Scala Santa (Holy Stairs) across the street. tradition holds that these are the marble stairs from the praetorium of Pontius Pilate, the same stairs up which Jesus walked on the night he was condemned to die. Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, had the staircase brought to Rome in the year 326 A.D. the marble was covered in wood to protect it, and since then, pilgrims have climbed the stairs on their knees as an act of penance and prayer. the stairs are currently closed for renovation, but there is an adjacent staircase up which one can climb, and you can look through a tiny window in the construction partition to view the original stairs. 

at the top of the wooden steps, covering the original marble

 at the top of the stairs is a medieval chapel, known as the Holy of Holies, which was rebuilt in the 12th century. this was the private chapel of the Pope, and as such, it is the predecessor of the Sistine Chapel (the Popes lived here at the Lateran Palace for over one thousand years - longer than they have lived at the Vatican!). the inscription reads "There is no holier place in the world."

our Sunday adventure concluded with brunch back at the college -- a rare feast of steak and fried eggs, since it was a small crowd with most of the seminarians away for the travel weekend. a fitting conclusion indeed!