Day 8- "Regina coeli, laetare, Alleluia!"

So, we got up bright and early, powered our way over to St. Peter's for Mass at the Altar of the Chair (of Peter), only to find the security line going around the entire Piazza. Talk about frustrating! They were all tour groups anyway... what about the actual pilgrims who want to GO TO MASS? You know, it's only the most integral part of Catholic worship at the most famous Catholic church. No big deal...

Once we got over the frustration at the Italian security guards (because you KNOW the Swiss Guard would've thought to have a special Mass entrance. DUH!), we went around the side to check out the JP II exhibit. They had a lot of his quotes and photos on the walls, along with plenty of videos and lots of neat items from his life. We got to see his various vestments (from deacon all the way up to Pope), his hiking gear, skis, and (much to David's excitement), the cross used at World Youth Day. Among the videos were short but still jarring clip of when he was shot in the Piazza, as well as a longer one of the last few years of his life as his health failed. Overall, an excellent tribute to the life of such an influential and beloved (Blessed!) Pope.

Blessed JPII's crosier and vestments (from the Jubilee celebration, I believe)

The world-renowned Papal shoes

Chris and Matt chilling in the shade of the basilica

We staked out the perfect spot fore the Sunday Angelus: On the opposite side of the Pizza, in the shade of the columns. We had a great view of His (tiny German) Holiness from up in the residence. The whole thing lasted only 10 or 15 minutes, and was exponentially more bearable than the Wednesday audience. And, as before, we completely missed the English portion of his address (because of his thick German accent), which was something to the effect of "May ze Almighty Fazer bless you!"

"Look, it's-a de Pope!"

Papa Benny greets his flock

Somehow, we ran into one of the Polish Pallottine sisters, as well as the guys we had lunch with at the NAC. It must be nice, being so close to the Vatican for that stuff!

The afternoon was very low-key and relaxed. Vince and Chris went out to Ostia (beachfront suburb of Rome) to visit some family Vince has there. Dan rested up at the house, recovering from being ill the day before. The rest of us went with the Padres to the church of San Silvestro, where they were to say Mass for a group there.

On the way, we popped into one of my favorite churches of the week: one dedicated to St. Andrew, my patron :-D Behind the altar, and around the apse, were beautiful paintings of Andrew's martyrdom. I just really liked it because it was my boy Andrew. ;-D

Yeah, this whole church is dedicated to St. Andrew. Awesome!

Even just walking down the street, you'll pass a random piazza that's full of excavated ruins.

We also popped into the Gesu so Fr. Kyle could visit... he wasn't with us a few days ago when we went the first time. But it was a good thing we went inside, because they were having a concert in the church when we walked in! So we were treated to a nice 20-minute choral concert in an absolutely beautiful place... what a way to spend part of our last day in Rome! I felt just about in heaven.

Choral concert in the Gesu. PTL!

San Silvestro is, go figure, another beautiful Roman church. This one is currently run by the Pallottines, which is why we were going there in the first place. It's a very old church, over 1000 years old in its original form. There's an excavation beneath the sanctuary and part of the congregation, where 8 popes are buried. They also have the relics of Pope St. Silvester, as well as one of the 3 heads of St. John the Baptist.

Facade of San Silvestro

Heading inside with the Padres, getting ready for Mass

It was like stepping back in time into the more ancient times of the Eternal City. Woah!

Explanation on that: 3 churches claim to have St. John's severed head. That being said, the skull at San Silvestro seems to be the most likely real one, since they also have a reliquary matching the descriptions from some old documents about the skull.

The most-likely-true head of St. John the Baptist

The sanctuary of San Silvestro

Looking up into the church from down in the crypt

REALLY old fresco of Jesus and the Apostles, also down in the crypt

We had Mass with a cute group of Filipinos living in Rome, complete with the folk-y Filipino church choir. After Mass, the rector, Fr. Fitzpatrick (a witty Irishman who was in fine form, boy-o!), took us upstairs to their house. It's a shared community between Pallottines and Augustinians. We sat down there for a good long while, chatting with them and sipping on a few bottles of wine and some cheese.

We managed to meet up with the rest of the group for our final dinner in Rome. We went to another place by Compo de Fiori (I think), which was stellar. The food was well-priced and FANTASTIC! Since it was our last night, most of us did 2 courses. I went for the traditional Roman dishes of Norcina and Osso Bucco. YUM! For dessert, I had some great Tiramisu. We topped dinner off with some Sambuca, as well as a celebratory round of Grappa.

So, tomorrow we head home. Sigh.... I'm going to miss this place.