#traditional catholic saints shrines/tombs

[stjohncapistrano67]

A Traditional Catholic shrine/tomb to one of the many martyrs of the Cristiano revolt against the masonic Mexican government.

[onefleshonepod]

ID: A digital collage of "The Empress” tarot card as Commander Wake from the Locked Tomb series. The card shows a framed daguerrotype portrait of Wake at a wayside stone shrine reminiscent of a shrine to the Virgin Mary, with offerings of candles, syringes, microscope slides, and a diver’s bell. Wake is a Māori woman with moko wearing a hei-tiki, crowned with the twelve-star crown of the Virgin Mary. Above the shrine is an image of a baby floating on water, from Taranga by Robyn Kahukiwa, a contemporary Māori artist and scholar. In the background is an abstract swirl of teal, red, orange, and black. Wake’s image is from a photograph in the collection of Te Papa of an unknown Māori woman from the 1870s. The left side of the card shows the upright meaning of The Empress and reads, “Motherhood | The Natural World | Sensuality | Pregnancy | New Opportunity | Nurturing | Abundance” in all caps. The right side of the card shows the reversed reading and reads “Unwanted Pregnancy | Stagnation | Financial Issues | Negligence | Smothering | Lack of Growth” in all caps. The base of the card reads "The Empress | Wake” in a retro 1970s-style font. Before “Wake” is her full name in smaller text: Commander Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity.”

I think Wake, if she were a real person, would resent being used as an image of motherhood — an experience she hated and found so traumatic that her memories infected and destroyed Harrow’s River bubble in Harrow the Ninth. However, as a literary symbol of the Virgin Mary, narrative foil of The Emperor, and mother of the main character, I thought she was a fitting choice for the Empress. She embodies the meanings of the card in many ways:

As the commander of Blood of Eden, the group fighting the necromantic empire, Wake is symbolic of life and the natural world. As someone whose impulses in love led to affairs with not one but two enemy leaders, she symbolizes sensuality as well. Her story fits perfectly with the reversed meanings of this card, especially unwanted pregnancy and stagnation as a revenant in Gideon’s sword.

For the design of this card, I was inspired by the framed portraits of Wake we see in the Blood of Eden shuttle in Harrow the Ninth and in the Troia Cell meeting in Nona the Ninth. I imagined that Blood of Eden might have a tradition of leaving offerings at wayside shrines similar to the outdoor shrines to Mary and other saints seen in Catholic countries around the world.

We know that the Nine Houses only have early, labour-intensive forms of photography and print-making, so I chose to use a very old photograph for Wake. She is wearing the twelve-star crown of the Virgin Mary, just like the twelve-star crown of the Empress in the Rider-Waite-Smith card. The top of the card, showing Gideon as a baby, brings in the water and nature imagery from the RWS card.

[apenitentialprayer]

Would I be somewhat correct to say that, loosely, iirc, Sunni Islam is like Protestantism in its strict, “exclusive” monotheism (no saints, no extra devotions to Muhammad or asking others to pray for you, no holy sites for other individuals), and no hierarchy, whereas Shia is more like Catholicism - a hierarchy in the leadership of the divinely set 12 Imams, praying to saints, relics etc., going to holy pilgrimage sites and wells etc., also ritual mortification in memory of Husayn (like wearing cilices or hairshirts in Catholicism). I’ve encountered some Sunnis who also dismiss it all as crazy and not in the Qur’an, as “extra,” added on—similar to how Protestants say about us with praying to saints, sacramentals etc etc

Ah, I think that while the Sunni=Protestant / Shi'a=Catholic analogy can kind of work so long as it's understood not to be a one-to-one analogy and that it falls apart the second any nuance is applied to it, I still think it only applies to some of what you said and not to others.

Sunnism definitely does not have a hierarchy the same way that Shi'ism does, and Sunnis definitely don't believe that devotion to the 'Ahl al-Bayt (the family of Muhammad) is an essential duty in the way that Shi'is do, but there is significant overlap between most Sunnis and Shi'is in terms of the other things you mentioned.

Muslims of all kinds have a long history of relic- and saint-veneration, from (Sunni) Mehmed the Conqueror who supposedly had a tooth of Muhammad to Hazratbal, considered one of the holiest (pan-Muslim) shrines in India because it houses a hair from Muhammad's beard. There are also lots of stories about Muslim saints appearing to others in visions to initiate them into esoteric rites (Sufism, primarily a Sunni phenomenon), and many tombs of great scholars or mystics have had mosques built on top of them, often with their own traditional pilgrimage rites to go with them. Salim Chishti, for example, is a Sunni saint of the Chishtiyya order whose tomb is often visited by women seeking to become pregnant; they ask for his intercession by tying a little red ribbon around the fences of the shrine.

In the West, however, there are large strands of Islamic thought influenced by Muhammad al-Wahhab, himself deeply influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah; they both believed that much of what was then mainstream in Islam wasn't authentically Islamic, and so sought to combat religious innovation (bid'a in Arabic) by removing anything they believed could not be traced back to the Muslim community as it existed when Muhammad was still in living memory. While proponents of an Islam that does not have saints, does not engage in pilgrimages beside the Hajj and the Umrah, and does not have holidays besides Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are vocal, they are not the only Sunnism in existence.

[peterjohnsonnnn]

Embarking on Sacred Journeys: Exploring the Spirituality of Catholic Pilgrimage Tours

In the realm of spiritual exploration, few experiences rival the profound depth and transformative power of a Catholic pilgrimage tour. These journeys transcend mere sightseeing; they are spiritual odysseys, where travelers embark on a quest to connect with the sacred sites that hold significance in Catholic tradition. From ancient cathedrals to revered shrines, each destination becomes a portal to deeper understanding, personal reflection, and renewed faith. In this article, we delve into the essence of Catholic pilgrimage tours, exploring their significance, destinations, and the profound impact they have on pilgrims.

The Significance of Catholic Pilgrimage: At the heart of Catholic pilgrimage lies a centuries-old tradition deeply rooted in faith, reverence, and spiritual renewal. Pilgrimage is not merely a journey of physical travel but a profound inner journey, where pilgrims seek spiritual growth, healing, and communion with God. The act of pilgrimage is steeped in symbolism, mirroring the spiritual journey of the believer towards salvation.

For Catholics, pilgrimage holds a special place in their spiritual practice, offering an opportunity to deepen their connection with the Divine and the communion of saints. It is a tangible expression of faith, a sacred ritual that transcends the boundaries of time and space, linking pilgrims to the rich tapestry of religious history and tradition.

Destinations of Spiritual Significance: Catholic pilgrimage tours encompass a myriad of destinations, each imbued with its own spiritual significance and historical lore. From the revered pilgrimage sites of Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela to the humble sanctuaries of Lourdes and Fatima, these journeys span continents and cultures, uniting believers in their shared devotion to the faith.

One of the most sought-after destinations for Catholic pilgrims is the Vatican City, the epicenter of Catholicism and home to St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the tomb of St. Peter. Here, pilgrims can partake in papal audiences, attend Mass at the heart of Christendom, and experience the awe-inspiring beauty of Michelangelo's masterpieces.

Similarly, the Holy Land holds profound significance for Catholics, as the land where Jesus walked, taught, and performed miracles. Pilgrims can trace the footsteps of Christ in Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem, visiting the Church of the Nativity, the Basilica of the Annunciation, and the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus carried his cross.

Impact on Pilgrims: The impact of Catholic pilgrimage tours on pilgrims is profound and multifaceted, encompassing spiritual, emotional, and psychological dimensions. These journeys offer pilgrims a sacred space for reflection, prayer, and introspection, allowing them to confront their deepest fears, doubts, and desires in the presence of the Divine.

Many pilgrims attest to the transformative power of pilgrimage, describing it as a journey of renewal, healing, and spiritual awakening. Through encounters with holy relics, sacred rituals, and fellow pilgrims, individuals often experience a deepening of faith, a sense of peace, and a renewed commitment to living out their beliefs in their daily lives.

Furthermore, pilgrimage fosters a sense of solidarity and unity among believers, transcending differences of culture, language, and nationality. In the shared experience of pilgrimage, pilgrims form bonds of friendship and community, forging connections that endure long after the journey has ended.

Conclusion: Catholic pilgrimage tours stand as testament to the enduring power of faith, devotion, and spiritual exploration. In traversing the sacred landscapes of the Catholic tradition, pilgrims embark on a journey of profound significance, where the physical and the spiritual converge in a sacred dance of discovery and transformation. As pilgrims return from their journeys, they carry with them not only cherished memories but also a deeper understanding of themselves, their faith, and their place in the divine tapestry of creation.

[butwhatifidothis]

Seeing nilsh’s posts really reminds me of just how… deeply anti-Catholic English-speaking fandoms are. It’s like they see anything they deem “catholic” and it’s like “OH NO THE INSTITUTION THAT STEALS ONE’S AUTONOMY, DEMANDS FORCEFUL CONVERTION AND IS ANTI-SEX” but like… yeah *some* catholics can be crazy like that. But you know which religious group I’ve seen that describes that better? American Calvinists and other flavors of protestants. Seeing some of the arguments and religious trauma floating in English-speaking spaces is wild, because they think that all flavors of Christianity are the same when it’s more complicated than that.

I’ll concede: *most* social taboos and traditions from the Middle ages *were* imposed by the Church, but they *also* come from the greater culture that the Church had to adapt to. The Catholic Church actually gained influence by adapting and taking in customs and traditions that were already there. Massive Midwinter feast to curb depression because it’s dark and cold? Christmas. Midsummer jumping-over-fire day (which btw couldn’t sound more pagan out of context if I tried)? Saint John the Baptist Feast Day. Autumn feast day when the world of the dead are allegedly closest to the living? All Soul’s Day.

Anyway, TL;DR: religious trauma is an unfortunate but valid experience. Nevertheless, trauma can make one draw assumptions on things that aren’t even there.

Different nonnie (I think lol): Oh! And may I just add to the “Church of Serios is not the Catholic Church” discussion: Mercedes (local mega religious church girl that grew up in a church that took her and her mom in after they had to run away) says to her brother when they’re about to kill her brother “Someday, we may meet again in another life.” Like. I think one of the Few Things All Christian Traditions Can Agree on is: “you have one life, and then you get put to whatever eternal afterlife you earned yourself in this lifetime.” Some groups say it’s instant. Others say you go into a tomb-like dark and cold place until the Revelation. The CoS, officially, doesn’t seem to have a concept of “hell” or “purgatory”. In my playthroughs, the only characters I’ve seen that bring up “burning after death” are from the Kingdom (Dimitri’s “BURN IN THE ETERNAL FLAMES” and Sylvain’s “burn until we meet again” come to mind). And even Gilbert says this when you go to Ailell-Hell. That people think you can get “cleansed from your sins” in fire, even if it’s NOT A PART OF SCRIPTURE. Also, Claude mentions how in the Kingdom, specifically, there is someplace “dark and creepy” the dead go to. So yeah. It seems to me that those are more cultural queues than religious queues. Especially from the part of the continent that seems to have more influence of the Nemesis-Agarthan power couple. Just sayin’.

Oh, and another huge “CoS isn’t CC” argument: there is no mention of any of the holy sacraments except marriage, which exists as a concept independent of the catholic church. If you were catholic/grew up in a catholic-drenched culture you’d know that baptism, first communion and other sacraments are a HUGE deal! ESPECIALLY IN THE MIDDLE AGES where unbaptized children can’t go to heaven so you gotta baptize them as soon as possible in case your newborn dies. Oh, and there’s also the “Enlightened One” class is called “NIRVANA” in japanese; if you side with you-know-who, who is due to player pandering or plot reasons is implied to have a crush on you you LOSE NIRVANA because you keep yourself tethered to the mundane… like y’all. I honestly think that if Aesthetically the CoS had Rhea be the “Head Shrine Maiden” instead of Archbishop people wouldn’t just jump at the aesthetics of the game. And even then! The CoS colors are Red and White which are also Shinto’s huge color choices. People really only see what they wanna see…

Not a lot to add here - these put in perspective just how middling the connection between the CoS and the Catholic Church are, and how a lot of this is mostly people projecting their hatred for Catholicism on a fictional religious entity that vaguely resembles it

[sianiquotes]

St. Peter's Basilica

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal enclave that is within the city of Rome.

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Moderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and the largest church in the world by interior measure. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome (these equivalent titles being held by the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome), St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been describes as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom".

Catholic tradition holds that the basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter, chief among Jesus's apostles and also the first Bishop of Rome (Pope). Saint Peter's tomb is supposedly directly below the high altar of the basilica. For this reason, many popes have beem interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period. A church has stood on this site since the time of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Old St. Peter's Basilica dates from the 4th century AD. Construction of the present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.

St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage and for its liturgical functions. The pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year both within the basilica or the adjoining St. Peter's Square; these liturgies draw audiences numbering from 15,000 to over 80,000 people. St. Peter's has many historical associations, with the Early Christian Church, the Papacy, the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-reformation and numerous artists, especially Michelangelo. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age. St. Peter's is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of major basilica, all four of which are in Rome. Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop; the cathedra of the pope as Bishop of Rome is at Saint John Lateran.

[cruger2984]

Haikyuu!! and its Saints

Fly to victory. In celebration of my birthday today, here's our black and orange boys of Karasuno and their corresponding saints!

December 31 - Daichi Sawamura

Pope St. Sylvester I: 33rd bishop of Rome who reigned from 314 to 335 A.D. He filled the see of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, yet very little is known of him. The accounts of his pontificate preserved in the seventh or eighth-century Liber Pontificalis contain little more than a record of the gifts said to have been conferred on the church by Constantine the Great, although it does say that he was the son of a Roman named Rufinus. Large churches were founded and built during Sylvester I's pontificate, including Basilica of St. John Lateran, Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, Old St. Peter's Basilica and several churches built over the graves of martyrs. Legend has it that Sylvester is slaying a dragon, hence he is often depicted with the dying beast.

June 13 - Koshi Sugawara

St. Anthony of Padua: Franciscan Portuguese friar and priest who is noted by his contemporaries for his powerful preaching, expert knowledge of scripture, and undying love and devotion to the poor and the sick, he was one of the most quickly canonized saints in church history. Although he is known as the patron of lost items, his major shrine can be found in Padua, Italy. In January 1946, he is proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XII, and is given the title of Doctor Evangelicus (Evangelical Doctor).

January 1 - Asahi Azumane

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God: One of the most important Marian feasts days to start the New Year. It is to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary under the aspect of her motherhood of Jesus Christ, whom Christians see as the Lord, Son of God, and it is celebrated by the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church on 1 January, the Octave (8th) day of Christmastide.

October 10 - Yu Nishinoya

St. Cerbonius: Populonian bishop who lived in the time of the Barbarian invasion. Gregory the Great praises him in Book XI of his Dialogues. Another tradition states that Cerbonius was a native of North Africa who was the son of Christian parents. Ordained a priest by Regulus, though not the same one as in the Scottish Legend. One of the saint’s attributes was a bear licking his feet, because during Totila’s invasion of Tuscany, he was ordered to be killed by a wild bear, the bear remained petrified before him. It stood on two legs and opened its jaws wide. Then, it fell back on its paws and licked the feet of the saint.

March 3 - Ryunosuke Tanaka

St. Katharine Drexel: American philanthropist, religious sister, educator, heiress, and foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as Xavier University of Louisiana, the only historically black Catholic college in the country. She might be the second canonized saint to have been born in the United States and the first to have been born a U.S. citizen, she is the patron of philanthropists and racial justice.

December 26 - Chikara Ennoshita

St. Stephen: Dubbed as the first Christian martyr, and his appearance can be found in the Acts of the Apostles. He is a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy at his trial, he made a long speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death, in which Saul of Tarsus was a witness to see him died before his conversion in Damascus.

February 15 - Hisashi Kinoshita

St. Claude de La Colombière: 17th century French Jesuit priest who assisted St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in establishing the devotion to the Sacred Heart. He was her confessor, and his writings and testimony helped to validate her mystical visions and elevated the Sacred Heart as an important feature of Roman Catholic devotion. He was appointed court preacher to Mary of Modena, who had become duchess of York by marriage with the future King James II of England, and he took up his residence in St. James's Palace in London. Falsely accused by a former protégé of complicity in Titus Oates's 'popish plot,' he was imprisoned for five weeks and, when released, was obliged to return to France, where he died an invalid under the care of Margaret Mary. Canonized by Pope St. John Paul II on the Feast of the Visitation in 1992, his major shrine can be found in Paray-le-Monial.

August 17 - Kazuhito Narita

St. Hyacinth of Poland: 13th century Polish Dominican priest and missionary who worked to reform women's monasteries in his native Poland, and was a Doctor of Sacred Studies, educated in Paris and Bologna, and is known for the monicker, 'Apostle of the North.' One of the major miracles attributed to Hyacinth came about during a Mongol attack on Kiev. As the friars prepared to flee the invading forces, Hyacinth went to save the ciborium containing the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle in the monastery chapel, when he heard the voice of Mary, the mother of Jesus, asking him to take her, too. He lifted the large, stone statue of Mary, as well as the ciborium. He was easily able to carry both, despite the fact that the statue weighed far more than he could normally lift. Thus he saved them both. His tomb is in the Basilica of Holy Trinity in Krakow, Poland, in a chapel that bears his name. Hyacinth is the patron saint of those in danger of drowning.

December 22 - Tobio Kageyama

St. Ernan, Son of Eogan: He was a nephew of St. Columba. His monastery in Ireland was at Druim-Tomma in the district of Drumhome, County Donegal. He is venerated as the patron saint of Killernan, though he may not have visited Scotland and also as patron of the parish of Drumhome, where a school has been dedicated to him. His commemoration is assigned to the 21st and 22nd of December according to the Scottish Kalendars.

June 21 - Shoyo Hinata

St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Italian confessor from the Jesuit order. Born into the noble Gonzaga clan in 1568, and in order to satisfy his father's ambitions, he was trained in the art of war and was obliged to attend royal banquets and military parades. Not with standing his father's furious opposition, Aloysius renounced his inheritance and join the Jesuits in Rome. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of a serious epidemic. Canonized on New Year’s Eve in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII, he is the patron saint of the Christian youth, Jesuit scholastics, the blind, AIDS patients, AIDS care-givers.

September 27 - Kei Tsukishima

St. Vincent de Paul: 17th century French priest who is the founder of the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians) for preaching missions to the peasantry and for educating and training a pastoral clergy. The patron saint of charitable societies, he is primarily recognized for his charity and compassion for the poor, though he is also known for his reform of the clergy and for his early role in opposing Jansenism. With St. Louise de Marillac, he co-founded the Daughters of Charity (Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul) in 1633. The association was patterned after the Confraternities of Charity and was the first noncloistered religious institute of women devoted to active charitable works. Canonized as a saint by Pope Clement XII in 1737, his major shrine can be found in Rue de Sèvres in Paris.

November 10 - Tadashi Yamaguchi

St. Leo the Great (Pope St. Leo I): 45th bishop of Rome who reigned from 440 to 461 A.D. His pontificate - which saw the disintegration of the Roman Empire in the West and the formation in the East of theological differences that were to split Christendom—was devoted to safeguarding orthodoxy and to securing the unity of the Western church under papal supremacy. He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452 and allegedly persuaded him to turn back from his invasion of Italy. Leo is mostly remembered theologically for issuing the Tome of Leo, a document which was a major foundation to the debates of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. Pope Benedict XIV proclaimed Leo I a Doctor of the Church in 1754, next to one other pope, St. Gregory the Great.

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 21 October – Blessed Giuseppe “Pino” Puglisi (1937-1993) Priest, Martyr, teacher, vocations, youth and social reformer and activist – was a Roman Catholic priest in the rough Palermo neighbourhood of Brancaccio, Sicily.    He openly challenged the Mafia who controlled the neighbourhood and was killed by them on his 56th birthday in the same town.   His life story has been retold in a book, Pino Puglisi, il prete che fece tremare la mafia con un sorriso (2013) and portrayed in a film, Come Into the Light (“Alla luce del sole” original Italian title) (2005).

Dom Pino Puglisi was born in Brancaccio, a working-class neighbourhood in Palermo (Sicily), into a family of modest means.   His father was a shoemaker and his mother a dressmaker.   He entered the seminary at age sixteen.   Following ordination, he worked in various parishes, including a country parish afflicted by a bloody vendetta.

Puglisi was ordained as a priest on 2 July 1960 by Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini from Palermo. Ruffini regarded Communism as a greater threat than the Mafia.   He once questioned the Mafia’s very existence.   To a journalist’s question of “What is the Mafia?” he responded:  “So far as I know, it could be a brand of detergent.”   This denial persuaded Puglisi of the need to challenge church authorities.   “We can, we must criticise the church when we feel it doesn’t respond to our expectations, because it’s absolutely right to seek to improve it,” he said.   With his trademark humour, Puglisi added:  “But we should always criticise it like a mother, never a mother-in-law!”

With little support from the Palermo archdiocese, Puglisi tried to change his parishioners’ mentality, which was conditioned by fear, passivity and omerta – imposed silence.   In his sermons, he pleaded to give leads to authorities about the Mafia’s illicit activities in Brancaccio, even if they could not actually name names.   He refused their monies when offered for the traditional feast day celebrations and would not allow the Mafia “men of honour” to march at the head of religious processions.

He tried to discourage the children from dropping out of school, robbing, drug dealing and selling contraband cigarettes.   He ignored a series of warnings and declined to award a contract to a construction firm which had been “indicated” to him by the Mafia for the restoration of the church, where the roof was collapsing.   Those parishioners that made attempts to reform matters were sent strong messages.   A small group who organised for social improvement found the doors of their houses torched, their phones receiving threats and their families put on notice that worse things lay in store.

On 15 September 1993—Puglisi’s 56th birthday—he was killed outside his home by a single bullet shot at point-blank range.   He was taken unconscious to a local hospital, where surgeons could not revive him.   The murder was ordered by the local Mafia bosses, the brothers Filippo and Giuseppe Graviano.   One of the hitmen who killed Puglisi, Salvatore Grigoli, later confessed and revealed the priest’s last words as his killers approached:  “I’ve been expecting you.”

Puglisi’s murder shocked Italy.   There was an immediate call by eight priests in Palermo for the Pope to travel to Palermo to be present at his funeral.   St Pope John Paul II, however, was scheduled to be in Tuscany on that date and did not attend the memorial service.   At the funeral Mass the Archbishop of Palermo, Cardinal Salvatore Pappalardo, spoke out very strongly against the Mafia, echoing the Pope’s words on a visit to Agrigento, Sicily, just months earlier.

The Stamp issued by the Vatican on the 25th Anniversary of Blessed Pino’s death

On 14 April 1998, the Mafiosi Gaspare Spatuzza, Nino Mangano, Cosimo Lo Nigro and Luigi Giacalone received life sentences for the killing of Puglisi.   The Graviano brothers also received life sentences for ordering the killing.

During his visit to Sicily in November 1994, sT Pope John Paul II praised Puglisi as a “courageous exponent of the Gospel.”   He urged Sicilians not to allow the priest’s death to have been in vain and warned that silence and passivity about the Mafia was tantamount to complicity.

Puglisi’s favourite rhetorical quote—“Se ognuno fa qualcosa, allora si può fare molto”  – “If everyone does something, then we can do a lot” —is scrawled on walls in Brancaccio.  In 1999, the Cardinal of Palermo started his Beatification process, proclaiming Puglisi a Servant of God.

To underscore this anti-Mafia conviction, he composed a parody of the Our Father in the Sicilian language: “O godfather to me and my family, You are a man of honour and worth.   Your name must be respected.   Everyone must obey you.   Everyone must do what you say for this is the law of those who do not wish to die.   You give us bread, work;  who wrongs you, pays.   Do not pardon; it is an infamy.   Those who speak are spies.   I put my trust in you, godfather.   Free me from the police and the law.”

On 28 June 2012, Pope Benedict XVI approved the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints to designate Puglisi a Martyr in a first step to Beatify the slain priest.   The Pope signed a decree acknowledging that Father Puglisi had been killed “in hatred of the faith” meaning that he can be beatified – the last step before sainthood – without a miracle being attributed to his intercession with God.

Tomb of Pino Puglisi at the Cathedral of Palermo.

The Beatification of Pino Puglisi took place on 25 May 2013.   The Open-Air Mass took place at the Foro Italico ‘Umberto I’, a large green area that forms one of the promenades of Palermo.   The Mass was presided over by Paolo Cardinal Romeo, Metropolitan Archbishop of Palermo, with Salvatore Cardinal de Giorgi, Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Palermo, as the Papal Legate who performed the Rite of Beatification. Estimates state that 50,000 people attended the Mass.   During his Angelus address, the following Sunday, 26 May, Pope Francis stated that the newly Beatified Puglisi was first and foremost ‘an exemplary priest and a martyr’, as well as condemning mafia groups.

“The disciple of Christ is a witness.   Christian’s witness can get into difficulties,it can become martyrdom.   The step is short, indeed it is martyrdom that gives value to the testimony.   Remember Saint Paul:  “I desire to die even to be with Christ.” Here, this desire becomes a desire for communion that transcends even life.”

Blessed Pino Puglisi

Blessed Pino’s home is now a shrine and museum.

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Saint of the Day – 21 October – Blessed Giuseppe “Pino” Puglisi (1937-1993) Priest, Martyr Saint of the Day - 21 October - Blessed Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi (1937-1993) Priest, Martyr, teacher, vocations, youth and social reformer and activist - was a Roman Catholic priest in the rough Palermo neighbourhood of Brancaccio, Sicily.   

[pamphletstoinspire]

The adventures of Mary Magdalene after Jesus’ resurrection

While we do not know for certain what happened, here are a few traditions passed down over the centuries.

The last time we see Mary Magdalene in the Bible, Jesus says to her, “[G]o to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'” (John 20:17).

She did exactly that and proclaimed to them, “I have seen the Lord!” After that, the rest of the Bible is silent in regards to where she went and what she did.

However, there are varying traditions that give some possibilities as to where she went after Jesus’ resurrection.

The medieval text known as the Golden Legend paints Mary Magdalene as a preacher. For example, it gives one story where Mary Magdalene teaches some pagans about Jesus Christ.

When blessed Mary Magdalene saw the people gathering at the shrine to offer sacrifice to the idols, she came forward, her manner calm and her face serene, and with well-chosen words called them away from the cult of idols and preached Christ fervidly to them.

After a few adventures preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Golden Legend claims that she went into solitude for the rest of her life.

At this time blessed Mary Magdalene, wishing to devote herself to heavenly contemplation, retired to an empty wilderness, and lived unknown for thirty years in a place made ready by the hands of angels.

According to this account, she died after receiving Holy Communion from a priest friend of hers who lived nearby.

On the other hand, the Catholic Encyclopedia relates a few differing stories.

The Greek Church maintains that the saint retired to Ephesus with the Blessed Virgin and there died, that her relics were transferred to Constantinople in 886 and are there preserved. Gregory of Tours supports the statement that she went to Ephesus.

There is even a tradition that Mary Magdalene went to France. According to AtlasObscura, “When Mary Magdalene fled the Holy Land, legend says she took refuge in a cave [near the Sainte-Baume mountains in southern France]. This mountaintop cave is now a hidden monastery called the Sanctuary of Mary Magdalene.”

Some of her relics are reportedly located in a church in Aix-en-Provence, France, near where she was a hermit for 30 years.

It is uncertain which of these legends, if any, is true, but whatever the case might have been, Mary Magdalene likely had a privileged place in the early Church for her personal encounter with the risen Lord.

By: Philip Kosloski

Why Mary Magdalene can help us receive Communion with greater love

"This woman has a lot to teach us about the kind of reverence and love we should have in the presence of Jesus Christ."

A year ago, Pope Francis raised to a liturgical feast the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene, July 22. What’s so special about Mary Magdalene and how can she help us know Jesus better?

We asked Fr. Sean Davidson, a member of the Missionaries of the Most Holy Eucharist, who has lived in the shadow of the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene in Provence and is the author of Saint Mary Magdalene: Prophetess of Eucharistic Love.

Kathryn Jean Lopez: How is Mary Magdalene “Prophetess of Eucharistic Love”? What should the average Catholic’s relationship to her be? Why should they even have one?

Fr. Sean Davidson: In the book I presented her as one who adores and loves Christ most ardently. Since we meet the very same Christ in the mystery of the Eucharist, she is a model for us, teaching us how to relate to Him in a manner that is pleasing to Him. I am personally very fond of the writings of St. Peter-Julian Eymard, the great apostle of Eucharistic Adoration, who always tried to use the Gospel encounters as examples showing us how to encounter the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament today.

This is the way I like to ponder the Scriptures. The biblical texts which the Catholic tradition, especially the Provençal tradition, associated with St. Mary Magdalene are among the best we can use for inspiration while spending time with the Lord.

At this point, it is probably helpful to mention that the Provençal tradition identifies Mary Magdalene with the sinful woman who wept at Christ’s feet in chapter seven of the Gospel of Luke, as well as with the sister of Martha and Lazarus. This may come as a surprise to many today, especially since the contemporary liturgy of the Church no longer makes that association. (The Tridentine liturgy still adheres to the traditional identification.) I am certainly no biblical scholar, but in the book, I used the teachings of French exegete, Fr. Andre Feuillet, to show that this tradition is perfectly coherent with the Gospels, even if no Catholic is obliged to accept it today. The biblical debate about her identity is still open.

If the traditional identification is correct, then this woman has a lot to teach us about the kind of reverence and love we should have in the presence of Jesus Christ. If love can be measured by the degree of attentiveness to the other, then her love for Christ is perfect. We would do well to invoke her assistance as we try to be attentive to Him in Holy Communion and Eucharistic Adoration. In addition to this, there is something even more mysterious that lies hidden deep within these texts. What stood out for me when I meditated upon these Gospel scenes was that there is a strong prophetic dimension to Mary Magdalene’s vocation. She is a prophetess who speaks by means of love. A prophet is one through whom the Holy Spirit communicates; at times by means of words, at times by means of gestures. A prophet will often foretell an impending event of great significance; and at times, a prophet will rebuke sinful behavior, exposing to the world how the Lord has been offended. Without going into it in great detail, we can see that Magdalene does both of these things. In the first anointing scene, her gestures of love had been inspired so as to highlight the fact that the Pharisee had neglected to show Jesus the signs of honor he was due. Jesus’ words subsequently interpreted the meaning of her prophetic gesture. (Luke 7:44-46) In the second anointing scene, just before the Passion, her gestures of love foretell the arrival of Christ’s salvific death. Again, the words of Jesus interpret the gesture. (Mark 9:4) She is a prophetess who silently communicates by means of the expression of her love.

After the Resurrection, she will give words to her prophesying, foretelling the mystery of Christ’s ascension to the Father. (John 20:17) In my opinion, she is the prototype of prophetic women in the Church. There is a reason why women like St. Teresa of Avila were so influenced by the traditional image of St. Magdalene. St. Thomas Aquinas makes a rather astonishing statement about her dignity: “Notice the three privileges given to Mary Magdalene. First, she had the privilege of being a prophet because she was worthy enough to see the angels, for a prophet is an intermediary between angels and the people. Secondly, she had the dignity or rank of an angel insofar as she looked upon Christ, on whom the angels desire to look. Thirdly, she had the office of an apostle; indeed, she was an apostle to the apostles insofar as it was her task to announce our Lord’s resurrection to the disciples.”

Lopez: What long-term impact has serving at the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene in Provence, France, had on your life?

Fr. Davidson: It was a time of great importance for me. Not only did I learn from Magdalene about love for Christ, I also recall experiencing something of the joy of the Resurrection during that time. It was still dark when Mary Magdalene approached the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, yet Christ was already risen. The world may be filled with darkness today, but with her help, I came to experience the joy of having the same Risen Lord still with us in the Blessed Sacrament. In every one of our churches, we can bathe in the consoling spiritual light emanating from Christ’s Risen Body. No darkness in this world, or in our lives, can ever overcome this Eucharistic light. From his tabernacle, we can almost hear Christ whisper to our weary souls: “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

BY: Kathryn Jean Lopez

From: www,pamphletstoinspire.com

[bonchjela]

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and the largest church in the world. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom". . Catholic tradition holds that the Basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter, chief among Jesus's Apostles and also the first Bishop of Rome. Saint Peter's tomb is supposedly directly below the high altar of the Basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period, and there has been a church on this site since the time of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica, which would replace Old St. Peter's Basilica from the 4th century AD, began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626. - Wikipedia . #unesco #vaticancity #vaticano #vatican #rome #roma #italy #italia #europe #basilica #romancatholic #architecture #travel #igtravel #worldplaces #wanderlust #wishlist #bucketlist #lpfanphoto #travelingtheworld #atlas #world #bestplacestogo #beautifuldestinations #dreamplaces #speechlessplaces #traveladdict #travelvatican #lelsinvatican (at Basilica Sancti Petri) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByNuNmah24n/?igshid=ukbaxm7psfvn

[stjohncapistrano67]

Traditional Catholic shrine/tomb to St. Rita of Cascia.

[googldoodle-blog]

The Vatican City: This post is about Vatican City's historical places

The Vatican City is world famous as the centre of the Roman Catholic Church.

is the smallest state in Europe, both in population and expanse.

The Vatican City or Holy See or The heart of Rome:

vatican city population : 1000

vatican city area : 44 ha

vatican city Continent: Europe

vatican city government : Unitary absolute monarchy under an ecclesiastical and elective theocracy

vatican city capital : Vatican City

vatican city currency : Euro

vatican city flag : Divided vertically into two equal stripes, yellow (at the hoist) and white (at the fly). The white stripe bears the traditional papal emblem, the crossed keys of St. Peter beneath the papal tiara. It is commonly called the “papal flag” (Italian, bandiera pontificia)

vatican city Language: Italian

Vatican City (Città del Vaticano in Italian) is an independent city state located in the heart of Rome, ruled by the Pope (Bishop of Rome). It is the centre of authority over the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican is the smallest state in Europe. It has a total area of 0,44 km² and inside its wall live approximately 1000 people.In this small state lives the Pope, in the Apostolic palace surrounded by beautiful gardens. The palace is open to the public, but visitors have to book in advance.The Vatican City was declared independent from the rest of Italy on 11 February, 1929, with the signing of the Lateran Treaty between Pope Pius XI and Mussolini.

Holy See : 'See' as a noun means "the seat or office of a bishop". 'Holy See' means the see of the bishop of Rome. Therefore, the term refers to the city-state of Vatican because it happens to be the territory in which the Pope resides. The term as used by the United Nations refers not to the city of Vatican but to the government of the Roman Catholic Church. It is this government, not Vatican City, which is represented at the UN.

St. Peter's Square:

St. Peter's Square is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighbourhood or rione of Borgo. Both the square and the basilica are named after Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus considered by some to be the first Pope. The St. Peter’s Square was built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini between 1656 and 1667,during the pontificate of Alexander VII (1655-1667), and is located on the St. Peter’s Basilica. This is the square where the giant St. Peter and Egyptian Obelisk can be found. Of great interest is the Royal Staircase, which links the square to the Vatican Palaces. It was built between 1662 and 1666, and although it actually measures 60 metres, perspective devices, such as the progressive narrowing of the width and a reduced distance between the columns towards the top, make it look much longer.

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The square is made up of two different areas. The first has a trapezoid shape, marked off by two straight closed and convergent arms on each side of the church square. The second area is elliptical and is surrounded by the two hemicycles of a four-row colonnade, because, as Bernini said, “considering that Saint Peter’s is almost the matrix of all the churches, its portico had to give an open-armed, maternal welcome to all Catholics, confirming their faith; to heretics, reconciling them with the Church; and to the infidels, enlightening them about the true faith.” Bernini had in fact designed a three-armed portico, but after Alexander VII’s death, construction of the portico was halted, and the third arm was never built. It would have enclosed the whole building and separated the ellipse from the “Borgo” quarter, thus creating a “surprise effect” for the pilgrim who suddenly found himself in the square. This effect was somewhat achieved by the buildings surrounding the square, the so-called “Spina di Borgo”, which naturally “closed in” the square. In 1950, Via della Conciliazione, a new, wide street leading to the Vatican Basilica, was opened.

It amplifies the majestic view of Saint Peter’s dome, but it also profoundly modified Bernini’s original plan. The measurements of the square are impressive: it is 320 m deep, its diameter is 240 m and it is surrounded by 284 columns, set out in rows of four, and 88 pilasters. Around the year 1670, Bernini’s pupils built 140 statues of saints, 3.20 m high along the balustrade above the columns. On either side of the obelisk, which was moved to the middle of the square by Domenico Fontana in 1585, are two great fountains built by Bernini (1675) and Maderno (1614). Below, at the foot of the staircase in front of the basilica, the statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul seem to welcome visitors.

St. Peter's Basilica:

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One of the largest churches in the world, St Peter’s Basilica, built in Italian Renaissance style is located in the Vatican. Numerous Popes have been buried here. St. Peter’s Basilica is one of the holiest temples for Christendom and one of the largest churches in the world. Besides, it is where the Pope presides many liturgies all year round.

The construction of the new basilica began in 1506, when the old basilica had been torn down, and was finished in 1626. It was consecrated on 18 November, 1626. Several renowned architects designed the temple, highlighting the works of Bramante, Michelangelo and Carlo Maderno. The basilica was called St Peter’s after one of Jesus’s twelve disciples known as Saint Peter, who became one of the founders of the Catholic Church and was executed in Rome and buried where the Basilica now stands.

One of the most impressive parts of the Basilica is its incredible dome. Its design was started by Michelangelo and continued by Giacomo Della Porta. Carlo Maderno finished the dome in 1614.

This dome has served as inspiration for many other cathedrals and buildings, for example, the Capitol in Washington and St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Visiting St Peter’s Basilica is an unforgettable experience when staying in Rome. Visitors mustn’t miss out on climbing to the top of the dome, where a stunning view of St Peter’s Square, and if the day is clear of most of the city, awaits them.

Climbing to the top might prove to be a little oppressive for some, as the last part of the ascent is a narrow and steep spiral staircase.

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The church is built on Vatican Hill, across the Tiber river from the historic center of Rome. The location is highly symbolic: this was the site where Saint Peter, the chief apostle, died a martyr and where he was buried in 64 AD. St. Peter is considered the first pope, so it made perfect sense for the papacy to build the principal shrine of the Catholic church here.

Brief History: The First Basilica: In the early fourth century Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome, decided to build a basilica on Vatican Hill at the site of small shrine that marked the likely location of the tomb of St. Peter. Construction of the basilica started between 319 and 322. It was consecrated in 326 AD and finally completed around 349 AD. To facilitate the construction, a part of the terrain was leveled and the necropolis where St. Peter was originally buried was demolished.

The basilica had an eighty-five meter (279 ft) long nave with four aisles and a spacious atrium with a central cantharus (fountain), enclosed by a colonnade. A bell tower stood at the front of the atrium. Visitors entered the atrium through a triple-arched portico.

In the middle of the fifteenth century, the basilica was falling into ruin and pope Nicolas V ordered the restoration and enlargement of the church after plans by Bernardo Rossellino. After Nicolas V died, works were halted.

No progress was made for half a century until pope Julius II decided to build a completely new church. He appointed Donato Bramante as chief architect. Bramante designed a structure with a high dome on a Greek cross plan (all sides have equal lengths). In 1506 Julius II laid the first stone of the new basilica which was to become the largest in the world.

After Bramante's death in 1514 he was succeeded by a number of different architects, all of whom made changes to the design, most notably Michelangelo Buonarroti, who became chief architect in 1547 at the age of seventy-two. He conceived the imposing dome and made further alterations to the plans.

At the time of Michelangelo's death in 1564 only the drum of the dome was built. The dome was finally completed in 1590 by Giacomo della Porta. On request of pope Paul V the imposing edifice was extended further into a true Latin cross plan by Carlo Maderno, who completed the main facade in 1614. The church was finally reconsecrated in 1626 by pope Urban VIII, exactly 1300 years after the consecration of the first church. Ever since, the St. Peter's Basilica has been the center of Christianity, drawing pilgrims and tourists from all over the world.

Visitors on their way to the St. Peter's Basilica pass along St. Peter's Square, a grandiose elliptical esplanade created in the mid seventeenth century by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The square is bordered by massive colonnades that symbolize outstretched arms. Bernini and his assistants sculpted the 140 statues of saints that grace the balustrades on the colonnades. The square is decorated with fountains and an Egyptian obelisk that was transported to Rome in 37 AD.

The view of St. Peter's Basilica from the square is unfortunately a bit disappointing; the result of the enlargement of the church carried out by Carlo Maderno, which partly obscures Michelangelo's dome.

The building itself is truly impressive. The largest church in the world, it has a 211.5 meter long nave (694 ft, including the narthex). The basilica's dome is one of the world's largest measuring 42 meters in diameter and reaching 132.5 meters high (more than 434ft).

Front Facade: The travertine front facade of the basilica was created by Carlo Maderno, who slightly altered Michelangelo's original design by widening the narthex to 114.7 meters. Maderno also placed the massive columns against the walls instead of in front of the building, as Michelangelo had intended.

The 45.5 meters (149 ft) high facade is crowned with 5.7 meter tall statues of Christ, John the Baptist and the apostles except for St. Peter. On either side are huge clocks supported by angels and decorated with ornaments and the papal crest. They were added in the early nineteenth century and are the work of Giuseppe Valadier. Below the clock on the left you can see the church bells.

Five entrances lead to the narthex (the lobby area) of the church, where you find an equestrian statue of Charles the Great on the left and another equestrian statue of Emperor Constantine, created by Bernini. Five doors lead from the narthex to the nave of the basilica. The central bronze door was created in the fifteenth century by the Florentine sculptor and architect Filarete for the old basilica. The door on the right is the Porta Santa, the holy door which is only opened once every twenty-five years.

Interior: Once inside the nave the enormous size of the church becomes apparent. The basilica has a surface area of 15,160 square meters, enough space to accommodate 60,000 visitors. It is covered by a coffered barrel vault ceiling and a huge central dome.

The opulence of the interior bears testimony to the wealth of the Catholic church in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is decorated with large monuments, many of which were created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, one of the greatest artists of all time.

One of his main creations invariably draws the immediate attention of visitors: the enormous, twenty-six meter high bronze baldachin over the papal altar. The Baroque masterpiece is crafted from bronze that was taken from the ceiling and pediment of the Pantheon. The design of the spiraling columns was inspired by marble columns that originally adorned the crypt of the old basilica.

In front of the papal altar is the confessio (burial crypt) that marks the presumed grave of St. Peter. It is encircled by a balustrade with ninety-five bronze oil lamps.

The confessio is located right below the majestic dome. Look up and you'll see the impressive colorful vaulting with sixteen ribs that are supported by four massive pillars. The triangular spaces where the pillars meet the dome are decorated with mosaics depicting the evangelists. Light enters through the lantern and the sixteen large windows below the cornice.

Huge niches in the pillars hold five meter tall statues of the saints Andrew, Veronica, Helena and Longinus. The latter was created by Bernini, the others by students and assistants of the master. They stand on pedestals that are almost as tall as the statues that are placed on them. Above the niches are loggias that hold the relics associated with the four saints.

The pillar with the statue of Longinus also provides the backdrop for a bronze statue of St. Peter. First thought to be a late-classical work, it is now attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, a thirteenth century architect and sculptor.

The apse of the basilica is decorated with a bombastic Baroque work that integrates the Cathedra Petri, the supposed chair of St. Peter. The chair is encapsulated in a bronze throne with reliefs that is supported by four church fathers; Athanasius and Johannes represent the Eastern Church while Ambrose and Augustine represent the Western Church. Above the throne is a large oval window surrounded by numerous angels.

The tomb of pope Urban VIII, to the right of the throne, was also created by Bernini. The tomb opposite, of Paul III, is the work of Giacomo della Porta. There are plenty more tombs and sepulchral monuments in St. Peter's, most notably the monument to Alexander VII, another work of Bernini. It depicts the pope praying in front of a skeleton holding an hourglass. Statues alongside the skeleton represent virtues. One of the figures was originally nude but the prudish pope Innocent XI ordered Bernini to cover it with a marble drape. Another notable monument is the tomb of Innocent VII, sculpted in 1498 by Antonio del Pollaiolo. It is the only papal tomb in the church that was transferred from the original fourth century basilica.

The most famous monument in the St. Peter's Basilica is the Pietà, a marble sculpture of a young looking Mary holding the dead body of her son. It was created in 1499-1500 by Michelangelo at the early age of twenty-five. The monument is located in the first chapel on the right. It is the only work of Michelangelo that bears his signature. He etched his name on the ribbon that runs across Mary's chest, allegedly after he heard that people attributed his work to another artist. The sculpture was heavily damaged in 1972 when a deranged visitor hit it with a hammer; it is now protected by a bulletproof glass screen.

Most of the paintings in the church are replicas of the original paintings created for the basilica, many of which are now on display in the Vatican Pinacoteca. The high humidity in the church ruined the oil paintings which started to suffer from mold damage. Some have been replaced by mosaics such as 'The Transfiguration', a painting by Raphael, which was recreated in 1774 as a mosaic by Stefano Pozzi.

The floor of the basilica has a colorful marble pattern. Look for the red porphyry disc near the central door. In the old church it was located in front of the main altar. Emperors - most notably Charles the Great (in 800 AD) - were crowned while standing on the disc. There are also bronze markings that compare the size of the church with that of others, including the St. Paul's Cathedral in London and the Cologne Cathedral.

Right in front of the left transept is the entrance to the Museo Storico-Artistico (entrance not free), better known as the tesoro or treasury. On display are several historic crucifixes, including the sixth-century Crux Vaticana. There are also objects taken from the old church, such as a tabernacle created by Donatello.

It is also possible to visit the Sacre Grotte or Grotte Vaticane, a necropolis below the nave where you find the graves of more than one hundred popes. The Grotte was created when the floor of the new basilica was built 3.2 meters above the old one. It can be reached via a stair near the statue of Longinus.

The crowning piece of the St. Peter's Basilica is the majestic dome, a masterpiece designed by Michelangelo. The dome has a diameter of 42.34 meters and rests on four massive five-sided pillars. On top of the pillars rests a cylindrical drum - with sixteen large rectangular windows - that supports the ribbed vault. The ribs come together at the oculus on which an enormous lantern is placed. The outside of the drum and lantern are decorated with double Corinthian pillars.

There is a viewing platform at the base of the lantern from where you can enjoy an unparalleled panorama over Rome. You have the option of taking the elevator or the stairs, the latter being a bit cheaper. At the foot of the dome you can walk onto the roof terrace, from where you get a close-up view of the dome. The galleries inside give you a birds-eye view of the interior of the church. From here a long, narrow and spiraling staircase brings you to the top of the dome. The staircase is situated between the inner and outer shells of the dome, so the walls are somewhat slanted. The rather uneasy climb and the entrance fee are definitely worth it though since you are rewarded with one of the best views over the city.

source 3:

The Constantinian basilica disappeared with time. Over 150 years passed from the decision of Nicholas V Parentucelli to enlarge and restore the ancient basilica to the completion of the Renaissance building with the façade (1612). This is quite a long period of time in terms of the number of years, but it is absolutely understandable if one remembers the enormous amount of work and the continuous changes in the planning. In the over 150 years required to complete the basilica, the most famous artists of the time directed the “Fabbrica di San Pietro”. Among these were Raphael Sanzio, who decided to transform Bramante’s Greek cross design with a Latin cross-like structure in 1514; Antonio da Sangallo the Younger; and Michelangelo who, during the pontificate of Paul III, decided to reuse the original Greek cross plan, designed the dome and supervised its construction until his death in 1564.

Over the course of the next thirty years, the “Fabbrica di San Pietro” was directed by Giacomo Vignola, and then by the architects Giacomo Della Porta and Domenico Fontana, who completed Michelangelo’s plan of the dome around 1588. Saint Peter’s Basilica reached its present state thanks to Carlo Maderno, who went back to the Latin cross plan and defined the scenographic aspect of the façade.

Work on the basilica was completed during the pontificate of Urban VIII in 1626, but it was only between 1656 and 1667 that Bernini, commissioned by Alexander VII, planned and constructed the great colonnade in Saint Peter’s Square with the 1st century B.C. obelisk in the middle. Originally set in the centre of Caligula’s Circus, where Saint Peter was martyred, it was moved to the present site in 1585 by Domenico Fontana, who was directed to do so by Sixtus V. Saint Peter’s Basilica can host 20,000 people. It is 190 m long, the aisles are 58 m wide, the nave is 45.50 m high as far as the vault, the dome is about 136 m high as far as the cross. The interiors, characterized by huge mosaics, are sites of some of the most famous art works from all over the world, for example, Bernini’s baldachin and Michelangelo’s Pietà.

Vatican Museums:

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The Vatican Museums are the Vatican city's museums and includes admissions to Sistine Chapel, Chapel of Beato Angelico and Raphael Rooms

The origins of these museums go back to 1503, the year in which the recently named Pope Julius II donated his private collection. Since that moment private families and other popes have enlarged the collection of the museums to the point where it has become one of the largest in the world.

At present, the Vatican Museums receive more than 6 million visitors annually, although without doubt, one of the reasons for this is that they form the entrance to the Sistine Chapel.

What museums are there in the interior?

Pio-Clementino Museum: Created thanks to the popes Clement XIV and Pius VI, this museum holds the most important Greek works in the Vatican. Apartment of Pius V: The work of Pope Pius V, this museum contains Flemish tapestries from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a collection of medieval ceramics and another of medieval miniature mosaics.

Gallery of the Chandeliers: Roman replicas of Greek originals and enormous chandeliers from the second century A.D. decorate this elegant gallery. Ethnological Missionary Museum: This museum contains works of art from all the papal missions of the world, among which there are objects originating from Tibet, Indonesia, India, the Far East, Africa and America.

Gallery of Maps: Carried out between the years 1580 and 1585, the beautiful maps painted in fresco on the walls of this gallery represent the Italian regions and the possessions of the Church.

Historical Museum - Carriage Pavilion: In this section you will find coaches, saddles, cars, and even the Vatican City´s first locomotive. Gallery of Tapestries: Exhibition of Flemish tapestries created between 1523 and 1534.

Pio-Christian Museum: The collection of Christian antiquities is composed of statues, sarcophagi and archaeological ruins from the sixth century.

Pinacoteca: The eighteen rooms in the Pinacoteca building contain pictorial works dating from the Middle Ages until 1800. Sobieski Room and the Room of the Immaculate: In both rooms you will find paintings originating in the Italian "Ottocento".

Egyptian Museum: Among other pieces acquired by the popes you can find some impressive Egyptian sculptures, besides the prized sarcophagi from the third century B.C. There are also some black basalt statues originating from the Villa Adriana, which are replicas of Egyptian models.

Etruscan museum: This part of the museum contains elements of ceramic, bronze and gold belonging to the Etruscan civilization.

Chiaramonti Museum: Created thanks to Pius VII Chiaramonti, this gallery holds thousands of sculptures including portraits of emperors, images of the gods and some funeral monuments.

Gregorian Profane Museum: Its rooms hold Greek and Roman sculptures from the first to third centuries A.D. Borgia Apartment: The apartments that belonged to the Pope Alexander VI Borgia today serve as exhibition rooms for the Collection of Modern Religious Art. Raphael Rooms: Rafael and his assistants decorated the apartments of the Pope Julius II with unparalleled taste. Sala Della Biga: A monumental figure of marble of a chariot drawn by two horses carried out in the first century A.D. fills the space and gives the room its name.

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History of the Museums

The Vatican Museums were founded under the patronage of two eighteenth-century popes - Clement XIV (1769-1774) and Pius VI (1775-1799) - who were among the first to open collections of art to the general public for viewing, therefore promoting culture among the masses. Appropriately, the first building in the museum complex, the Pio-Clementine Museum, was named after these two pontiffs.

The origin of the museums' collection goes back much further. It all started in 1480 with the discovery of a Roman statue, 'The Apollo of Belvedere', still one of the highlights of the Vatican Museums. In 1503 Julius II had the statue placed in the Cortile Ottagono, an octagonal courtyard.

As the decades passed, more popes added to the amazing collection of diverse artworks owned and displayed by the Vatican. Today, there are thirteen museums in a huge architectural complex comprising of two Vatican palaces. Octagonal courtyard, Vatican Museums Octagonal courtyard

Detail from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museums Sistine Chapelx The building complex is worth a visit in itself as all the rooms and hallways are lavishly decorated with marble and frescoes.

The Museums and Collections It's best not to try and see everything in one visit - the whole route along all the museums is seven kilometers long (4.4 mi) - but focus on a number of highlights or museums you want to see. And make sure you have some time and energy left over for the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel, which are located towards the end of the museum.

To keep the massive crowds under control, the museum has four color-coded itineraries that range from one and a half hours to more than five hours. All itineraries end in the Sistine Chapel.

Classical Antiquities One of the Vatican Museums' main strengths is the collection of ancient Roman and Greek art, which is spread over four museums. Some of the most famous statues, including the Laocoön and the Apollo del Belvedere can be found here.

The Pio-Clementine Museum (Museo Pio—Clementino) forms the core of the Vatican Museums. Most of the collection consists of statues discovered in and around Rome.

Among the many highlights is the so-called Apoxyomenos (the Scraper), a 1st century marble copy of a famous bronze statue by Lysippos. The statue was discovered in 1849 in Trastevere. It depicts an athlete scraping the sweat of his body. The fig leaf was added later (Romans and Greek never censored their artwork).

The Octagon Court (Cortile Ottagonale), the oldest part of the Vatican Museums, contains several masterpieces. Among them the Apollo of Belvedere, another Roman copy of a Greek original by Leochares. The statue of the god Apollo stretching out his arm has been described as the perfection of aesthetics.

But even more famous is the Laocoön, a sculpture group discovered in 1506 on the Esquiline Hill. The group was created in around 30 BC by three sculptors from Rhodes who probably copied an original from the 2nd century BC. It depicts the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons being strangled by serpents. According to a story by the Roman poet Virgil, Laocoön warned the Trojans not to bring the wooden horse into Troy so the goddess Athena sent two serpents out to kill the priest. The sculpture group is acclaimed for its dignified portrayal of agony.

The Hall of the Muses (Sala delle Muse) is decorated with frescoes of Apollo and the Muses, created in the late eighteenth century by Tommaso Conca. The centerpiece here is the Belvedere Torso. The statue was found in the Campo de' Fiori and is signed by Apollonius of Athens, a Greek sculptor of the first century BC. Unfortunately the legs and arms are missing but the torso is considered a perfect example of male anatomy. The torso inspired Michelangelo for his nudes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The adjoining Round Room (Sala Rotonda) is modeled after the Pantheon. The floor is paved with a magnificent Roman mosaic from the second or early third century AD that depicts various sea monsters and other mythological figures. The floor was discovered in Otricoli, a small town in Umbria. From the same site comes the Otricoli Zeus, a copy of a bust by the Greek sculptor Bryaxis from the fourth century BC. In the middle of the room is a large porphyry basin - the so-called 'bathtub of Nero' - that was found in Nero's Golden House. The niches surrounding the rooms hold a variety of statues. The most impressive is the colossal statue of Hercules in gilt bronze from the 2nd century AD.

Other interesting rooms of the Pio-Clementine Museum include the Gallery of Statues, with a sensual sculpture of a Sleeping Ariadne that was a favorite inspiration for many neoclassical sculptors. The Room of the Animals has an excellent collection of animal statues and mosaics, and the Cabinet of the Masks is named for the mosaics of masks that were integrated in the floor and come from Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli. The Greek Cross Room holds the sarcophagi of Helen (the mother of Emperor Constantine) and her granddaughter Constantina.

The Museo Chiaramonti is named after its founder Pius VII, who was born Luigi Barnaba Chiaramonti. The museum occupies part of the three hundred meter long (about 1000ft) wing that was built in 1807 after a design by Bramante. It holds a massive amount of statuary, including many busts that were used by the Romans as ancestral portraits.

The rest of the gallery is home to the lapidary (Galleria Lapidaria), with a large epigraphic collection that contains more than four thousand inscriptions. Unfortunately this department is closed except by special permission.

The Chiaramonti gallery is followed by the New Wing (Braccio Nuovo), which boasts a magnificent floor made of Roman mosaics. Here you find more Roman statues, including the Augustus of Prima Porta that portrays the Roman Emperor Augustus. The statue was discovered in 1863 at the villa of Livia Augusta.

Another highlight is the colossal personification of the Nile. It shows the river god lying on his side and leaning on a sphinx. At his foot is a crocodile and the god holds a bushel of wheat in his hand, symbol of the fertile ground of the Nile valley that was a result of the river's regular flooding. It is thought that the sixteen infants who crawl over him are a reference to the ideal height of sixteen cubits to which the Nile river had to rise to guarantee fertile soil.

Gregorian Museum of Pagan Antiquities The Gregorian Museum of Pagan Antiquities (Museo Gregoriano Profano) is another museum with Roman and Greek statuary. The museum was established in 1884 by Gregory XVI and contains statues, sarcophagi, reliefs and funerary monuments, most of which date back to the Imperial age (1st and 2nd century AD). The most famous work here is Athena and Marsyas, a copy of the bronze original from the fifth century BC by the Greek sculptor Myron. There are also mosaics of athletes from the Baths of Caracalla and fragments from the Parthenon on display.

Gregorian Etruscan Museum The Etruscan Museum (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco) was founded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1837. It is one of the most important museums of its kind although it is now eclipsed by the National Etruscan Museum in Villa Borghese that was founded after the unification of Italy.

The Etruscan Museum of the Vatican has a particularly fine collection of vases, which show the influence of Greek techniques and decorations on the Etruscans. A notable example is an amphora decorated with the figures of Achilles and Ajax playing dice. Another highlight of the collection is a series of objects found in the Regolini-Galassi tomb at Cerveteri, among them a wooden throne and a carriage from the seventh century BC. The most significant statue is the Mars of Todi, a bronze statue from the fifth century BC.

The Gregorian Egyptian Museum (Museo Gregoriano Egizio) is another museum founded by pope Gregory XVI, who had a keen interest in Egypt. Featuring nine rooms, objects d'art in this museum range from stelae and hieroglyphics from around 2500 BC to Roman replicas of Egyptian statues from the second century AD.

Not to miss here is the collection of mummies and mummy cases from around 1000 BC that were found at the Necropolis of Deir el-Bahri in Thebes. One room in the Egyptian museum contains a reconstruction of Canopus from Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli including the Shrine of Serapis and statues of Egyptian gods.

Vatican Picture Gallery The Vatican Picture Gallery (Pinacoteca Vaticana) is a relatively new museum. It was founded in the late eighteenth century by Pius VI and opened in 1932. The sixteen rooms of the museum contain paintings that range in age from the twelfth to the nineteenth century. Most of the works are from Italian masters but there are also some foreign artists represented. There's even a whole room devoted to the Austrian painter Wenzel Peter.

Among the early highlights is the Stefaneschi-triptych that Giotto created around the year 1300 for the old basilica of St. Peter. Another notable work is a fifteenth-century fresco that depicts the founding of the Vatican Library. The painting by Melozzo da Forlì shows the first librarian kneeling before pope Sixtus IV.

There is also a room dedicated to Raphael which includes the tapestries made by the Flemish artist Pieter van Aelst to cartoons created by Raphael and his students. The tapestries were made to cover the lower walls of the Sistine Chapel. The cartoons are now in the V&A Museum in London. There are also several of Raphael's paintings in this room, including 'the Coronation of the Virgin', which he made when he was only nineteen years old.

Other highlights include Leonardo da Vinci's unfinished 'St. Jerome' (1480), Titian's 'Madonna of the Frari' (1535), Federico Barocci's 'Rest on the Flight to Egypt' (1573) and Caravaggio's Deposition (1603).

The Collection of Modern Religious Art (Collezione d'Arte Religiosa Moderna) features fifty-five rooms. It was established in 1973 by behest of Pope Paul VI and is the largest museum of its kind. It contains works from many of the world's most important modern artists including Dali, Kandinsky, Kokoschka, Le Corbusier, Matisse, Munch, Picasso, Rodin and van Gogh.

Pio Christian Museum The Pio Christian Museum (Museo Pio Cristiano) holds a collection of sculptures, sarcophagi and mosaics from the early Christian era. The museum was established in 1854 by Pius IX. The most famous object here is the statue of the Good Shepherd, created in the third century AD.

Ethnological Missionary Museum Founded by Pius XI in 1926, the Ethnological Missionary Museum features objects of a religious nature from four geographical areas - Asia, Oceania, Africa, and America. Many of the 100,000 pieces in the collection were acquired by missionary workers. The museum was originally housed in the Lateran Palace but was relocated here in 1973. Among the highlights are a statue of the god Quetzalcóatl from Mexico, a mask from Sierra Leone and a wooden sculpture of the deity Tūmatauenga, from French Polynesia.

Vatican Library The Vatican Library (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana) was founded by pope Nicholas V in 1450, when it contained about 340 books. Today it is one of the world's most important libraries with more than half a million books and over 60,000 manuscripts. Some of the most valuable pieces are displayed in the Sistine Hall (Salone Sistino), a magnificent vaulted hall built in 1588 by Domenico Fontana. The eighty meter-long and fifteen meter-wide hall (appr. 260x50ft) is magnificently decorated with colorful wall and ceiling paintings.

The library also houses a number of museums, including the Profane Museum (Museo Profano) and the Sacred Museum (Museo Sacro). The latter holds a number of ancient Christian objects found in Roman catacombs as well as medieval glassware and objects made from precious materials such as ivory and enamel.

Vatican Historical Museum The Vatican Historical Museum (Museo Storico) provides a fascinating look at the long and sometimes turbulent history of the Vatican. The museum was founded in 1973 at the request of pope Paul VI. It was originally located near the Vatican Pinacoteca but in 1991 it moved to the Lateran Palace near the rear entrance of the basilica of St. John Lateran. The museum contains a collection of arms, armor and uniforms of the Papal armed forces as well as portraits of popes and the so-called popemobiles, the carriages and cars used by the popes.

There are plans to move the collection back to the Vatican. In the meantime the museum can only be visited by booking a guided group tour.

Belvedere palace Part of the lure of a visit to the Vatican Museums is the chance to admire the lavish palace complex that houses the museums. The complex was built between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries and served as the main residence of many popes. Several rooms, including the Sistine Chapel, are occasionally still used by the papacy.

Today the pope is mostly a spiritual figure but before the unification of Italy the pope was also the head of a large worldly realm and the Vatican complex reflected their importance as heads of state. The popes hired the world's most renowned architects and artists to decorate their residences, and these decorations, in particular the wall paintings in the private papal apartments, are worth a visit on their own.

Belvedere courtyard: The buildings that accommodate the Vatican Museums' collection comprise of two palaces. To the north is the Belvedere Palace, built in the late fifteenth century as the Villa Belvedere. To the south, adjoining the St. Peter's Basilica is the Apostolic Palace, which has served as the main residence of the popes since their return from Avignon in 1377. The current palace was built in the mid-fifteenth century and replaced an older building from the fifth century.

In the early sixteenth century Bramante connected the two palaces to each other with the construction of two long wings that enclosed a large courtyard, the Cortile del Belvedere. In 1585-1590 a new wing for the library divided the courtyard in two. The lower courtyard is still known as the Cortile del Belvedere while to upper courtyard is known as the Cortile della Pigna (Pine cone courtyard). The addition of the New Wing (Braccio Nuovo) in 1820 created another, smaller, courtyard in the middle: the Cortile della Biblioteca (Library courtyard).

Pine cone courtyard: The library courtyard and belvedere courtyard are not accessible but almost any visitor to the Vatican Museums will get to visit the beautiful pine cone courtyard. The courtyard is named after the huge bronze pine cone that is installed in a large exedra built by Pirro Ligorio.

The pine cone is an ancient fountain that was discovered near the Pantheon and probably belonged to a temple dedicated to Isis. Water used to flow out of the scales. The two bronze peacocks that flank the pine cone are replicas of ancient sculptures that were found in the Mausoleum of Hadrian. The originals are now in the New Wing.

In the middle of the courtyard is a modern bronze sculpture, named 'sphere within a sphere'. It is a creation of Arnaldo Pomodoro that was placed here in the 1990s.

Gallery of Maps: The two long wings that connect the Apostolic Palace with the Belvedere Palace are each about three hundred meters long (close to 1000ft). The east wing houses the aforementioned Chiaramonti Museum, crammed with statuary from the antiquity, and the Lapidary gallery, which is unfortunately not accessible to the public. The west wing is home to three more galleries. The first coming from the Belvedere Palace is the Candelabras Gallery (Galleria dei Candelabri), an eighty meter long (262ft) room with Greek and Roman sculptures. This room leads to the Tapestry Gallery (Galleria degli Arazzi), with tapestries from the fifth to the seventeenth centuries.

The final and longest gallery (175m/600ft) is the Gallery of Maps (Galleria delle Carte Geografiche). The walls of this gallery are decorated with large paintings of maps created by Antoni Danti between 1580 and 1583. His brother Egnazio Dante, an architect and cosmographer, provided the necessary information. The maps show Italian cities, islands in the Mediterranean Sea and papal territories. Ceiling frescoes depict events that took place in these locations.

Rooms of the Apostolic Palace The Renaissance popes commissioned the most talented artists of the era to lavishly decorate their palatial residences. Many of the rooms, including the Borgia Apartments and the Raphael Rooms are open to the public and included in the itinerary of the Vatican Museums.

Borgia Apartments The Borgia Apartments (Appartamento Borgia) are a series of rooms that were converted into private apartments for pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo de Borgia. The pope was a patron of the arts and he called upon Pinturiccio to decorate the rooms with magnificent frescoes. Between 1492 and 1495 Pinturiccio and his pupils painted six of the Borgia rooms. The frescoes depict religious themes (such as the martyrdom of saints and the mysteries of faith) and medieval themes (Trivium and Quadrivium). Most of the rooms are currently used to display a selection of the collection of modern religious art.

Chapel of Nicholas V Often skipped by visitors on their way to the Sistine Chapel but certainly worth a visit is the intimate Chapel of Nicholas V (Cappella di Niccolo V), decorated with wonderful frescoes painted by Fra' Angelico between 1447 and 1449. The frescoes depict scenes in the lives of saints Stephen and Lawrence.

Leo the Great meeting Attila: The Raphael Rooms (Stanze di Raffaelo) were commissioned by pope Julius II who preferred to distance himself from Alexander VI and thus refused to reside in the apartments created for his predecessor. He planned on inviting a variety of renowned master painters to decorate his own private apartments (situated above the Borgia apartments) but after seeing the work of the twenty-five year old painter and architect Raffaello Santi (Raphael), he dediced to instead enthrust the work to him.

From 1508 on Raphael worked on and off on the decoration of the apartments, often distracted by his other work including the construction of the St. Peter's Basilica. Raphael died in 1520, before the frescoes of the papal apartments were complete but his assistants finished the work following his designs. The frescoes are considered absolute masterpieces of Renaissance art.

Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Raphael Rooms, Vatican Museums Battle of the Milvian Bridge The first room is the Constantine Hall (Sala di Constantino), which was painted after Raphael had died by his assistants Giulio Romano and Francesco Penni. It shows scenes from the life of the Roman Emperor Constantine - who made Christianity the official religion - and the triumph of Christianity over Paganism. The 'Battle of the Milvian Bridge' depicts the battle between Constantine and Maxentius, during which the outnumbered army of Constantine crushed the army of Emperor Maxentius by pushing the soldiers into the river.

The next room is the Room of Heliodorus (Stanza di Eliodoro), partly carried out by Raphael between 1512 and 1514. The theme of the room is the divine intervention protecting the church and saints. The room is named after one of the paintings, the 'Expulsion of Heliodorus', which depicts a scene from the bible. On the left are figures depicting pope Julius II, Raphael himself and his pupil Giulio Romano. By the time Raphael painted 'Leo the Great meeting Attila' Julius II had passed away, and as a result his successor Leo X is portrayed twice in this fresco: Raphael initially painted him as a cardinal accompanying Leo I but later Leo X asked one of Raphael's pupils to portray himself as Leo I.

School of Athens, Raphael Rooms, Vatican Museums School of Athens The Room of the Segnatura (Stanza della Segnatura) is named after a special committee that gathered here. Raphael started with this room in 1508 and it is the only room that was completely painted by the master himself. The subject is the harmony between the values of the antiquity and Christianity. It is best known for the 'School of Athens', the most famous fresco painting in the Raphael Rooms. It is particularly acclaimed for its masterful use of perspective. The painting depicts a debate between Plato and Aristotle, two famous Greek philosophers. Many other famous figures from the antiquity are shown, including Euclid, Socrates, Pythagoras and Archimedes. Raphael inserted the portrait of many contemporary figures in the painting. Among them his friend Bramante, the pope Julius II, Leonardo da Vinci and even his rival Michelangelo, who at the time was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Fire in the Borgo, Stanze of Raphael, Vatican Museums Fire in the Borgo The last of the four rooms is the Room of the Fire (Stanza dell'Incendio), named after one of the frescoes. The room was decorated in 1514-1517 (mostly by Raphael's assistants) during the pontificate of Leo X. He chose the lives of his namesakes Leo III and Leo IV as the theme for the room. The most important fresco is the Fire in the Borgo, which was painted after a sketch created by Raphael. It shows Leo IV extinguishing a fire by making the sign of a cross. The painting draws parallels with scenes from the antiquity by showing Aeneas on the left who carries his father Anchises on his back out of the burning city of Troy.

Loggia of Raphael The Room of Constantine is connected to the Loggia of Raphael, another masterpiece of the artist. Unfortunately the loggia is only accessible by appointment. The loggia is decorated with twelve frescoes that illustrate events from the bible.

Sistine Chapel The most famous attraction in the Vatican Museums is undoubtedly the Sistine Chapel.

The chapel was built in the fifteenth century as a private chapel for pope Sixtus IV. In 1508 pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to repaint the ceiling. Michelangelo, who didn't see himself as a painter, only reluctantly accepted the commission.

Michelangelo decided to decorate the ceiling with nine scenes from the Old Testament. The most famous is the 'Creation of Adam', which shows god descending from heaven to bring Adam to life.

The walls of the chapel are also completely covered with paintings. The most famous of these is The Last Judgment on the altar wall, from the same artist.

Staircase Spiral staircase in the Vatican Museums Spiral staircase Before exiting the museum you have the chance to admire one of the world's most famous staircases.

Designed in 1932 by Giuseppe Momo, the staircase consists of a double helix, one leading up and one leading down. The beautiful bronze staircase is decorated with papal coats of arms.

Source 3:

The Vatican Museums contain masterpieces of painting, sculpture and other works of art collected by the popes through the centuries. The Museums include several monumental works of art, such as the Sistine Chapel, the Chapel of Beato Angelico, the Raphael Rooms and Loggia and the Borgia Apartment. The Pinacoteca, or Picture Gallery, is situated in a building that dates back to 1932 and that was designed by the architect Beltrami. It is connected to the Museum complex (at the entrance of the Quattro Cancelli) by an elegant portico. The Christian, Profane and Missionary-Ethnological Museum contains a collection of artistic and archaeological objects, some of an ethnological nature, that were once housed in the Lateran Palace.

The Collection of Modern Religious Art was added to the Museums in 1973. The History Museum is located in the Lateran Palace and includes, among other things, items that belonged to the Pontifical Military Corps.

The Museums are usually open to the public every weekday morning and in the early afternoon in summer. Entry is free on the last Sunday of every month. The entrance to the Museums is on Viale Vaticano, near Piazza Risorgimento. A Workshop for Restoring paintings, bronzes, marble, tapestries and other items, is part of the Museums which also includes a Scientific Research Laboratory.

Sistine Chapel:

The Sistine Chapel is one of the greatest treasures of the Vatican City. Designed by the brilliant Michelangelo, it is one of the most impressive tourist attractions.

The Sistine Chapel is one of the greatest treasures of the Vatican City, of Rome and of the world in general. It is known as much for its decoration, as for being the temple in which popes are chosen and crowned.

The construction of the building was carried out between 1473 and 1481 during the mandate of Pope Sixtus IV, to whom it owes its current name. The architect responsible for the construction was Giovanni of Dolci and it is the only work that he is remembered for.

What grabs the attention in the Sistine Chapel is not its architecture, but the frescoes that completely cover the walls and the ceiling. Some of the most important artists who worked in the chapel are Botticelli, Perugino, Luca and Michelangelo.

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel All of the frescoes of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are the work of Michelangelo, who spent four years painting the vault between 1508 and 1512.

If there is one thing that stands out from among the images on the ceiling, it is the nine stories from Genesis that occupy the central area: The scenes from the Drunkenness of Noah to the Separation of Light from Darkness are represented.

The Creation of Adam Without any doubt, The Creation of Adam is the best-known image from the Sistine Chapel. It is located in the central part of the vault and represents the story from Genesis in which God gives life to Adam.

The Final Judgment Located over the high altar and with some magnificent dimensions (13.7 by 12.2 metres), Michelangelo’s other masterpiece, The Final Judgment, is found. It is a fresco that represents the Apocalypse of St. John.

Decorating the apse occupied five years of Michelangelo’s life, between 1536 and 1541. It was an assignment of the Pope Paul III to cover the murals that existed to that point.

References

http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en/monumenti/basilica-di-s-pietro/la-piazza.html

https://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/sanpietro.htm

https://www.romesightseeing.net/st-peters-square/

https://www.rome.net/vatican-city

[silvestromedia]

SAINTS FEBRUARY 03-2022

Bl. John Nelson, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest and English Martyr. He was arrested in London and martyred at Tyburn by being hanged, drawn, and quartered. Feastday February 3

St. Margaret of England. Cistercian nun. She was born in Hungary, to an English mother who was related to St. Thomas of Canterbury, England. She went with her mother on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and lived a life of austerity and penance in Bethlehem. Her mother died there, and Margaret made pilgrimages to Montserrat, in Spain, and to Puy, France. There she entered the Cistercian convent at Suave-Benite. When she died, her tomb became a pilgrimage shrine.

St. Anatolius, 9th century. Scottish bishop and hermit. Anatolius left his see and Scotland to make a pilgrimage to Rome. He became a hermit at Salins, France. Another tradition states that Anatolius was a bishop in Galicia, Spain.

St. Werburg, 785 A.D. Widow and abbess. A woman from Mercia, England, she became a nun after her husband died. Werburg entered a convent, possibly Bardney, where she became abbess.

St. Werburga, 699 A.D. Benedictine nun and patroness of Chester, England. The daughter of King Wulfhere of Mercia and St. Ermenilda, she was born in Staffordshire. Werburga resolutely refused to marry, insisting instead that she become a nun at Ely. After studying under St. Etheldreda, she departed the convent of Ely in 675 and assisted her uncle Ethelred, who was now king, in reforming the convents of the realm. She also founded communities at Hanbury, Trentham, and in Wedon, in Northamptonshire. Her remains were transferred from Trentham to Chester, where she became venerated as the patron saint of the city. She was reputed to have the ability to read the minds of others and was revered in her lifetime for miracles.

St. Caellainn, 6th century. Irish saint also called Caoilfionn. She is listed in the Martymlogy of Donegal, and a church in Roscommon is named in her honor.

ST. ANSGAR, BISHOP OF HAMBURG AND BREMEN, APOSTLE OF SCANDINAVIA. The “apostle of the north” (Scandinavia) had enough frustrations to become a saint—and he did. He became a Benedictine at Corbie, France, where he had been educated. Three years later, when the king of Denmark became a convert, Ansgar went to that country for three years of missionary work, without noticeable success. Feb. 3

ST. BLAISE, BISHOP OF SEBASTE AND MARTYR. A physician in Armenia who was made a bishop, he is attributed with many miracles. One of these involved the miraculous removal of a fish bone from a young boy’s throat – which is why he is considered protector from throat diseases. After refusing to deny the Faith, he was beheaded in 316. Feb. 3

[romancatholicreflections]

25th July >> ‘The “greater” James’ ~ Daily Reflection on Today’s Gospel Reading for Roman Catholics on the Feast of Saint James, Apostle.

James son of Alphaeus is often identified with James the Less, who is only mentioned three times in the Bible, each time in connection with his mother. Mark 15:40 refers to “Mary the mother of James and of Joses,” while Mark 16:1 and Matthew 27:56 also refer to “Mary, the mother of James.” Because there was a more prominent James (the son of Zebedee) among the twelve apostles, today’s James, the son of Alphaeus is called “the Lesser”. (James of Zebedee being “James the Greater”). Tradition identifies Clopas, the husband of Mary, with Alphaeus, the father of the Apostle James. This identification was accepted by early church leaders and so our saint today is James the Less .

The “greater” James was one of the first disciples to join Jesus, in Capernaum. The Synoptics describe James and John as fishermen with their father when Jesus called them to follow him [Matt. 4:21-22; Mk. 1:19-20]. He was one of the three apostles Jesus chose as witnesses to his Transfiguration. The Acts of the Apostles tells how Agrippa had James executed by sword [Ac 12:1-2]. We also hear of James’ fiery temper, for which he and his brother earned the nickname “Boanerges” or “Sons of Thunder” [Mark 3:17].

It is the remains of James the Greater that are reputed to be in the shrine of Compostela in Galicia (Spain) and this James is the patron saint of Spain. Throughout the medieval centuries, Santiago de Compostela was regarded the third holiest shrine within Roman Catholicism (after Jerusalem and Rome), and the traditional pilgrimage to his tomb, known as the “Camino de Santiago,” has been popular with Europeans from the early Middle Ages onwards. In light of the many thousands who walk the Camino each year, one might even regard St James as patron of hospitality and of environmentally friendly tourism!

[servantsoftheholyfamily-blo-blog]

Saint Philomena

The Little Wonder-Worker of the Twentieth Century

For close on a hundred years the name of Saint Philomena has been accorded in the Church a veneration which, growing intensified by the number of miracles vouchsafed through her intercession, has spread over the whole world. Previous to the discovery of her tomb and relics in the Catacomb of Saint Priscilla, outside the walls of Rome, in the year 1802, her name had found no place in sacred story.

Hence what can be authoritatively written regarding this wonder-working little saint of the nineteenth century is more a narrative of the extraordinary chain of miracles associated with her intercession than the recital of facts relating to her life. There is, however, a pious tradition that she was a child-martyr and a contemporary of Saint Sebastian, who suffered in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian about the year of our Lord 286. Some holy souls who were devoutly interested in promoting devotion to the saint, some years after the translation of her relics, are said to have been favoured with revelations, in which Philomena made known to them the circumstances under which she shed her blood for Christ. According to this evidence she was thirteen years of age at the time of her martyrdom, and her relics bear testimony that she could scarcely have been older. In these pages, however, we shall confine ourselves to the facts attendant on the discovery of her tomb and to subsequent wonders which have surrounded her memory with a blessed immortality.

The Catacombs of Rome have long, been centres of Christian interest and veneration. Until a century ago their origin was a subject of controversy and speculation among learned writers. Now their conflicting theories are set at rest. It is fully accepted by archeologists and historians that these subterranean passages were the secret hiding-places of the primitive Christians, and later on, became the resting-places of their dead. When, after the early persecutions, peace and liberty were restored to the Church, these cemeteries, which enclosed the remains of so many martyrs – and were sacred to the sufferings and trials of generations of the faithful – became places of devotion and of great resort. Each of them came to be associated with the names of eminent martyred saints, at whose tombs the Divine mysteries were frequently offered up. As time went on and the desire of obtaining relics of the saints spread throughout the universal Church, the tombs of the Catacombs, with permission of the Holy See, supplied these treasures so jealously regarded as the precious inheritance of the altars of Christendom. Yet the exercise of this privilege of procuring from the Catacombs memorials of the saints and martyrs left the tomb and relies of Saint Philomena unnoticed and undisturbed, until it pleased Almighty God to reveal this young virgin-martyr to the world as one of the heavenly wonder-workers of the nineteenth century.

The Catacomb of Saint Priscilla lies beneath the Via Salaria Nova. Here, in the Pontificate of Pius VII., a remarkable slab attracted the custodians of the cemetery, who were then prosecuting investigations there, and on the 25th of May, 18O2, the tomb was formally examined. On the tiles that enclosed it, the following inscription was read:- “PHILOMENA PAX TECUM.”

The devices which were interwoven with these simple words – an anchor, an arrow, and a palm – determined the spot as the last resting-place of a martyr. The tomb was opened by Monsignor Ludovici, who disclosed to the gaze of his assis-tants and bystanders the precious remains. Beside them stood the phial containing the blood of the saint. An examination of the relics having been made, it was ascertained that Philomena had been martyred in her tender youth, at about twelve or thirteen years of age, scarcely more. The relics were then fervently removed to the Custodia, and deposited among the relics of the other servants of God, to await the decision of the Vicar of Jesus Christ as to where they should finally rest as objects of the veneration of the faithful. The tiles bearing the simple inscription were for a time placed in the college of the Jesuits at Rome. Later on they were transferred to the Museum of Antiquities at the Vatican. However, in 1827, they were bestowed on the Church of Mugnano, which was destined, through the possession of the relics of our saint, to become one of the most honoured shrines in the Christian world.

During three years which followed, the relics of Saint Philomena lay in the Custodia, unnoticed and undisturbed, almost as they had lain for fifteen hundred years in the silence of the Catacombs.

In the summer of 1805 the Bishop-Elect of Potenza came to Rome to receive his consecration.

His companion was a saintly priest of Mugnano – Don Francesco di Lucia – who availed of his visit to the Eternal City to seek the possession of the body of a saint for his private chapel. Accordingly he asked permission to visit the treasury of sacred relics. Complying with his desire, the guardian, Mgr. Ponzetti, offered the holy priest his choice, to the great delight of the latter. None of the caskets bore the names of the saints whose bodies they enclosed, except three. Amongst these was that of Saint Philomena.

As the priest stood before this reliquary he felt his soul filled with an indescribable feeling of spiritual joy, and at once he petitioned to have the relics. A few days afterwards, however, the guardian of the Custodia retracted the permission he had given, stating reasonably that the saints of well-ascertained names were so few, that they ought to be reserved for Bishops and Catholic princes.

The Bishop of Potenza, however, intervened on behalf of his anxious companion, saying he felt convinced the saint wished her to go to his parish of Mugnano, and would bless the place with miracles. And so the request was at length granted. From that day commenced the long succession of wonders which have since made the name of Philomena illustrious over the world.

Don Francesco fell ill during his visit to Rome, and, sinking under a virulent attack of fever, made a vow to Saint Philomena that if his health were restored, he would choose her for his patron. Instantly the malady subsided, and he was restored to perfect health. On his telling the Bishop of the miracle both returned thanks to God, promising to carry the bones of the saint to Naples with all possible honour.

They set out shortly afterwards, end reached Naples on the 2nd of July, 1805. There the casket was deposited in the private chapel of Don Antonio Terres – a wealthy citizen of the place. The relics were opened by ecclesiastical authority, and the bones arranged in a lifelike-size figure in papier-mache, and enclosed in an outer case of ebony, which was duly sealed in four places. Donna Angela Terres, the wife of Don Antonio was deputed to dress and adorn the figure, and was rewarded by the Saint for her devotion by being immediately healed of a malignant malady, from which she had been suffering for twelve years. Marvelous, too, during the dressing, many changes were observed in the countenance of the figure, while the virginal remains exhaled a sweet perfume. During three days the body was exposed in the church of Saint Angelo. A great concourse of the faithful visited the shrine, but as no miracle took place it was believed to be an indication of the saint’s wish not to remain in that city. Again, the relics were brought from the church to the house of Terres, and here again miraculous cures began to be vouchsafed. Amongst them was that of a lady suffering from gangrene in the hand which her physician had decided on amputating. A small portion of the sacred relics which had been presented to the Terres family was applied to the suffering hand. That night the patient slept, and in the morning the surgeons found that the gangrene had disappeared.

In another case – a lawyer, who for six months had been bed-ridden from sciatica, had himself carried to the house where the body of Philomena lay, and while he prayed to the holy Martyr, was completely cured.

The Bishop of Potenza and Don Francesco now determined to proceed on their journey to Mugnano. The month of August was fixed for their departure from Maples, two carriers being summoned from Mugnano to convey the saint. The grief of Donna Angela on parting with the venerable remains was so great that she would scarcely allow them to be removed. Don Francesco, to console her, presented her with the key of the casket, saying, “I leave you this. Henceforward you and your family shall be the owners of the holy body. I will be only its guardian.”

As the procession moved on its way, its course was marked by many miracles. When night set in, a column of light descended and rested on the relics, illuminating the path by which the bearers passed as they drew near to Cimitile, a suburb of Nola. Here the burden grew so heavy that the bearers declared they could carry it no further. On hearing this, Don Francesco feared that the saint desired to remain at Cimitile, a place sacred to the martyrdom of many saints. He immediately despatched one of the carriers, who had come with him from Naples, to Mugnano to secure additional bearers, meanwhile urging on the others to move the case, at least a little further, on the way. With great difficulty they succeeded in transporting it; but as they receded from Cimitile their burden became lighter and lighter, and soon was so easily borne that the bearers began to cry out with joy, “a miracle! a miracle! The saint has once more become as light as she was at Naples!”

At Mugnano, on the eve of the arrival, the bells of all the churches were rung, and cannon were fired in honour of the advent of the relics. The inhabitants made their first petition to the saint by asking, through her intercession, that the long-continued drought from which their crops suffered, might come to an end. The sound of the bells from the church towers had scarcely ceased when rain fell in copious torrents. At sunrise, the procession entered Mugnano. The joyful inhabitants turned out in vast multitudes with olive branches in their hands to welcome the youthful martyr – and the little children as they saw the case of relics dressed with flowers, filled the air with the cries of “Viva la Santa! Viva la Santa! Hail to the saint!”

During the course of the procession to the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie – which occupied two hours – many manifestations of the power of the saint were witnessed. Although the day was serene and beautiful at one time a whirlwind arose, and yet not a single one of the lights which were carried before the Shrine of Philomena was extinguished.

The body of the saint was placed under a splendid canopy at the Gospel side of the principal altar, where High Mass was celebrated. That day–the 10th of August – was observed as a feast day of obligation, and the spiritual rejoicings lasted over many weeks.

The numerous wonders which immediately began to be wrought at this Shrine induced Don Francesco to renounce his long-cherished intention of keeping the relics in his private chapel. After a short time he bestowed them on the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

Here a side chapel was prepared to receive them, and an altar erected, beneath which they were henceforth to rest for public veneration.

On the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, September 26th, 1805, after the celebration of High Mass, the relics were carried in procession, and solemnly deposited in their appointed place.

Mass was again chanted at the new altar, and thus ended the translation of the relics of Saint Philomena.

The story of the Shrine of Saint Philomena, and of the remarkable manifestations associated with it, possesses an unique interest among narratives of the kind. Much of it might, indeed, be difficult to accept without question, were not the authority in its support so strong.

The first in time, of the favours we shall record, is assigned to a date shortly after the translation of the relics of the saint to Mugnano.

While at Naples, as we may remember, the bones of the Virgin-Martyr were placed within a figure of childlike form, which was enclosed in an ebony casket. The casket being of small dimensions, the figure, though not larger than a child of about eight years of age, had to be placed in a cramped and ungraceful position.

One morning, however, shortly after the arrival of the saint within the chapel of Mugnano, to the amazement of some clients who had come to pay their homage at her shrine, the figure was found to have changed its attitude and whole appearance. Originally it had lain fiat within the case, the effect aimed at in its arrangement being that of the repose of death. Now the representation of the saint had mysteriously assumed a half sitting posture – full of majesty and grace – the face being turned towards the spectators. The hands too had changed their position, the arrow, the emblem of martyrdom, which had been placed in one of them, being reversed – in a word, the whole figure had become different. But the most striking marvel of the transformation was that the countenance no longer continued the same. The artist, by whom the figure had originally been designed, at Naples, had done his work hastily, and the features, imperfectly modelled, had been coloured to represent the pallor of a corpse. All these defects now disappeared, and an expression of great beauty took their place, while the colourless hue, which the face had hitherto presented, changed into a soft life-like complexion.

And all the while, the four seals which had been attached to the casket by the Bishop of Potenza were intact, and the glass which surrounded it could not have been removed. The rumour of this occurrence, having quickly spread abroad, soon reached Naples. On hearing of the marvellous event, the members of the Terres family, by whom the figure of Saint Philomena had been at first dressed, accompanied by the artist who had designed and painted it, together with some others, set out for Mugnano. It was beyond doubt that the key of the reliquary, which the Signora Terres, the custodian, held, had never left her possession, and yet, all attested that in no way was the attitude or appearance of the martyr like what it had been when the relics had left their home in Naples.

Further changes were subsequently, from time to time, observed in the position of the miraculous figure. Thus, some years after, when the garments in which the saint was clothed began to look worn and faded, another extraordinary circumstance occurred. The stitched seams loosened of themselves. The rich trimmings and accessories became detached, till at length, little by little, the whole vesture became disordered and scattered! The final and complete disarrangement of the exterior of the little figure took place about the Feast of Pentecost, 1824, when Don Francesco decided on having the relics arrayed in a new and costly attire, and also to provide a larger and more elegant shrine to receive them. Previous to the opening of the old reliquary, it was observed that the silken hair on the head of the saint had become sparse and scanty. As the date fixed for the translation of the relics was close at hand, no time remained to procure fresh silken hair. Then another wonder took place. An abundance of flowing tresses made their appearance before the beginning of the ceremony, which was carried out with great devotion and splendour by the Archbishop and his suite, in presence of the Vicar-General of the diocese, on July 5th, 1824.

Some time after the occurrence of this prodigy, this silken hair, which had been of a chestnut shade, suddenly turned to a deep black. At the same time the flowing tresses grew to such length, that it became necessary to open the case to re-arrange them over the shoulders. In 1833, nine years after the second dressing of the figure, the hair was found to have grown twenty-seven inches. Soon again a further development manifested itself. Another and larger shrine was deemed insufficient owing to the increased proportions of the wondrous figure of the occupant. A new receptacle was, therefore, again procured. On this occasion, Monsignor Cupola, Bishop of Vola, whose veneration for Saint Philomena bordered almost on enthusiasm, came to Mugnano, to place, as an offering, a rich crown of silver on her head. On this occasion a similar miracle again took place. On the 27th of September, 1828, Cardinal Ruffo Scilla, Archbishop of Naples, opened the shrine, and removed the relics to the beautiful and spacious case where they have since rested. From the appearance of a child of tender years, as our saint was first represented, she had now grown to bear the appearance of a beautiful maiden of twenty.

When the Cardinal Archbishop of Naples, in fulfilment of a vow, came to Mugnano for a fifth time, he declared after he had celebrated Mass, in presence of the Shrine, that since he had sealed the reliquary, six months before, the holy form of the saint had changed anew its appearance.

Miraculous manifestations after that time became so frequent as to be regarded as a matter of course. Sometimes the countenance lost its habitual brightness of expression and became overcast and sad. The lips too of the saint were seen at times to move as if in prayer, in union with the supplications of her clients.

During the celebrations of the annual festival in 1847, among the vast congregation was a poor blind man who was fervently imploring the saint to procure for him the recovery of his sight. Suddenly the whole body was seen to move, turning on its side to face the congregation. This event was attested by numerous witnesses, and after careful inquiries solemnly published. This attestation concludes as follows: – “We can testify that similar changes are continually occurring – either the opening of the eyes, the movements of the lips, or, varied expressions of the countenance which sometimes appears pale and sad, sometimes pleased and bright. . . . He who will not believe what is stated, should himself repair to the sanctuary, where, he will see with his own eyes how God glorifies His saints.”

After so many extraordinary evidences of the miraculous power of Saint Philomena one can scarcely wonder at the astonishing rapidity with which devotion to her was spread throughout the whole world.

Nevertheless the solemn approbation of the Church was not bestowed upon the devotion to Saint. Philomena till long after the dates of the incidents we have been recording. That prudent circumspection which at all times rules the decisions of the Holy See, demanded a long and mature consideration of the novel and marvellous circumstances which made up the history of the miracles of the saint. Although the pastors and laity of almost every diocese in Italy had more than once petitioned the Holy Father to authorize the public veneration of Saint Philomena, she was not raised to the altars of the Church till the year 1837. The promulgation by the Supreme Pontiff of the decree so long sought for was mainly due to a miracle worked by the saint on Pauline Marie Jaricot, friend of the Cure d?Ars, and foundress of the Association for the Propagation of the Faith, and of the devotion of the “Living Rosary.”

About the year 1819, some Brothers of Saint John of God, who were seeking to revive their once famous order for the care of incurables, travelled through Brittany to the South of France, relating as they went along, the wonders they had witnessed at the shrine of Mugnano. At Lyons, the Brothers called on the Jaricot family, whose members were inspired with such enthusiasm at the recital of the miracles of the saint that they were filled with a great desire to possess a portion of her relics. The pious wish was eventually gratified, and among the blessings of which this family became the instrument in the hands of Providence, not the least remarkable was the promoting of devotion to Saint Philomena.

In the year 1834 Pauline Marie Jaricot was stricken, beyond all hopes of recovery, with an aggravated form of heart disease. Various other sufferings of a complicated nature increased the intensity of the malady, which, in addition to its dreadful uncertainty, furnished symptoms of a quickly approaching dissolution. During the whole year Pauline describes her condition as one of continued agony, save during some few moments of passing relief which she attributed to prayers offered for her by some devoted friends.

The first amelioration of her sad condition that she experienced occurred at the close of a Novena offered on her behalf to Saint Philomena. The complete prostration, which had deprived her of the use of her limbs, slightly subsided, and great was her joy at being able, unaided, to move even a little.

Day by day the improvement continued, and with the happy and wondrous change she became filled with a longing to visit, in thanksgiving, the shrine of the Sacred Heart at Paray-le-Monial.

Inspired with this thought, she redoubled her anxious pleadings to Saint Philomena. Having made known her wish to the members of her family, they in turn mentioned the matter to her physician, who, while admitting the slight improvement as inexplicable, looked upon her project as merely visionary. At length her entreaties overcame his reluctance, and he consented to her departure, prophesying, however, that she would never reach the first stage of the journey, and that the return would be a funeral. Her confidence in God, however, grew stronger as the time approached at which she had, determined to risk the perilous venture.

Contrary to the expectations of those who charitably accompanied her, Pauline reached Paray in safety. Her first visit to the chapel of the Monastery of the Visitation filled her with joy and holy consolation, and gave her a degree of vigour which astonished her companions.

Another and still greater surprise was theirs, when the poor invalid made known her decision to proceed from Paray to Rome, there to seek the blessing of the Vicar of Christ.

To make this journey had, indeed, been with her a life-long dream, but in the face of her excessive weakness, her friends were terrified at her determination. Filled with trust in God she carried her point against their fears. It was a tedious journey, accomplished in very easy and short stages, and so the little strength she had regained did not fail her. Visiting on the way the shrines of Chambery and Loreto, she reached the Eternal City, and was warmly received at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, the Trinita de Monte. The fame of the two great works she had inaugurated for the glory of the Church had preceded her, while the sight of her great sufferings won for her the sympathy of all.

Although Pauline had realized her wish to visit Rome, her prostrate condition still forbade her undergoing the fatiguing ceremonial of an audience with the Holy Father. But the paternal kindness of Gregory XVI., furnished a solution for this difficulty. Having heard of Pauline?s arrival, he deigned to thank her in person for the benefits the Church owed her, and he came on two occasions to visit her at Trinita de Monte. Like others, the Holy Father deemed her condition hopeless. In one of his visits he asked her to pray for him, when she should get into heaven. Pauline replied, “Yes, most certainly Holy Father, I promise to do so, but if I visit the shrine of Mugnano, and then return on foot to the Vatican, will your Holiness deign to proceed with the definite examination of the cause of Philomena.” “Yes, my child,” replied the Pope, “for that would indeed be a miracle of the first class.”

With unwavering courage the heroic girl proceeded from Rome to Mugnano, which she reached August 8th, 1835. Her diary, which lies before us, furnishes a thrilling illustration of the reward which God vouchsafes to grant to the faith of those who seek His mercies through the intercession of His saints. The celebration of the solemn festival of Saint Philomena had just commenced. Two days later, that is to say on the actual feast day, Pauline was carried to the church. At the moment of receiving Holy Communion, she experienced a fearful anguish in her whole frame. Her heart throbbed, as though it would burst. Overcome by the intensity of her suffering, she swooned away, and .a death-like pallor overspread her countenance. To all appearance life seemed extinct. The bystanders terrified at what they witnessed, were about to bear her away in the chair wherein she lay. Consciousness, however, soon returned, and the poor sufferer feebly signified her wish to remain. A few moments later the dimmed eyes, already glazed with the film of death, began to shed copious tears – colour returned to the pallid cheeks – Pauline Marie Jaricot was cured!

An outburst of jubilation followed the miracle. Unrestrained enthusiasm, within and outside the church prevailed. The air resounded with the cry “Viva Santa Filomena! Viva the holy French lady!”

Two months later full of health and strength, the restored client of Saint Philomena presented herself at the feet of Gregory XVI., in the great hall of the Vatican. Filled with surprise the Holy Father exclaimed: “Is this, indeed, my dear child? Has she risen from the tomb, or, has God shown in her the power of the Virgin Martyr?” “Yes,” replied Pauline, “I am the person whom your Holiness saw at the point of death two months ago, and since Saint Philomena has restored me to health, grant me permission to fulfil a vow which I have made, to erect a church in honour of my benefactress.”

Having received a detailed account of Pauline?s visit to the shrine of Mugnano and the circumstances of her wonderful cure, the Pope promised to proceed at once to the examination of the “cause” of the saint.

Within a year after the departure of Mademoiselle Jaricot from her house, she returned to Lyons where her restoration to perfect health was regarded as an undoubted miracle. When she repaired on foot to the church of Notre Dame de Fourvieres, pious crowds followed her and joined her in hymns of praise and thanksgiving at the shrine of our Blessed Lady.

Later on, the grateful child of Saint Philomena fulfilled her vow by building a beautiful chapel dedicated to her patroness on the slope that leads up to the Basilica of Notre Dame. No sacrifice or trouble was henceforth considered too great by Pauline in spreading devotion to the Holy Martyr. She promoted it, together with the other pious associations which, through her efforts, had already gained ground in the Church. In one of her letters she tells us – that, when in company with her – the representatives of the “Living Rosary,” prostrated themselves at the feet of Gregory XVI., supreme Pontiff imparted a special blessing to their association, and commended them and their work to the protection of Saint Philomena. And on the occasion of Pauline?s last presentation at the Vatican His Holiness renewed this commendation, saying: – “Pray to Saint Philomena – whatever you ask from her she will obtain for you.”

The miracles wrought at the chapel at Lyons became almost as numerous and remarkable as the favours vouchsafed at the Shrine of Mugnano, and, at the present day, the devotion of the citizens to the saint manifests itself with extraordinary fervour.

It was at Lyons that the cure of Mademoiselle Le Clerc took place. This pious lady had been a hopeless invalid for eight years, having totally lost the use of her limbs. Through the intercession of Saint Philomena she was miraculously restored. The miracle wrought in her behalf was attested by the Bishop of Belley, the Mayor of Ambrieux, and twenty-four physicians. Returning to her home at Roussillon she built a chapel in honour of the little wonder-working saint.

Between Pauline Jaricot and the Venerable Curé of d?Ars, a friendship of the holiest kind long existed She impressed this holy priest with such veneration for her favourite saint that he became an ardent promoter of devotion to Saint Philomena. To her advocacy he attributed many marvellous graces and favours, which are recorded in the story of his life. Having erected a shrine containing a portion of the saint?s relics in his church, cures of earthly ills and extraordinary conversions of obdurate hearts were witnessed in this holy spot. The oil that burned before the altar became a source of miraculous healing, while the innumerable ex voto tributes of gratitude that line the walls of the little sanctuary, bear witness to the veneration and love in which she is held at the present day. To the zeal and sanctity of the Curé of Are may be ascribed, in great measure, the rapid and universal spread of devotion to Saint Philomena throughout France. Medals and other memorials of the Virgin-Martyr distributed by him were fruitful of many miracles. The story of the extinction of a fire at his house (caused by the agency of the devil) through the presence of a statue of Saint Philomena, will be remembered by many readers of Monsieur Vianney?s life.

During the last thirty years, France has, so to speak, been covered, with votive churches to our saint, while the three festivals – the 10th of August, the 25th of May, and the Sunday within the octave of the Ascension – are preceded by novenas and observed with great devotion and solemnity. The limits of these pages prevent our noticing the myriads of graces and favours showered on the faithful of France by Saint Philomena.

Among the clients of the martyr, whose special holiness has distinguished them in the annals of this century may be named – Pére Varin, one of the restorers of the Society of Jesus in France; Venerable Mother Barat, foundress of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart; Madame d?Houet, foundress of the Faithful Companions of Jesus and Mary; Pere Eymart, founder of the Priests of the Most Holy Sacrament.

In the year 1835, the devotion to the saint was introduced into Paris, where, ever since it has found an abiding centre. A parishioner of Saint Gervais, having obtained a miraculous favour through the intercession of Saint Philomena, presented to the church some relics which he had received from Mademoiselle Jaricot, together with a picture of the saint. Shortly afterwards a side chapel was dedicated to her honour, Saint Gervais is now a place of frequent pilgrimages, while the display of ex voto offerings and tablets rivals that of the mother-shrine at Mugnano. Those who have visited Paris will remember the position of the Church of Saint Gervais, close to the Hotel de Ville. This quarter of the city was the unhappy scene of the worst excesses of the Communists in 1870. The Hotel de Ville, as many of us recollect, was then reduced to ashes, while churches on every side were desecrated and profaned during those days of anarchy. Strange to say, although preparations had been made by the Communists to set fire to Saint Gervais and sack its treasury, by some mysterious intervention the im-pious purpose was never carried out. And while the Prussian shells wrought pitiless havoc over the whole city, the church of Saint Gervais and the house of the parish priest escaped injury. The priests attached to the church never forsook their posts, yet not one of them was arrested, nor did they suffer any loss in the midst of general ruin and pillage.

In recognition of this preservation, thirteen lamps commemorative of the thirteen childhood years of Saint Philomena, perpetually burn before her altar, and the oil in them is deemed to possess healing powers. An Association of prayer, under her invocation, in the Church of Saint Gervais has been raised to the dignity of an Arch-confraternity by our present Holy Father Leo XIII.

Let us now return to the shrine at Mugnano. The present beautiful church, surmounted by its dome and towers, was undertaken in 1853, and completed three years later. Its great attraction is the chapel containing the relics of Saint Philomena. A profusion of the finest marbles, mingled with agate and porphyry, cover the walls from floor to ceiling. Stately columns, supporting Corinthian capitols of white marble, impart an appearance of chaste splendour to the whole interior. Over the white marble altar stands the case containing the relics, revealing the figure of the saint, half sitting, half reclining on her couch, radiant in jewels and costly attire. Above is the familiar picture of our Lady of Good Counsel. At the opposite side of the nave is an altar, on which rests the reliquary containing the phial of the martyr?s blood. This exquisite casket was the gift of Marie Thèrese, Queen of Naples. It is entirely composed of silver, and through an aperture filled with glass, the sacred relic may be easily seen. The generosity of faithful hearts, in happier times, bestowed vast endowments, and estates on this church of Saint Philomena, and thus provided for the relief of the poor and the advancement of other meritorious works. But, alas! the sacrilegious hands of the usurper have confiscated all.

The constant stream of pilgrims has, however, never ceased. Old and young, rich and poor of all nationalities, assemble there, and bring away with them graces untold, and a deep sense of the power of God through the efficacy of His saints.

The roll of pilgrims contains many royal names, among which we notice: – Ferdinand II. of Naples, two queens of Naples and one of Sardinia, Marie Amelie of France, wife of Louis Phillippe; and Maria Christina, Queen of the two Sicilies. The latter was foundress of the Orphanage of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, which adjoins the sanctuary. She raised it in thanksgiving for petitions granted on the many occasions of her visits to the shrine. Hosts of distinguished personages, including Cardinals, Archbishops, and Bishops from all the world over, have inscribed their names on these records of piety and faith.

The decree authorizing the devotion to Saint Philomena, and granting to the clergy of Nola the privilege of saying Mass in her honour, was published by Gregory XVI. on January 30th, 1837. In March, 1839, the same Pontiff, by decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, raised her feast to the dignity of a double of the second class. It is to be noted that hers is the only instance of a “Proper Office” being granted in honour of a saint of whom no details are recorded or known, except the bare fact of her martyrdom. This was indicated, as we have already remarked, by the emblems cut on her tomb, and the three simple words inscribed on the slab enclosing her place of rest: “Pax tecum! Philomena.” “Peace be with thee! Philomena.”

The successors of Gregory XVI in the Pontifical chair, have given evidences of a similar veneration for this martyr of the primitive Church.

Pius IX, when Archbishop of Spoleto, was prostrated by an illness, in which his life was despaired of. In his apartment was a figure of the saint, resting within an enclosed case. As he lay apparently awaiting death, a knocking seemed to proceed from the little shrine. From that moment the Archbishop began to recover, and soon he was perfectly restored to health. Afterwards, when he had been raised to the Pontificate, he made a pilgrimage in person to Mugnano. It was performed during the period of his exile, Nov. 7th, 1849. His reception was one of memorable splendour. At the church of Saint Philomena he was received by the King of Naples, who humbly knelt on the bare ground, when assisting him to alight. The Queen, with seven children, and many royal personages, knelt on the steps leading to the church door to receive the blessing of the Holy Father as he ascended. In memory of the event, Pius IX. granted many new spiritual favours to the Sanctuary of Mugnano. During his sojourn at Naples, he named Saint Philomena one of the patrons of the kingdom, and later on, in 1862, gave her as patron to “The Children of Mary,” and confirmed her title of „„Protector of the Living Rosary.”

The present Pope, while administrator of the diocese of Benevento, visited Mugnano twice, and since then, has sent a costly offering to the Church of Saint Philomena. Confraternities and Sodalities placed under her invocation have been many times favoured by Leo XIII. with increased indulgences.

In Ireland, the devotion to this child-saint and martyr has been taken up with great fervour, and rewarded with many striking favours.

The pious sisterhoods, to whose hands is confided the great work of Catholic education, have not been slow to find how powerful is the help of the “little wonder-worker.” Schools, special works of charity, the wants of the sick and afflicted, have many a time been blessed and promoted in wonderful ways through the invocation of Saint Philomena. Her name is a household word in many Irish homes. Many a stricken heart turns to her for aid in the necessities which encompass our various paths through this land of distress and sorrow. And it is sweet to think that much of that beautiful fervour and devotion towards Saint Philomena, which has spread like the odour of some delicate fragrant flower over pagan and far-off lands, has been borne thither by Irish hands and Irish hearts.

The Messager de Saint Philomene et du Venerable Cure d?Ars, published in Paris (monthly) contains interesting records of the miracles worked, and favours granted by the “Virgin Wonder-worker” in every portion of the globe. We should recommend its perusal to our educated readers, especially to the clients of Saint Philomena.

Were space at our disposal, we should gladly place some extracts from it on record here. However, before we close this sketch, we select one which has struck us by its simple beauty, and tells how our saint hearkens to the prayers of the little ones of Christ.

In a province of France there lived a child named Marie Philomene, who, from her earliest years had been taught to invoke her holy patron, by whom more than once she was delivered from danger. In May, 1883, when but five years old, she was attacked by a fatal illness. The physician declared her case quite hopeless, and one evening informed the afflicted parents of the little sufferer that it was useless for him to return, inasmuch as all the symptoms of death had already set in.

Her godmother, who was kneeling by her little cot, bethought of invoking Saint Philomena, and made the child kiss a picture representing her.

She could no longer see nor lift her hands, but could still hear. Suddenly with a trembling voice she exclaimed, “Godmother, where is Saint Philomena? what shall I say to her?” “Ask her to come to you,” was the reply. “Tell her you will give yourself to God, and teach little children. Ask her to send you some sleep, and promise to go to Mass tomorrow to thank her.”

A few moments later the child said she would like to go to sleep, and then fell into a gentle slumber. At 6 o?clock the following morning, she sat up in bed, saying “St Philomena has cured me! I want to go to Mass!” Arising, she dressed herself, and walked to church, a mile distant, holding her godmother?s hand.

Our story of the great wonders wrought by the intercession of Philomena may not for the present extend farther. May our efforts to retrace some of the glories which surround the name of the youthful Martyr of the Catacombs increase the fervour of those devoted to her. May they urge others to spread wider still veneration for her virtues of constancy and heroism, by which she obtained such favour with God, and merited so many benedictions for those who invoke her! Saint Philomena! Pray for us.

Nihil Obstat: Joannes Keane, S.J.,

Cens. Theol.Deput.

Imprimi Potest: +Edward Joseph Byrne,

Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland,

2 January 1929

[cruger2984]

Love Live Idols and its Saints - µ's

So here we are again in this edition of the '...And Its Saints' series and now it is the Love Live idols to shine through, so first up is the OGs that is µ's!

January 17 - Hanayo Koizumi

St. Anthony the Great: Egyptian monk and is known as the Father of Monasticism. For his importance among the Desert Fathers and to all later Christian monasticism, he is also known as the Father of All Monks. There are various legends associating the monk with pigs: one is that he worked as a swineherd during this period. He is the patron of skin diseases, basket makers, gravediggers, and the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome.

April 19 - Maki Nishikino

Pope St. Leo IX: 152nd successor of St. Peter who is an aristocrat from Germany and a powerful ruler of central Italy while holding the papacy. He is widely considered the most historically significant German pope of the Middle Ages and was instrumental in the precipitation of the Great Schism of 1054, considered the turning point in which the Catholic and Orthodox Churches formally separated.

March 15 - Umi Sonoda

St. Louise de Marillac: French widow and social service worker who is the co-founder of the Daughters of Charity alongside Vincent de Paul. Her major shrine can be found in Rue du Bac in Paris, and is the patron saint of widows, social workers and the Vincentian Service Corps.

June 9 - Nozomi Tojo

St. Columba: Irish abbot and evangelist who is known for his monicker, 'the Apostle to the Picts'. At the beginning of the Hiberno-Scottish mission, he is credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland. In addition for being one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland along with Saint Brendan, his major shrine can be found in Iona, Scotland.

July 22 - Nico Yazawa

St. Mary Magdalene: One of the most prominent figures in Christianity and, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Mary is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles. Mary Magdalene is known in many Christian traditions as the ‘Apostle to the Apostles’. All four of the canonical Gospels  identify her, either alone or as a member of a larger group of women, as the first witness to the empty tomb, and the first to testify to Christ’s resurrection. She is the patron of penitent sinners and converts.

August 3 - Honoka Kosaka

St. Lydia of Thyatira: A holy woman who is mentioned in the New Testament, and is regarded as the first documented convert to Christianity in Europe. Her appearance can be found in the 16th chapter of Acts (verses 14 and 15).

September 12 - Kotori Minami

The Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary: This Marian feast day is an optional memorial celebrated in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church and it has been a universal Roman Rite feast since 1684, when Pope Innocent XI included it in the General Roman Calendar to commemorate the victory at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Promoters of veneration of the Holy Name of Mary including Anthony of Padua, Bernard of Clairvaux and Alphonsus Liguori. Its objective is to commemorate all the privileges bestowed upon Mary by God and all the graces received through her intercession and mediation.

October 21 - Eli Ayase

St. Ursula: Her name stands for 'little female bear', and is a martyr who died in 383 AD. Her major shrine can be found in Cologne, Germany, and is the patron saint of Cologne and Binangonan, Rizal Province in the Philippines.

November 1 - Rin Hoshizora

Solemnity of All Saints: Also known as 'All Saints' Day' or 'All Hallows' Day', it is a celebrated event in honor of all the saints, known and unknown. The Christian celebration of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven (the 'Church triumphant'), and the living (the 'Church militant'). In Catholic theology, the day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in Heaven. There are so many customs during the event, including in Europe, Mexico (as Día de Muertos) and the Philippines (as Araw ng mga Patay/Undás).