This was a big day — beginning very early in the morning. 

We left our hotel at 6:15 (!), parked in the huge underground garage near the Vatican, then walked up to the street level.

There, we rounded a corner and got our first glimpse of St. Peter’s. 

The plan was to go through security and quickly find our way to a chapel under the main altar, where we would celebrate Mass at 7:15.

It didn’t go as planned.

There was a mob of people at that early hour, and while we made it through security fairly easily — it was less complicated, really, than going through TSA at the airport — the guards insisted that to re-enter a second area, we needed to go through again.

Much lively dialogue ensued (in Italian — without subtitles, unfortunately)  involving our tour manager Alessandra and the security personnel. Eventually, we made it through and Alessandra directed Father Ferdi and two deacons, Mike Friske and Richard Hay, to the basilica sacristy. She then got us to our chapel.

I don’t think I’ve talked about our tour manager and guide, Alessandra. Imagine General Patton crossed with Sophia Loren, with blue jeans, a backpack and a cell phone always in hand. I think all of our pilgrims would agree: she’s Alessandra the Great.

Anyway: We started late, but at least we were there!

After Mass, we found our way back to the main entrance of St. Peter’s, through a long circular corridor that held what seemed to be an endless number of similar small chapels, nearly all of them containing pilgrims and priests praying the Mass. Amazing.

Once we were upstairs, we made our formal entry through the Holy Door.

From there, we headed outside to begin a walk for the tour of the Vatican Museum. We passed some of these guys along the way.

I’ve been to the Vatican four times, and every time I get the impression these fellas are there mostly for tourists like me with little cameras. They seem to be always posed for pictures.

Anyway…the Vatican Museum offered us another security challenge, with more metal detectors and scanning machines and conveyer belts. And people. Lots of people.

Some spectacular art, too. Below is part of a tapestry depicting the slaughter of the Holy Innocents.

After the museum, we headed back inside St. Peter’s for a more formal tour, starting with the incomparable Pieta.

Another saint: Pope John XXIII.

Eventually, we made our way back to the bus and on to our next stop: The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. 

Another basilica, another Holy Door!

The basilica is famous for its mosaics, featuring every pope from Peter to Francis.

Next, we hopped the bus for a short ride to visit a site I wasn’t aware of: the place where St. Paul was martyred. A church now stands in the middle of a quiet, park-like setting that once was home to one of Rome’s prisons. It is also home to a Trappist abbey, where they raise the lambs used to create the wool for the pallia given to metropolitan archbishops.

We were greeted by St. Benedict, telling us to keep silent.

The site gets its name, Tre Fontane, or “Three Fountains,” from three springs that gushed forth when St. Paul’s head hit the ground.

We took a brief tour through a church that honors Paul’s martyrdom, with many depictions of his death and, in one corner, the stone pillar to which he was chained when he was killed.

When we left to walk back to the bus, we walked past a cobbled path surrounded by chains. It’s part of the original Roman road that led to the prison — the same road that would have delivered Paul to his death.

After a long day, we got back to the hotel just before 6:30. We gathered for Evening Prayer and then it was on to dinner in to the hotel dining room.

Tomorrow, Friday, we visit two more basilicas, St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran — and we have the first event of the Jubilee for Deacons. It’s described as “Catechesis and Sharing of Experiences: Concrete Signs of Hope in the Ministry of Deacons.” 

To be continued…