Rome Day 2

 
 
Our main outing today was a trip to the basilica of St. John Lateran.  It is actually the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, our Holy Father.  We had an amazing tour from a wonderful religious sister.
 
 
 
 
These massive bronze doors were once the main doors of the ancient Roman Senate building!
 

 
A sculpture of the emperor Constantine in the background.  Contrary to the ancient pagan temple which were elaborate outside and sparse inside, the early Christians built their churches plain on the outside and ornate on the inside as a symble of Christ's divinity clothed in the humility of the flesh.

 
The Holy Door which is opened every 25 years.  The last time this was opened was by Blessed John Paul II in 2000, in honor of the Third Millennium.

 
Inside this magnificent structure containing precious relics from the early days of Christianity.  The relief sculptures between each column represent Old testament stories on the left that are fulfilled by Christ on the right. 

 
Beautiful mosaic floor, another view of the massive door, notice its scale compared to that of the visitors  nearby.

 
The Apostle Andrew

 
St. Paulus

 
St. Petrus

 
The crypt before the high altar.

 
The unique high altar.  The reliquaries above contain the skulls of Sts. Peter & Paul, transferred hear millennia ago.

 
Impressive sculpture of Pope Leo XIII

 
The Cathedra of the Bishop of Rome, along with the ancient mosaics above.  The throne has sculptures of animals at its base to represent Psalm 91--- "upon the young lion and adder you shall tread"

 
First altar redesigned after the Council of Trent.  Notice the large tabernacle, and above that a golden relief of the last supper that contains a large part of the relic of the wooden table that Jesus used to celebrate the Last Supper!

 
Within this altar is contained a stone that St. Peter and the other early popes celebrated Mass on.
 
 
The obelisk that the emperor Constantine had erected by shipping it down the Nile from Egypt. 

The exterior of the ancient baptistery of St. John Lateran

 
A chapel on the porch

 
A Borgia

 
The interior, octagonal shaped... the very first baptistry in Christendom, circa early to mid 300's AD.

 
Down in the baptistry (originally filled with water), where we renewed our baptismal vows and were sprinkled with Holy Water

Another view

 
The Holy Spirit looking down from above.

The side chapel where we had Mass.  The mosaics were extremely ancient and really interesting!
A view from the side entrance to the Lateran

 
A crowd of tourists coming across the Tiber as statues of Sts. Peter & Paul look on and the Castle San Angelo is behind.

 
Another bridge- this time to the Vatican.
 
We returned back to the PNAC for a tour around campus... this place is huge!  Had a nice cena on the roof tonight, then headed out for delicious Gelato at the Frigidarium, and then for a stroll along some of the piazzas and vias, passing by the famous Pantheon.
 

 
That's all folks for today! We'll be off to some of the catacombs tomorrow.  God bless you!



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