Pilgrimage to Rome - Day 1

On Sunday we arrived in Rome early in the morning and were transported by bus to our hotel, Domus Aurelius, very near Vatican City. We spent some time settling in and a few people took the chance to get a nap. But by noon we were in St. Peter’s Square to attend the Holy Father’s traditional Angelus address and prayer.

The Piazza of St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

The Holy Father at the window of the Papal Residence

We also had the opportunity to meet up with Karlo Leonor, a Notre Dame student soon to be an Old Collegian who is studying in Rome this semester. Karlo met up with us frequently throughout the week, and it was a great pleasure and a big help to have him join us.

After the Angelus we climbed to the top of St. Peter’s Dome to enjoy the wonderful views of the Piazza and city below. On the way up, one walks out onto a catwalk high up in the interior Dome of the Basilica, from which one can see down onto Bernini’s magnificent baldachin and into the Chapel of the Chair. This view never fails to be awe-inspiring.

The view inside the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica

The view of the Piazza from the Dome of St. Peter's

After enjoying the views atop the Dome, we walked to the Pantheon to meet up with Fr. Michael Wurtz, csc who is a doctoral student in Liturgical Theology at San Anselmo. Fr. Michael hosted us for Mass at his residence in Casa Santa Maria, the residence for priests in graduate studies operated by the American Bishops through the North American College.

The formal entrance at Casa Santa Maria

After Mass, Fr. Russ McDougal, csc, who is a graduate student at the Biblicum, and Fr. Jim Foster, csc who was in Rome for a medical ethics conference hosted by Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture, joined Fr. Jim Gallagher, csc, Fr. Ralph Haag, csc and myself for dinner. It was a nice way to start off our week in Rome by being among brothers in Holy Cross . . . but after a long day in Rome, and very little sleep on the redeye from Chicago, we were ready for bed.