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Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,961
Registered: ‎02-25-2011

@golding76 .....I LOVED reading your story.  I especially loved the part of giving your dear uncle the rosary.  Bless both of your hearts.  That was especially heartfelt that you brought him happiness by that precious gift.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,216
Registered: ‎08-02-2010

@qualitygal Hope you get to Saint Peter's......be sure if you do,arrange for a tour guide who will provide you with the most interesting information regarding the history.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,775
Registered: ‎07-09-2011

Re: St. Peter's Basilica

[ Edited ]

@qualitygal 

 

I hope you are able to visit Rome & Italy one day.  I’ve been lucky to spend a good bit of time there; it is #1 on my list of other countries.

 

My first visit to St. Peter’s was in the days the nuns controlled entrance, so they had to first approve that visitors were dressed appropriately.  

 

Once inside, I looked to my right and there was The Pieta! It took my breath away; I was transfixed.  No other piece of art has ever affected me like that.  I was glued to that spot admiring that beautiful work, and did not even look at anything else.

 

Many visits later, I have seen all public areas of St. Peter’s and several special tours. Still The Pieta is the most beautiful work of art I’ve ever seen, every time it has the same affect as the first time I saw it.

 

I hope you are able to see it in person.

 

 

"Animals are not my whole world, but they have made my world whole" ~ Roger Caras
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,935
Registered: ‎11-22-2013

@qualitygal This place is also on my bucket list!   The pictures are so inviting and give a sense of being in the presence of God as they calm your soul.  I too hope you can experience it in person one day.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,882
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Have been to Vatican 5-6 times over last 50 years and it is always interesting. About 15 years ago we downloaded Rick Steve's 1 HR walking tours (St. Peters, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, the Forum).  These narratives are great and also include pictures.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,167
Registered: ‎04-04-2014

Re: St. Peter's Basilica

[ Edited ]

Hi @qualitygal !  I've been there a number of times.  Let me explain.  In 1975, I spent the spring semester of college at the campus in Rome (University of Dallas).  

School was in a hotel outside the outskirts of the city and we used to take Bus 64 into the city and it dropped us outside the colonnade just outside Piazza San Pietro.  Since every 25 years in the Church are Holy Years, there was no traffic allowed in the area leading up to or in front of the Basilica.  I remember climbing the stairs to the rotunda and looking out over the city.  The sculptures inside were amazing as were the relics of the Saints.  Michaelangelo's Pieta was just inside to the right at the time and we were told that the scale of the Church itself was not to be believed:  the cherubs holding the Holy Water fonts at the entrance would be at least 6 feet tall if they stood up straight.  Bernini's Baldacchino over the main altar is the focal point inside and the Basilica is in the shape of the Cross as many Catholic Churches are.

 

I would love to go back and see again many of the sights I was blessed to see during the four months I was there.

 

ET CORRECT TYPOS

Valued Contributor
Posts: 810
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@qualitygal I was so fortunate to go there last year. When I saw The Pieta, it took my breath away. I've never seen anything so beautiful. 

I also was able to see the Sistine Chapel.

I use a walker so when the rest of my tour was going to areas I couldn't go to I was told I could wait for them in the chapel. I must have spent a half hour or more just looking at Michelangelo's masterpiece. That was one time I was happy to have a walker.

I do hope you get to go one day. I never thought I would be able to travel to Europe but my sister in law invited me and convinced me that I could do it and I'm so glad she did. 

“We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.” Abraham Lincoln
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,882
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

On one of our visits to St.Peters we walked most of the way through gallery towards Sistine Chapel.  We ran into two American girls (20-22 yrs old) who wanted to know the way out.  I asked why they were leaving just before Sistine Chapel; they thought they had already see it!  Says something about modern education!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,739
Registered: ‎05-19-2012

I have my own little story about La Pietà.  Like most who have seen this work, I have been moved by its depiction of the Virgin Mary's love for her son; there is anguish and yet acceptance in her visage.   The marble itself is lustrous.

 

When I bought religious items to be blessed by Pope Paul VI during my 1973 visit to the Vatican, I chose a small replica of La Pietà for my maternal grandfather.  My grandmother had died a little over a year before, and I wanted him to have something special.  Although we are Greek Orthodox Christians and not Catholic, the Virgin Mary is a major figure in our religion, and I knew he would welcome the miniature sculpture, especially since it was blessed by the Pope. 

 

When my grandfather died, I was asked what I would like to remember him by.  Without hesitating a moment, I requested  the Pietà that I had given him about 11 years before.  He had it placed with his religious icons and votive lights on his bureau.

 

It is very special to me.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,163
Registered: ‎10-04-2010

Thank you all for your lovely replies.  I'm so glad you all had such wonderful visits.