Brom goes to church

Coocoo

Well, we didn't just go to church once. Or twice, or thrice. In fact we went four times! We visited four different churches and actually attended a service in one of them as well!

The first three Popes
Saint Peter, Saint Linus and Saint Cletus

The very first church we visited on Saturday was Saint Paul's outside the gates. It is a Vatican basilica, but outside the city gates. In fact it isn't even that close to the Vatican itself and it took us nearly an hour by bus to get there! 

The last four Popes
Pope John Paul, Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis

Inside the church there were pictures of all the Popes right up to now, starting with Saint Peter who is generally accepted as being the first Pope and ending with the current one: Pope Francis who originally hails from Argentina. As there were mostly no pictures of Popes during the early years, or at least none have survived, those Popes were all modeled on Saint Peter, with little differences between each. We even found our 'own' Dutch Pope: Adrian IV.

The Friesian flag in the Friesian Church

On Sunday we went to visit the church of Saint Michael and Saint Magnus, for the Dutch more commonly known as the Friesian Church. It is located within the Vatican and we attended the service there, which was a Roman Catholic service, but in Dutch. Afterwards we wanted to see the Pope, but we only heard the last words of his blessing, the square being chock-a-block and impossible to get onto.

Saint Bonifacius, one of the missionaries who tried to bring Christianity to the Friesians.
They killed him in 685 aD

On Monday we were not planning on visiting a church at all, but the tour through the catacombs of Saint Sebastian on the Via Appia ended in the church itself and it was a lovely church. They are always completely different from what Mara and Gera are used to. Having always attended Protestant churches, they are quite austere compared to Roman Catholic ones. 

Part of the ceiling in the Basilica of Saint Sebastian

The last church or basilica we visited wasn't on our list either and even when we were right in front of it, we nearly didn't enter. Until I told those two girls, they had better get in, despite their aching legs and knees and toes. This time it was the Basilica of Saint Peter, right in the middle of the Vatican. We had visited the Necropolis underneath to see where Saint Peter had been buried way back when and now we went into the big church on top.

Basilica of Saint Peter
The five people on the front were canonized on October 13th

It was beautiful. It was big, like really really really big. There were statues everywhere, paintings and people. Mara said to me just now how it didn't feel like a place for quiet contemplation though, which she had felt more in the other three churches. It was just too much of everything. 

This image was repeated quite often on the marble pillars

Well, too much or not, I loved to see all those churches. As I loved to see everything else as well, because you know I love traveling and seeing new things. Another time I will tell you more about what else we saw...

This image of the Road to Crucifixion was found in the Pantheon

PS: I nearly forgot, we didn't just see four churches on the inside, we saw five! The Pantheon is another one we visited. It started off as a temple of Pagan Gods, but once Christianity took hold, it was modified to a church. I just never want to visit it when it rains, as it has a big hole in the roof! Mara says that is how it's supposed to be, but I am not so sure. 

The Altar in the Pantheon