We walked to St. Peter’s Basilica.
In 2015, Julia and Nate were invited to sing for Pope Francis on New Year’s Day as a member of Pueri Cantores at St. Bernard’s of Clairvaux in Scottsdale. Brian, Julia, Nate, his parents, my father, and my brother traveled to Rome. Mom and I stayed home with a very young Riley and brand new Mary Alice. For so long, I’ve imagined them walking to St. Peter’s and I was giddy at the thought of standing where they stood.
On the way, we stopped at San Salvatore in Lauro and saw the relics of Padre Pio.
Do you know Padre Pio?
Oh friends. He loved Jesus so much.
Padre Pio, born in 1887, was a Capuchin priest who lived in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Padre Pio had the stigmata of Christ and he bore these wounds of Christ for fifty years.
I cannot stop thinking about this precious statue. If we all had this passion for helping our Lord, can you imagine how beautiful this world would be?
We made it to St. Peter’s and the line moved very quickly. I was overheated, so I let the cool water in the restroom just wash over my hands. We sat downstairs for a little while. (Thank you, Brian, for your endless patience). We walked up to the entrance just as a Eucharistic procession was walking into St. Peter’s! I kept thinking about the verse that says ‘He has gone to prepare a place for you!’ (John 14:3)
As I entered, I was drawn to the right and there it was – The Pieta stood before me.
The Pieta was more lovely in person than I could have imagined. Nothing prepares you for that kind of beauty. We walked over towards the main altar, and there in the Chapel of St. Sebastian is the tomb of Saint Pope John Paul II. We said a rosary together and my heart swelled with thankfulness for this opportunity.
“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.
It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”
― Pope John Paul II
We watched the end of the Eucharistic procession and listened to the divine music that filled the space.
As we turned, we noticed the gates to the Vatican Grottoes were opened. We quickly descended, wondering if we were allowed to be there. I tried to buy tickets months ago and was told they were sold out.
What a joy and privilege to watch Brian pray in from of St. Peter’s tomb, just below a painting of St. Sebastian!
As tours were rushed past us, we lingered with a very peaceful and cheerful nun, who was praying a rosary. I stood back and just watched my husband, amazed and grateful for this beautiful vocation we live together.
