Today is our last day in Rome. Tomorrow is back to the good Yankee Doodle land. But we got one more day and we saved the best for last.
When we came to Italy with our kids and friends nine years ago, I tried to reserve the much coveted tour of the Necropolis, to get a glimpse of the tomb of St. Peter, friend of Jesus, first pope and my personal favorite apostle. Since we were a group of ten, I sent the request months in advance, but to my great disappointment, we were not able to obtain a reservation. This time around, I didn't even think of trying because I never thought I would have a chance with just a 3-week window. But my friend Mabel, one week before our trip, asked me if I was going to go visit the Scavi (or excavations) which is another name they use to refer to the Necropolis. I told her I had not even tried because it was too close. She told me, "you should try anyway, you never know." At this time I figured, why not? I have nothing to lose. So I researched it and found that the request had to be by mail or fax. It was too late by mail so I tried fax. By this time it was 11 am in Miami, therefore 5 pm in Italy. The fax was busy the entire time. I figured they probably disconnected it at night to avoid having thousands of faxes when they arrived in the morning. I tried again the next morning and same thing, but this time when I tried, I thought I heard a recording instead of a busy signal. It was hard to tell because after all, I was just standing next to the fax machine. So I decided to call from a landline and the phone was not busy, it just rang and rang and rang.
I went back online and did some further research. I found an email address for the Ufficio Scavi so I sent them an email with a kiss and a prayer. I was hoping for the best, but honestly, deep inside, I was not expecting a response. But God is good, really good, and He works in marvelous ways. In less than five minutes I had a response with a confirmation for a tour for Saturday, August 20th at 1:45 pm. I was by myself in the office, thank God or they would have thought I had gone bananas. I started jumping up and down, running around the office, sending a prayer of thank you to the Almighty. I had to pay the fee within 24 hours. I paid it within 5 minutes. And then I told my hubby. He didn't even know I was trying to book this. This is something that he wanted to see so he got very happy. The confirmation did say that since this was a Jubilee Year, we had to confirm two weeks before to make sure the tour had not been cancelled for another event. I never confirmed it. At this point, I had enough faith to know this would happen.
Therefore, since we had this in the afternoon, we left our visit to Vatican City for today. The first time we came, we visited the Vatican Museum and Basilica on our own. This time around, I decided to do it with a tour and I'm glad I did. It was a three hour tour and our guide was amazing. He was an encyclopedia of information. He started by giving us a history lesson about the Vatican, the Basilica, the Necropolis, the old church that stood there before the current basilica, about the works of art we were about to see, etc.
Then we entered the museum. I remember the first time we came, we had tickets for 9 am when it first open. A friend, can't remember who, had given us a tip to run all the way to the Sistine Chapel, see that first and then return to the museum. The five of us ran like maniacs through the museum until we got to the Sistine Chapel and for five minutes, we had it all to ourselves. I remember the magic of seeing such a magnificent work of art that I had heard so much about. But I really didn't understand everything about it, other than the obvious Genesis scenes (the creation, the birth of Adam, the serpent and the tree, etc). But it was a great advise, even though we almost miss the entire museum because then we didn't know how to get back to the beginning. But a nice Italian guard led us to a side door that took us back to the beginning without exiting the grounds. Today, that's probably impossible to do with all the heightened security. By the time we made our way around and got back to the Sistine Chapel, it was standing room only. So that visit was memorable mostly because of that. This time we went in order: the statues, the frescoes, the tapestries, the maps, the paintings... with a detailed explanation about everything.
And finally, we got to the Sistine Chapel. And yes, it was standing room only but this time around, I knew what to look for. I looked up in wonder, at the painting of God creating the sun. I saw God giving life to Adam by touching his finger. I looked in wonder at the wall that depicted the Last Judgment. I noticed how the scenes of Noah and the Ark were much smaller than all the rest, especially the size of the people. But we had gotten an explanation about that before we entered. When Michelangelo started painting the Sistine Chapel, those were the first scenes he painted. And when he uncovered them and looked at them from below, he realized he had made a huge mistake. You could hardly see the people from the floor below. Therefore, on the rest of the scenes he made the humans much bigger so you can actually see them very clear from below. I was mesmerized and so happy that I made the decision to come back to see it.
Afterwards we entered St. Peter's Basilica. Even the second time around this place is just beyond marvelous. One thing that was new was St. John Paul II's tomb. When we came last time, he had just passed away so his tomb was underneath and it was a plain wooden casket. I remember the hundreds of people lined up to see his tomb and they were leaving flowers, prayer cards, rosaries and all kinds of mementoes in his tomb. Since then he has been canonized and his tomb has been moved up to a place of honor.
By the time we finished, we had one hour to eat and go to the designated meeting point for our Scavi tour. We ate nearby in a cafeteria and at 1:30 we passed security, met the Swiss Guards by the gate and entered through a side door that led us to the Ufficio Scavi. We gave our names, they gave us our tickets and we were told to wait outside for the English tour. It was just 11 of us. They take down no more than 12 persons at a time.
Our guide took us through a set of stairs that brought us into the area below the basilica. There she gave us an explanation of what we were about to see. She said that in 1939, a group of archaeologists decided to find St. Peter's Tomb. They knew that after his death, the faithful recovered St. Peter’s body and buried it in a necropolis northwest of the circus (at the present site of St. Peter’s Basilica).
In 330, Emperor Constantine began building a huge basilica at the grave site to honor the first pope. He positioned the altar over the burial site of St. Peter. When Pope Julius began construction on the present St. Peter’s Basilica in 1506 to replace the decaying original basilica, the high altar remained over the burial site.
By 1950, archeologists concluded they had found the grave of St. Peter because they found a wall with Greek graffiti that read Petros eni, or “Peter is within." Other graffiti asked St. Peter to pray to Christ for deceased people. But unfortunately, the tomb was empty. But after more digging, they found a secret marble repository in the graffiti wall that contained bones. These bones had been wrapped in a purple fabric with gold threads. Were these St. Peter’s bones? And why were they separate from the grave?
The answer to the second question is easier than the first. The brick work of the repository dated to the reign of the Emperor Valerian (253-60). Valerian intensified the persecution of the church. Sealing the bones inside the marble graffiti wall secured them from desecration.
In the early 1960s, anthropologists studied the bones. All the bones were present except the feet and the skull. The anthropologists concluded the bones belonged to a man, between 60 and 70 years of age; about 5 feet, 7 inches tall; and of robust constitution — an apt description of St. Peter. The bones had been discolored by the earth (the same earth as in the grave). The purple and gold thread cloth (dated to the ancient Roman weaving techniques) was an extremely expensive cloth reserved for imperial honors, thereby befitting the first pope. And the fact that there were no feet meant that the man had probably been crucified. When the body was removed from the cross, the executioners simply severed the body from the feet nailed to the cross.
The Basilica of St. John Lateran, for at least 1,000 years has kept the relic of the skull of St. Peter. Another evidence since the skull was not part of the bones found. Comparison tests were done, and the anthropologists concluded nothing in the Lateran reliquary interfered with the Vatican bones. They speculated that the skull had been removed from the rest of the bones to preserve it.
Given this evidence, in February 1968, an official report was presented to Pope Paul VI who concluded that the bones had been “identified in a way which we can hold to be convincing.” I was certainly convinced.
We went down to an area of tunnels, very similar to the catacombs we visited yesterday. The first part was a pagan cemetery and the second part a Christian cemetery. There, we were able to see the graffiti wall and the box that holds Peter's bones. I got goosebumps.
Then we went to the level above, which holds a lot of Pope graves. I was a little disappointed that even though Peter's bones are maintained in the same way they were found, I felt that he was not being given a place of honor like the majority of the other popes. But I was pleasantly surprised when we got out that on the other side of the wall, they have made a tomb in marble and a chapel to honor him. Even pilgrims that cannot enter the Necropolis can visit the front of his tomb and say a prayer to St. Peter the Apostle.
This whole day was by far the crown ending to an amazing trip. I had so much to be thankful for. And then I realized that I had not bought a single gift to take back to my kids. So we did a little bit of shopping before returning to the hotel.
For our last night in Rome, we asked the hotel to recommend a really nice restaurant. They sent us to one in the neighborhood of Trastevere. It turned out to be the second best restaurant of our entire trip, right behind Don Alfonso in the Amalfi coast. We had dinner at Antica Pesa. From the appetizer of goat cheese with fresh figs and nuts, to the home made tagliolini with prawns, followed by grilled white fish fillet with Ferentano wine scented carrots sauce and green apple and mustard seeds tartare and the delicious chantilly cream milfoil with crunchy chocolate pearls and popcorn, everything was exquisite.
Arrivederci Italia.
Thank you Jesus, Mama Mary and all the saints that accompanied on this trip. It was perfect because You all lead the way. Protect us tomorrow as we fly back home to our family, friends and loved ones. And answer all the prayers of all those whose petitions we brought with us to Italy.
Amen.
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