Circling the City

Today began with a delicious hazelnut filled roll and coffee.  Off to a Solemn High Mass at the Seminary, so high several doctors were on stand-by to cauterize noses as they bled!!!  Seriously though, it was a very beautiful liturgy but many of the priests here looked a little shell shocked.  There was a good deal of Gregorian Chanting taken from the Solemnes Monks in France.  A good deal of Latin too and lots of holy smoke.  With nearly 50 priests in the Sanctuary and 250 students in the Chapel plus guests.  Then we had a formal brunch, the reflectory has no A/C so it was a little warm with a suite on. Afterwards I went on a 5 hour walk around the City from the Giancolo to the Piazza Navona to the Ars Pace to Piazza Popolo (where the dogs were attending Mass with their owners) to the Spanish Steps to the Piazza Republica to Santa Maria Maggiore to San Giovanni Laterno to the Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) to the Roman Forum to Ponte Garibaldi crossing the Tiber River and making my assent through the Trastevere to the Giancolo and finally the Casa!  Here are a couple of pictures.

Roman Dawn

A Lovely Street Shrine to Mary

My Cathedral - San Giovanni (St. John) - actually the Pope's Cathedral

The Main Altar, above it are relics of St. Peter and Paul in the "cage"

The Cathedra - the Pope's Chair as Bishop of Rome

The man that put us Christian's on the Map, Constantine the Great in the Portico of S. Giovanni

The Flavian Amphitheater 

Bella Fiori (beautiful Flowers)

Classes start tomorrow - Translation: "The opportunity to study theology in Rome should be counted one of God's greatest gifts"  It sure is, Thank you Bishop O'Connell!!!!!!!