Brideday

Oh, sorry I meant Friday!  Well, Friday is Bride day here in Rome.  This afternoon I went to the Church of St. Barnabas, where as it says over the main door 'Corpus', meaning his body is in the Church.  I have come by this Church several times, it is usually locked.   But today there was a wedding in the afternoon and it was open. The Church is located on an island in the middle of the Tiber River called the Isola Tiberina.  The legend says that the Roman's had a plague and sent Tireme's (small fast ships) to Greece to consult god Aesulapius and returned with one of the sacred snakes (his symbol, you see it on a doctors emblems).   The snake escaped the Tireme and swam onto this island.  This was a sign from the god Aesulapius to build his temple there.  Since they travel in the Tireme, a swift boat, they eventually made the island in the shape of this boat, still visible today.  Eventually Christians built a hospital on the Island for plague victims associated with St. Camillus.  This is the happy couple, what you do not see are hordes of tourists snapping pictures in the back of the  Church, respectfully I might add!

Wedding at St. Barnabas

 The wedding was in the afternoon so I am ahead of myself on the narrative.  We started our day at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.  This Church was built by St. Helena the mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great.  She was married to one of the Co-Emperors at a time when the penalty for being a Christian in the empire was death.  Her husband basically ignored the fact she was a devote and zealous Catholic.  Her son did not, she persuaded sonny boy to abolish the death penalty for Christians, which of course he did.  That not being enough, she was an Italian mother after all, she also wanted a few Basilica's built.  She also wanted a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which he paid for...along with quite few basilica's there and in Rome.  You will note the name of the Church below is "The Holy Cross "IN" Jerusalem.  That is on purpose because St. Helena had truckloads of earth moved from Jerusalem to Rome and this Church was built on that soil from Jerusalem, therefore it is built "IN" Jerusalem or better put "ON" Jerusalem. Now you know why her son did not bother to argue with Mommy!!! She then brought back all the Relics of the Passion preserved by the Church of Jerusalem.  The True Cross, the Plaque from the Cross, two thorns from the Crown of thorns, etc.

18th Century Facade of the Church Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

 I keep meaning to take some photos of the beautiful floors found in these ancient Churches.  Though the buildings themselves have usually undergone several renovations over 1,700 years the floors seem to survive.  They are found in all the ancient Churches here and are quite intricate and lovely, called Cosmedian floors.  You can tell the importance of an ancient Church by the presence and quantity of Porphyry (poor-for-ree) granite.  This is a purple granite reserved to the Emperor and Imperial Use. The   tombs of St. Helena and her daughter were made out of single blocks of Porphyry and can be seen in the Vatican Museums. It is a very dense and expensive stone from Africa.

Cosmedian floor Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

Interior of the upper Church

chapel of the relics of the passion

upper part of the relic case, the cross contains the true cross.

shot of the Chapel of the Relics

 The Relics were kept in the Crypt Chapel but Bl. John Paul II had them moved into a new Chapel off the main altar for the Great Jubilee year 2000.  In the Crypt is this statue of St. Helena depicting the moment she discovered the True Cross in Jerusalem.  Though Constantine the Great is credited with freeing Christianity and making it the official religion of the Empire, in truth it was because of this woman, this mother's, strong devote passionate unyielding faith!!  She moved heaven and literally earth in the case of this Church!  She was quite a woman.

St. Helena

mosaic ceiling of the Crypt Chapel of St. Helena

 After Santa Croce we then went for our tour of St. John Lateran led by Liz Lev.  For my shoe hounds out there, Liz wore these designer shoes with a cross similar to a Jerusalem Cross.  Nice touch Liz!

Liz Lev's Shoes for Lateran Tour

 We first had Mass in the largest of several Chapels of the Baptistry of St. John Lateran.  Now, notice there are two Porphyry columns behind the baptismal font, in fact they line the room!  Probably taken from an imperial temple, St. Helena had style too.  The massive trophy in the center is a later addition to the baptistry, the entire floor it sits on was once flooded for baptisms, this font was added when only babies were baptised.  This font (the floor area, not the trophy) is where Constantine the Great received Holy Baptism, causing his mother's heart to swell with joy.  It was the only font in the City until the 19th Century because St. John's is the Cathedral and only place baptisms were permitted during most of the Christian Era.   The Lateran was built by Constantine the Great, at his mom's request of course.  The land and palace were donated by the Laterani Family of Rome, a Patrician family who daughter was Fausta Laterani, the wife of Constantine the Great.  It was, in ancient times, referred to as the "Domus Faustae".  She must have had good relations with her mother-in-law to have donated the land where Helena wanted the Church built!!!  Or she knew not to get between and Italian mother and her son!!!  The Church is the Mother Church of Rome and considered the mother Church of all the World, as is inscribed over the lintel; "Omnium urbis et orbis eccesiarum mater, et caput.

Baptismal Font and Baptistry of St. John Lateran

 My patron saint, also patron of the Cathedral, St. John the Evangelist with his symbol the Eagle.  The main aisle is lined with these massive statues of the 12 Apostles.  Only one protrudes beyond the niche, that one is St. Thomas.  St. Thomas hand extends beyond the niche and points to the Altar.  This finger directs worshippers to believe, this is the finger than was put into the side of the Resurrected Lord.  Thus the doubter points to the fellow Christian to believe without proof.

Statue of St. John the Evangelist, one of the Patrons of the Cathedral.

 I have shown pictures of St. John Lateran in previous posts but not this particular one.  This is the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.  It carries a lot of symbolism, as does much of the art in Rome.  It is built in the style of a Roman Temple but over it is the One God Jesus Christ in Resurrection.  Over the Marble Pediment you can see a bronze reproduction of Leonardo Da Vinci's last supper, it is a reliquary and behind it is a fragment of the table of the Last Supper, brought over by you-know-who, St. Helena!  The 4 Bronze Pillars you see are from the Roman Pagan Temple of Jupiter "Optimus Primus", First and Best among the gods, Rome's favorite god.  So Christ triumph's over paganism and He is Optimus Primus, First and Best.  Great Stuff!

Optimus Primus Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament

I end today's post with a fun little trivia question.  What strange thing did Father see today in Rome???  Everyday brings a new surprise, what was today's?  Was it:

1. A man carrying a large orange Iguana?
2. A man caressing a woman from her neck, to breast plate to (below the breast plate) in public?
3. A man washing his Jack Russell Terrier's butt in a fountain after it left a package on the lawn of a Church?
4. Two beggar women begging from each other, fighting over territory, then going for a smoke break?
5.  A beggar with a sign saying "this is a hard job and very boring so give me some cash to make my day interesting"?
6. All of the Above?

If you guessed #6 'All of the above' you would be correct. The strangest was having 33 priests watching an elderly gentleman wash his Jack Russell's behind from a public fountain after the dog left a package "IN" Jerusalem!!  And yes, though he washed the dogs hind quarters rather thoroughly, he did not wash his own hands after the dasterdly deed.

In the late afternoon I took the long hike to the National Food Festival (nice lead in aye?) taking place here in Rome this weekend.  It is a celebration of all the regions of Italy and their food products.  They gave out free samples of regional cheeses, dried cured meats, bread, olive oil, Balsamic, olives, dips, jellies, cookies etc.  Small little morsels but delicious non-the-less.  The cheeses were fabulous.  When I was exiting I strolled down a little row that only had 6 stalls and was under traveled by the mob. My choice of the 'path not taken' was a good one, as I passed a booth a man jumped out and gave me a mozzarella buffolo the size of a plum on a stick!  Yummy!!!