20 – Additions and Other Things

 - We are so close now that the 10-Day forcast for Rome reaches our first day there.  7 days 15 hours until the plane takes off. 

Sun
Dec 27            56° 42°10%
Partly Cloudy

This post will just be to update things and add anything I find between here and the the trip. 

It is also believed that a part of Matthew’s arm lies in Saint Mary Major, taken there probably as a gift by Pope Paul V (1605-1621).  I am going to look into this and see where it might be.

21 – Novean for our trip (Dec 18-Dec 26)

I am working on a novena for the trip.  It would start tomorrow, the 18th and end the 26th.  I am not sure if there is a procedure for writing prayers or if you need some special allowance to call it a novena, so Msgr if this is highly heretical, please let me know.  My [...]

19 – St. Paul Outside the Walls

St. Paul Outside the Walls is the fourth of the 4 Papal or Main Basilicas that we will see.  It is built over the place where St. Paul was beheaded.  St. Paul’s body was buried 2 miles away from teh place, but brought later to this church.  Just recently Pope Benedict has anoused eveidence which [...]

18 – Catacombs

We are going to celebrate Mass in the Catacombs.  This is a privelege that not many people get.  It is also something that was done by the very early Christians.  It is a misconception that they hid in the catacombs.  Everyone new that they were there and what they were.  This is where they celebrated [...]

17 – Walking Tour of Rome (Churches for Jan. 1st)

After the Dome, Msgr. wanted to take us on a walking tour to the southern regions of Rome, where the first Christians set up shop.  There is St. Maria in Trastevere, one of the oldest churches in Rome, and Santa Cecilia.
Santa Maria in Trastevere perhaps may be the first church in which Mass was openly [...]

16 – Roman Forum

I found this web-site which does a great job of letting you see what the Roman Forum looked like at its peak.  You will see the picture to the right of the forum and its different buildings.  Click on the buildings to get model pictures of what things looked like.   

Click on the little camera icons and it will [...]

15 – Walking Tour of Rome (3 Churches for Dec. 31st)

Entry from Narrative Schedule – “We are scheduled to have Mass at 9:00 at the Church of the Holy Cross.  It is not in the study guide yet but I will post about it soon.  After Mass we will go to St. Clemente, also not in the guide yet.  Then St. Pietro Vincoli, not in guide, and eventually make [...]

14 – Walking Tour of Rome (after Scavi Tour – Dec. 30th)

From the Narrative Schedule (After the Scavi Tour Msgr. will take us on a tour of some of the sites of Rome.  This little hike will take us by the Castle Angelo, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and Piazza Navona.  It will be dusk or dark for most of the hike, but the places we are going will be well lit and [...]

13 – Rough Schedule for Rome Trip as of Today (10-29)

Rough Schedule for Rome Trip as of Today (10-29)

12 – Flight Information

Here are several links to give you information on flying and our flights.  Also, a couple of google map links to get you to O’Hare. (one with tolls one without.)  It is a very good idea to work out some type of car pooling to get there and back.  Michelle and I are probably going to [...]

11 – Pantheon

Here is the Rick Steve’s audio guide and the map he gives.
The Pantheon is a engenering marvel.  It is exactly as tall as it is wide.  It is almost 2,000 years old, you don’t get a sence of that until you go to the Roman Forum and see that it is just the remains of what [...]

10 – St. Mary Majors

1-10 of the Study Guides are up for the Romers. Click on the Study Guides under the Resources tab.

9 – St. John Lateran

First some updates on some things I found-
http://podcasts.ricksteves.com/walkingtours/SistineChapel_Mp3.zip
Here is a link to a Rick Steves tour of the Sistine Chapel.  I listened to the whole thing and it is a great intro to what you will be seeing.  Follow along by going to these image links.  I saved the images to my computer that way [...]

8 – Rest of Assisi (cont.)

Exiting the Porta Nuova, we will head down to St. Damiano.  This is where the crucifix that spoke to St. Francis hung when it did speak to him.  They have a replica hanging roughly where it would have been.  This is the convent where St. Clare and her followers stayed.  2 stories that took place here [...]

7 – Rest of Assisi

Here is a great map of Assisi showing the different attractions that we will see.  I will take this post to do a walk through, following a path that leaves the Basilica, heads toward St. Clare’s, down to St. Damiano, (not on the map) back up through town to the Rocca Maggiore (Castle).  That is [...]

6 – St. Mary of the Angels

This will not be quite as exciting as it could have been.  We will be seeing the Porziuncola, (pronunciation)which is what we would have had a replica of in our new church.  But that is no longer part of the construction plan.  There is one replica at Steubenville, so you can ask Jim about that one, [...]

5 – St. Francis Basilica

St. Francis Basilica is a Church, that is actually two churches, one on top of the other.  The picture is from the top church.  There is a lot of art on all the walls.  When we were there we rented the audio tours and listened to them as we walked around.  They were a little [...]

4 – Vatican Museum

The Vatican Museum is huge.  I put a few links at the bottom to give you places to go to look for information.  It is really something where it helps to have an idea of what you would like to see before getting there.  It is so big and we usually are limited on time.  [...]

3 – St. Peter’s – Dome

The Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.  320 steps to the top of the dome.  I didn’t count, I got that from the web-site.  A couple of things I think are interesting.  The first section of steps are very long steps.  There is a step up and then 5-10 feet before the next step up.  This [...]

2 – St. Peter’s

So, we will start with St. Peter’s.  There are multiple parts to St. Peter’s and to the Vatican in general, and we will try to go a section at a time.  The first thing we will get to is St. Peter’s Square or Plaza.  First, it is not a square; it is an ellipse, or [...]

1 – Rome/Assisi Study Guide

I just got an e-mail from Msgr.  He has not worked out the arrangements for the plane tickets yet so our itinerary is not set.  That is what I made the last study guide based on.  So, I will start this one a little differently.  Here is a list of things we COULD see on [...]

Rome/Assisi Study Guide

The Study Guide is up and on its way. Watch out for updates and news on the Rome trip. Follow along and learn new and interesting things about Assisi and Rome.