Rome – Day 1: Not quite out of the way Churches
The usual breakfast. The Roman cornetto (roll) is not duplicated anywhere else.
Click the wavy flag to help me buy breakfast tomorrow, too! (And many thanks to those who have donated. Mass on Friday for my benefactors.)
We went to see three churches my travel friends hadn’t seen.
First, San Francesco a Ripa, in Trastevere.
It is a nice little church in the clutches of Franciscans.
Here you find the tomb of Bl. Ludovica Albertoni, with a sculpture by Bernini. It is reminiscent of the more famous marble of St. Teresa in ecstasy on the other side of town.
And a pic from my camera, rather than from my phone. I’m try to learn this new camera. It is small and has a 40x optical zoom. The format of the photos is huge, however, and it takes a couple steps to get them into the blog, so I’ll have to figure out a good method to make the transfer. But this, in relatively low light and from a distance is a pretty good image.
Bernini… incomparable. If you are looking for a fascinating read… or if you are in Rome or are coming to Rome, you must dig into The Genius in the Design: Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed Rome. It’s riveting and it will change the way you view and visit Rome.
Again, every priest needs a pulpit like this.
And that is how you get into it!
Off to nearby Santa Maria dell’Orto. This was/is a “university” church. Various “colleges” (of tradesmen) got together to build the church where a chapel had been, set up around a miraculous image of Mary that was in the garden of …. a gardener, I think. Memory is fuzzy. Anyway, this was doubtlessly one of the wealthiest churches in Rome in its heyday.
Here is the chapel of my favorite among the guilds represented.
The “Vermicellari” or the “Pasta Makers”!
Then to tiny and ancient San Benedetto in Piscinula.
This was built where the house of the ancient Patrician family the “Anicii” were: St. Benedict’s family. It was here, probably, that he sensed his vocation.
The church is mostly 13th c., but there are parts that go back to the 8th c.
And unusual depiction of Benedict as a young man.
One of the oldest of the ccsmatesque floors in Rome.
I’m not sure why they put mushrooms on my Saltimbocca, but it wasn’t bad.
A manhole cover that still shows the symbol of the fascist era. I hear that it may become the new logo of the Dems if Hillary is elected. Perhaps that’s just a rumor.
Er Belli!
The street where the main door of my seminary was is where Caesar was killed. There is an inscription.
And just around the corner, on the side of the building attached to the church Sant’Andrea della Valle is scratched graffiti from the time of the Sack of Rome. The dopes who did a cleaning of the facade sandblasted most of it off. At one point you could read dates. Very cool. Alas, hardly anything is visible.
And tucked away in the corner is one of the Talking Statues. This is Abbate Luigi. He has lost his head several times, but it usually returns.
On the facade of a nearby building some Latin in dactylic hexameter. Who can work it out?
Speaking of my seminary, my window was the open on to the right.
And, settling in for supper. We definitely did our 10K step today!
Griccia.
Scottditto.
So far so good.
In the coming day I have Mass in the evening at St. Trinità, a meeting with the Commandant of the Swiss Guard, and some clerical shopping.
