Day 3 - Friday, April 14
We started the day by walking a short distance from our hotel to the Basilica of Saint Pudentiana. From there, we walked about 45 minutes to St. Peter's Basilica. We waited in the long line to get into the basilica, explored for a while and then headed around the back of the basilica to get in line for the Scavi tour. After the tour, we walked to the Church of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage and then walked back to the hotel.
Where We Went
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Basilica of St. Pudentiana
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St. Peter's Basilica & St. Peter's Tomb
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Church of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage
1. The Basilica of Saint Pudentiana
Italian: Santa Pudenziana
An extraordinary degree of interest attaches to this church. Originally the house or senatorial palace of Pudens, where St. Peter lived and exercised his sacred office for several years, it was converted into an oratory by Pope St. Pius I, about the year 145. The tradition connecting it with St. Peter dates at least from the fourth century, and his presence and ministry within its walls justly entitle it to be regarded as the Cradle of the Western Church.
Under the high altar are preserved vases, found by Pope Paschal I in the tombs of SS. Praxedes and Pudentiana, and believed to have been used by them to collect the blood of martyrs.
Notable relics in this basilica
The tombs of SS. Praxedes and Pudentiana, a portion of the wooden portable altar upon which St. Peter offered the adorable Sacrifice whilst he lived in the house of Pudens.
Father Jenkins explains how St. Peter & Paul were associated with this basilica.
Exterior of the basilica
Interior of the basilica & beautiful mosaics
2. St. Peter's Basilica
Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano
Architecture, sculpture, and painting, represented by some of the mightiest geniuses the world has ever seen, have done their utmost to make St. Peter's a worthy house of God, a temple of unrivalled splendour. On advancing up the navel under an arcade of stupendous arches, one is impressed by the beauty of variegated marbles underfoot, the splendour of the golden vault high overhead, the lofty Corinthian pilasters on either side, the richly- gilded entablature, the colossal statues of saints, founders of Religious Orders, the glowing mosaics above the altars.
Everything is rich, colossal, impressive, overpowering; the eye is bewildered at this vision of splendour seen through the sunlit atmosphere and gazes in wonder at the glorious lines of arch and roof that follow on and on to the distant choir. At certain hours of the day, the brilliancy is wonderful, all the marbles and sculptures seem as fresh and new as though they had only just left the workmen's hands, and the atmosphere beneath the dome and in the choir seems laden with a mist of gold.
The nave is 613 feet long, 81 feet wide, and 133 feet high; the transept is 449 feet long. The dome towers to a height of 448 feet above the pavement, with a diameter in the interior of 139 feet 9 inches, a trifle less than that of the Pantheon. Looking up at the mosaic pictures of the four Evangelists on the spandrels of the dome, notice the pen in St. Luke's hand; it seems of ordinary size, yet its length is about eight feet.
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The great Obelisk in the centre of the piazza is the one referred to above as formerly occupying the centre of the spina or middle line of Nero's circus, close to the spot where St. Peter is said to have been martyred. It is one of the most remarkable monuments of antiquity in Rome, and one of the most venerable, because of the crowds of martyrs who suffered near it in the persecution of Nero.
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So much more could be said about this magnificent basilica! The book "Pilgrim Walks in Rome" contains much more history and information.
Notable relics in this basilica
The body of St. Peter the Apostle, the bodies of his first successors, SS. Linus, Cletus or Anacletus, Evaristus, Sixtus, Telesphorus, Hyginus, Pius, Eleutherius, and Victor, all martyred for the faith. Somewhere in or near the basilica are said to be the remains of the first Christians cruelly put to death by Nero, whose number is known to God alone.
Under the side altars are the bodies of many great saints, viz., SS. Simon and Jude, Apostles, St. Leo I, St. Leo III, St. Leo IV, St. Boniface IV, St. Gregory the Great, St. Fabian, St. Sixtus II, and twenty- three other canonized Popes; also St. John Chrysostom, SS. Processus and Martinian, St. Petronilla Aurelia, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and many others.
The head of St. Andrew the Apostle, solemnly translated by Pius II in 1462 from S. Maria del Popolo is also preserved here; as are the heads of St. Luke the Evangelist, St. Sebastian, and St. Damasus. The head of St. Laurence, martyr, is reverenced on the altar within the chapel of the relics.
The three Greater Relics of the Passion are also kept here: The Volto Santo, or Veil of St. Veronica, The Sacred Lance, and a large Relic of the True Cross.
St. Peter's Basilica
Interior of St. Peter's Basilica
Praying in front of St. Pius X
Pieta of Michelangelo
Obelisk that St. Peter saw before his martyrdom
3. Saint Peter's Tomb
The first thought of every Catholic pilgrim in Rome naturally turns to St. Peter's tomb, and only when he is kneeling beneath Michael Angelo's wondrous dome, and looking down into the oval space in front of the high altar, does he realize that he has reached the goal of his pilgrimage.
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In front are two brass statues of SS. Peter and Paul guarding the bronze doors that conceal a niche, the grated floor of which stands immediately over the Apostle's tomb.
As we kneel in front of this holy spot, illumined by the mysterious splendor that streams from above, a feeling of intense awe overpowers every other emotion; we realize the dread majesty of the place. “This is truly the House of God and the Gate of Heaven.” How many saints have knelt here since the dawn of Christianity! Here St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Philip Neri, St. Dominic, and others prayed in ecstasy and bedewed the ground with their tears. Here kings and emperors have come to lay their homage and even their crowns at St. Peter's feet. Here in the dark days of persecution, both Pontiffs and the faithful came to implore St. Peter's help and protection. Here in the present troubles of the Church, countless pilgrims have bent down, while from countless hearts the prayer has gone up to Heaven, that God would "preserve the Holy Father and give him life, and make him blessed upon earth, and not deliver him up to the will of his enemies".
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Father Jenkins talks about seeing the tomb of St Peter on What Catholics Believe. Watch the full episode on YouTube
Illustration depicting the history & building around the tomb of St. Peter. The Scavi tour explains all of this in detail while also allowing us to get even closer to the tomb of St. Peter.
Looking into St. Peter's tomb
4. Church of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage
Italian: Chiesa Sacro Cuore del Suffragio
The church was built for the Association of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the French Bishop of Marseille. This confraternity was founded by Victor Jouet, a French priest from the same city, who had been impressed by a miracle which had allegedly occurred on the site of the present church.
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A small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary had burned down in 1894, and the only item to survive was a fragment of a mural or a scorch mark (sources differ on this point), showing the face of a soul in Purgatory.
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The purpose of the church and the association is to give aid to the souls in Purgatory.
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Source: https://romanchurches.fandom.com/wiki/Sacro_Cuore_del_Suffragio
ICA Student Choir Sings Christus factus est in the Sacro Cuore del Suffragio (Sacred Heart of the Suffrage) in Rome, Italy.
Exterior of the church
Interior of the church
