Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization

Yesterday we had the privilege and honor of visiting the Office of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the Evangelization.  Fr. Geno Sylva was our presenter and he is the English language representative for this council.  There are three responsibilities of the office.  First, to promote the new evangelization.  Second, to plan for, promote and execute the Jubilee Year celebrations.  Third, to approve catechetical texts and to help Dioceses in planning for and implementing catechesis.

Fr. Geno told us of the Pope's thinking regarding the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  Some of the highlights include:

• The Pope will perform an act of mercy each month for the next year with the hope that priests and parishes throughout the world will do the same.
• Holy doors will be designated in every diocese throughout the world.
• The Vatican will help to build a new Cathedral in Uganda and help to establish an orphanage so that the effects of the Holy Year will be lasting.
• Priests delegated as "missionaries of mercy" will gather in Rome and be trained to offer days of reflections on mercy for parish communities and be available for confessions.

He also explained a lot about the logo for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  It was designed by an iconographer and depicts the lost sheep gathered into the arms of the shepherd.  There are only 3 eyes with one middle eye shared between the two.  When we are able to care for one another with mercy and compassion, we share a common vision to see things together.  The almond shape is significant in iconography and the colors indicate a move from darkness into the light.

Fr. Sylva indicated the importance of every Catholic to be a "protagonist" in helping the Gospel to be preached to all ends of the earth.

St. Paul Basilica - Outside the Walls

Today was our final day with Liz Lev, professor of Art History for the Gregorian University as well as Duquesne.  I've been to many visits to this famous Basilica but she helps me to see things in a way I've never seen before.

St. Paul's was built originally in the 1500's as the largest church in the world.  It was built to honor the memory of St. Paul, whose remains are buried there.  Paul returns after his shipwreck in Malta. He and St. Peter were to be killed on the very same day.

Legend has it that Paul was taken to Tres Fontaine where he was beheaded.  There is a story told about a follower of his who was weeping knowing that Paul was to be taken to be executed.  He asks her for her scarf to cover his eyes as he's being killed.  Legend has it that his head bounced 3 times which is where we get the name, "Tres Fontaine," (the three fountains).  Paul's body was placed into a mass grave with the scarf.  When the woman and her family found the scarf still wrapped around Paul's head, they knew they had discovered his body and placed it into their family grave.

In 1823 a worker inside the basilica left an ember burning.  Soon the entire roof was inflamed and substantially destroyed the interior of the building.  In 1823 Napoleon had just succeeded in raiding Italy and Rome was bankrupt.  Leo XIII and Gregory XVI asked the faithful for donations. Successful in their campaign, they finished restoring the basilica in 1854 but made it spectacular.

The basilica is located at the intersection of two major streets.  It rises above the skyline and greets travelers from great distance.  The courtyard is spectacular.  It prepares you mentally from the travel to come to a place of celestial peace.  The statue of Paul dominates the courtyard.  He appears with a sword in hand - a reminder of his journeys as defender of the faith.

The interior of St. Paul's has always impressed me and today I discovered why.  You enter in and

begin to realize just how important space is.  Unlike the pagan Roman temples, here is where humanity and divinity meet.  In the temple sacrifices to the gods were made outside the sanctuary.  In the Christian churches, you are drawn upward to meet God and God comes down to earth to be one with us.  Unlike the temples, there is no separation between heaven and earth.  You are drawn into something deeper and richer - into the mystery and the presence of God.

Unlike pagan temples, Christians wanted to incorporate light into their worship spaces.  We move out of the shadows and into the light.  The light in this basilica "beams" into the church from heaven above.  The nave of the church is a reminder that we are all in this "boat" together.   The very architecture of the basilica explains who God is and who we are.

A unique aspect of this Basilica are the medallions of all 266 popes since Peter onward.  The mosaic lab at the Vatican (since 1565) designed each of these medallions.  An interesting story is told about Pope Francis.  He was announced as Holy Father in March but the medallion did not get placed into St. Paul's until December, 2013.  He didn't want to sit for his official photo shoot and this is what they use to create the mosaic.  He finally sat for the photo in October and then announced he wanted the medallion to be in place by December.  Two workers spent months on the design and it is truly spectacular.  The red of the pope's vestment come from some of the oldest stone in the mosaic lab dating back to the 1500's.  Looking at the mosaic, you could swear it was a photograph - it's that realistic!

The canopy above the main altar is remarkable.  Anolfo Dicambrio created it around the Jubilee Year of 1300.  It, obviously, survived the fire.  The canopy has multiple purposes.  First, it protects the Eucharist from dust and debris.  These ceilings are hundreds of years old and in constant need of cleaning and restoration.  Second, it signifies the meeting of heaven and earth.  God comes down from heaven onto the altar in the Eucharist.  This canopy utilizes heavy marble in such a way as to appear airy and light.  DiCambrio depicts prophets, angels, Adam and Eve all above the altar to indicate all above the Eucharistic table.

The beautiful mosaic in the apse is a Greek design.  Jesus appears more serene and fair-skinned than
in usual depictions.  The apostles surround him.   There was tremendous comfort and strength praying before this magnificent icon.

Two more noteworthy elements of the basilica.  The Eucharistic chapel has a cross before which St. Bridget of Sweden prayed.  She came to visit the pope to ask for his permission to begin a new religious community.  He was not in Rome so she came to St. Paul's to pray.  She did so before this crucifix and, from the cross, Jesus spoke to her affirming the choice to move forward with the new community.  Also, Ignatius prayed here as well before relics now on the main altar.  It was here that he and his followers informally began what is known today as the Jesuit community.

Finally, the tomb of St. Paul is below the main altar under the canopy.  There is a remnant of the chain which bound him and his tomb is below that.  A few years ago they placed a fiber optic camera into the tomb and discovered bone matter, a purple cloth and gold sequin.  These indicated that early Christians wrapped Paul's remains with the color of dignity and royalty.  The same were found in St. Peter's tomb at the Vatican.

Peter and Paul are often pictured together.  Romans loved to do this because it also reminded them that their city was founded by two brothers, Remus and Romulus.  Peter and Paul are seen as brother sin the faith who were killed on the very same da

The Rynek and the Oskar Schindler Museum

Today I had the privilege of visiting two museums here in Krakow.  And . . . it snowed here all day!!!  I guess God is preparing me for the Cleveland winter! :)

The Rynek Museum is underground and was just completed in 2010.  It's a fascinating journey from

the beginning of recorded history for Krakow (around the 1100's) and up to the present day.  The whole Krakow center was torn up for the years it was being constructed.  Now, it's a fascinating journey from cemetery to the first market to the present day plaza.  It showed skeletons, blacksmith tools, leather shoes, jewelry and the historical story of Krakow was told through the great use of technology.  It was amazing and took more than 2 hours to see everything there.  The videos were superbly narrated by a historian of Krakow.  More than 6 small theaters tell the story of history from the earliest recorded notes to the building of the Rynek.  Krakow was a major trade route from the East to the West and many travelers ventured through it.

The history of the Nazi invasion was also fascinating.  Begun in 1939 the Germans utilized Krakow as a fortress and confiscated many of the beautiful works of art that were housed here.  They dis-
assembled the major altarpiece at St. Mary Basilica carved by artist Veit Stoss.  It took him 12 years to carve and paint the beautiful figures which were taken down by the Nazis and warehoused somewhere in Nuremberg.  When they discovered the pieces, they were moldy and in disarray.  It took Veit two additional years to re-figure the magnificent triptych piece over the main altar in this dramatic and beautiful basilica.

The second Museum I visited today is in the Jewish ghetto of Krakow, a place called Kazmirez.  Schindler, as you may know from the movie, "Schindler's List," employed many Jews at his ceramics factory just outside of Old Town.  But, furthermore, he fed them well and provided medical care at a time when Jews were simply slaves of the Nazi regime.  He saved many lives and is heralded as a hero to the Jewish people.  He was able to straddle between the Jews he hoped to save and the Nazis.  Arrested several times, he was never tried and found a way always to get out of the worst situations.

The Sound of Music - Mass at the SND Motherhouse in Rome

On Sunday, October 4th (the feast of St. Francis of Assisi) we had the privilege and honor of celebrating with the Sisters of Notre Dame at their mother house in Rome.  It was an honor to pray and sing with these wonderful sisters from around the world.

Here are a few pictures of the event but if you'd like to see more, go to their website by Clicking Here.

The Oldest Pharmacy in the West - Literally!

Our trip to Trastevere continued to the oldest pharmacy in the Western world.  It was started in the year 1597 when Carmelites who served as doctors and nurses would invent treatments for various maladies such as hypertension, hysteria and other maladies.  The pharmacy officially closed in 1954 but served as the Pharmacy of the Popes for many years.  People would come here to get medical advice, find cures for what ailed them and to make appointments to see doctors in the area.  As a part of the Carmelite rule for this monastery, they grew herbs for medicines.  They culitivated plants, researched and taught in a school for both the religious and the laity.  The sales room hasn't changed since 1700.  A portrait of St. Theresa of Avila, foundress of the order, is hung in the sales room.  One of their most famous medicines was a snake venom antidote.  It was made up of 57 different things including the flesh of a male viper.  Don't ask me how they obtained it!!!

There is a crank telephone there as well as glass jars, mortars, pestles, scales and drawers with doctors names on them.  Also, a second room had wooden cabinets with painted portraits of families who were wealthy enough to have their own medicine cabinets in the pharmacy.  One drawer even had some marijuana still in it.  A large marble pot still held a mixture of medicine that was created in the 1950's and was made to last for 60 years!!!!


The lab had cauldrons, presses, centrifuges, bottlers and all kinds of strange instruments - including one for forming pills.  Lots of contraptions back then to create medicines that would be responsible for healing and giving comfort to people.  Not surprising that the church had a hand in it!  When the cost of keeping the pharmacy up and running became too much, the pharmacy closed.  But the role the church continues to play in the healing of the sick remains.

Santa Maria in Trastevere

The Basilica of St. Mary in Trastevere is a wonderful treasure. There has been a church on this land since the year 340 - making it one of the oldest churches in all of Rome.  The mosaics here are truly incredible and we were blessed to have retired Cardinal Stafford (Denver, Memphis, Baltimore) and he was a humble and inspired presenter.  There is an Icon of the Blessed Mother in this church that is considered the oldest icon of Mary in the West.

Trastevere is the area of Rome where Jewish settlers would come from the Middle East.  The cardinal believes that the letter to the Romans may have been read, for the very first time, right on this spot. There is a hill above Trastevere where oil began to follow down hill in 38 B.C.  It was believed that this place was holy, sacred and was a prophecy in action.

The beautiful mosaics depict the life of Mary.  We find her distinctive face in a 7th century icon where Mary is seated with Christ.  This face of Mary is repeated in the mosaics above the altar.  They show scenes from the life of Mary.

We celebrated Mass at the main altar here which I had never experienced before.  Cardinal Stafford presided and one of the priests on sabbatical, Fr. John Vien, preached.

Oh, and by the way, we saw the right foot of St. Therese of Avila encased in a glass reliquary.  I know - a pun is in order but I'm one step ahead of you!!!

The Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel like I've never seen it before!

On September 30th Liz Lev directed us on a tour through the Vatican Museums.  Though I had been to the museum many times before, I never truly appreciated the history and development of Michelangelo's craft and theological mindset when sculpting and painting.  We began in the Etruscan room with significant B.C. sarcophagi with Old Testament figures.  Jonah was a hugely influential figure in the early Christian church.  They believed he was a pre-figure of Christ.  He was in the belly of the whale for 3 days.  Christ was in the tomb for 3 days.  He was expelled onto Ninevah and the people repented.  Christ was resurrected from the dead and people believed.  So, when we began there it was much easier to see how the figure of Jonah became the largest figure painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Also, we begin to see what a tremendous artistic genius Michelangelo was and how it helped develop the talent and the abilities of other painters such as Raphael.  When Raphael was doing his work on the Borgia apartments, Michelangelo was sculpting and painting for St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.  When he noted the skill and expertise of Michelangelo he knew he had to step up a notch or two and improve his abilities.  His earlier work is significantly different than his later pieces simply because he now had competition for commissions and knew that it would be difficult to match the genius of Michelangelo.

Raphael's work reveals the power of light.  In the Stanza do Elidoro he paints with such beauty and utilizes four kinds of light in his work.  It's amazing to see the transition from a great painter to an
exceptional one.  In his piece, with St. Leo the Great doing battle with Attila the Hun Raphael uses stunning imagery and incorporates even the Colosseum's image in the background.  You can see the battle between evil and good, light and darkness on opposite sides of the piece.  The power of evil is depicted in the muscular stance of the horse while the power and light from Leo is coming from the angels and heaven above.

Of course the Sistine Chapel was a highlight at the end of our tour but, sadly, there were so many

people and noise and guards yelling, "Silenzio, Silenzio" that it deflates the experience a bit.  I can just imagine the College of Cardinals gathered in that prayerful space discerning the next pope.  If there is anyplace where heaven touches earth it certainly is in this magnificent depiction of the creation of man, the Last Judgment and the story of the flood.  Ironically Michelangelo was commissioned to paint Christ and the twelve apostles.  Being the over-achiever that he was, he ended up painting over 300 figures on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.  It took him four years to complete the work which has been left to humanity as a gift to the achievement of what God can accomplish through his greatest creation.