Sunday, October 12
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| VATICAN CITY |
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| We are having our coffee at Barocci Home. It's 7.38 am. |
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| We are going to Vatican City today. |
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| So this morning, I am in the living room. Bryan is taking his shower. I hear somebody in the kitchen. I go out to say hi. Meet Janice Ling. She is from Canada. East Malaysian. Catholic. She says, the day before (on Saturday), she was at St Peter's Square she attended mass, rosary session and managed to take a video of the Pope. The Pope? What? The Pope was there yesterday? Aww mann. How did I not know this? I ask her if she minds sharing her videos that she took of the Pope. She doesn't. I give her my number and she forwards some videos. (I have yet to view them for reasons that will be apparent later.) Janice says further, she is hurrying to attend the 10.30am mass this Sunday morning at St Peter's Square. She mentions she has to get there early to get a seat. Ohh. There's a mass there at 10.30am today? What? When were we (Bryan and myself) gonna hear about that? Tomorrow? I waste no time. I hurry over to the bathroom and knock urgently ... but softly ... on the bathroom door. Bryan comes out. "There's a mass at 10.30am at St Peter's. We have to go now!" I feel quite proud that I could contribute some important information towards our itinerary that morning ... which is just simply : "Visit St Peter's Square." We hurry to the train station. We get our tickets. Board the train. Only 6 stops away. We get off at Ottavanio metro stop - which is the closest station to St Peter's Square. I glance at my handphone. It is 8.30am. This is our first time in Rome, let alone, Ottavanio underground. We are not sure which EXIT to take. There are several tunnels to go out from. |
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| (8.31am) Bryan takes notice of a group of nuns who are walking ahead of us. He says to me, "Follow the nuns. They must be going for the mass." |
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| Ahh. Si. Good idea. |
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| We follow ... |
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| closely ... |
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| behind. |
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| Yes, we are still following the nuns. |
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| Hurry up. |
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| We must ... |
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| stay close ... |
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| to the nuns. |
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| Must not lose sight of them. |
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| I didn't ... |
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| have time ... |
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| to look at ... |
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| the surrounding area. |
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| By this time, I had befriended a young nun. Second from the left. Wearing glasses. |
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| She is walking by my side. I take the opportunity to ask, "Excuse me, Sister, are you going for the 10.30am mass at St Peter's Square? She says yes, with a smile. |
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Encouraged by her kind response, I add, "We are not sure where to go. We are just following you." Attempt to laugh here. She says, "Oh. Come. Follow me." She made sure I am right behind her at all material times. She would turn back to check on us as we are walking towards St Peter's Square. |
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| Look at the crowd forming on the right lane. We are on the left. Bryan is taking a photo to show that no line is forming behind us. People are probably thinking that, this is the religious group line. |
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| (Just before this photo was taken ...) At the first security check point, I am stopped from following the nuns. They let one batch go in and the next batch wait. I say to the security officer, "I'm with them (pointing to the nuns) ... Him too (pointing at Bryan) ..." The officer was like, Oh, okay ... and he let Bryan and myself through ... but stopped the handful of people who are behind us. |
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| That is such a privilege. We feel so important. |
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| I stay close ... |
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| ... to that nun. |
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| 8.52 am. |
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| There is a ... |
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| massive ... |
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| crowd that has gathered at the square. |
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| We are seated ... |
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| ... towards the back of St Peter's Square. I do not mind at all. I'm just glad that we are there ... and about to attend Holy Mass. How about that? That's Sister Reni Daimari, by the way. Extreme left. My angel-bodyguard in Vatican. Mother Mary must have sent her. I'm sure of it. |
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| These are her fellow-nuns, sitting behind us. |
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| Sister Reni and two others go to the washroom the moment we get our seats ... which is about at 9am. They only come back from the restroom at 10.48am. Yup. I checked the time. No typing error. There are only 6 toilets and the line is very long. Almost 2 hours, Sister Reni had to wait in line to use the washroom. |
The reason why I am sharing
that information,
about the sister being gone for so long,
is to show that
truly, this Sister Reni is sent to take
Bryan and myself to attend the Holy Mass.
She is not to entertain or chat with me.
I am left to focus
on God,
the Rosary,
the Pope
and on my purpose
of being in St Peter's.
She only comes back in the
middle of the Pope's homily.
By then, we are already
moulded into the tone and tune of
respecting each other's
quiet presence at St Peter's Square.
See how God works.
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| It is exhilarating ... |
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| just being a part of that big crowd. 9.03 am. |
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| This is St Peter's Basilica. |
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| The environment is positively high energy. |
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| Saw JESI ... big and loud in the midst of everything. |
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| I turn to my left and think to myself ... I might as well take a photo of this high tower. |
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| Ten minutes after I saw JESI, this sign came to sit near us. Haha. |
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So, while waiting for Mass to start, I find myself googling for Vatican schedule/news to see if there might be any other programs that we should be attending whilst we are in Rome. 9.24 am. That's when I stumble upon the above red notice. "Holy Mass presided over by Pope Leo X1V ..." Pause. What?! I give a yelp. Quickly, I show the notice to Bryan. Omg! "The Pope is gonna be here?" Really? Omg! Can someone confirm this? Bryan, having read the red news, says, "Yeah, looks like the Pope is coming." What! No way. Really? I honestly had no idea that the Pope is gonna be here at all since he had made an appearance at Mass the day before. I read the note again. Omg. I can't believe it. We are not even aware of this Mass in the first place. I notice the date and time right away. 12.10.2025 10.20 21.21.25 21 21.21.7 21 21.21.21.7 7 in the bible means completion or perfection. How perfect is the timing? |
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| The priests ... |
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| ... are coming out. |
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| Wow. So many of them. |
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| 9.50am. |
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| We say the Rosary. |
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| It is in Italian. |
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| We respond in ... |
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| ... our own language softly. |
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| Zooming in on the priests. |
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| The green shade on the left. |
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| Take a look at the ... |
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| statues ... (twice the height of a human). (See the camera man by the left statue.) |
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| all around the square. |
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| They are all unique and not at all identical but they are of the same height and width. How do artists of long ago even attempt this amazing craft just by natural sculpting. We are certainly in awe. |
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| Mass starts at 10.20am. Before Pope Leo appears, the voice over announces that pilgrims should not wave any banners or even clap. |
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| Not even clap? |
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| Awww. The Pope is so humble. |
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| This is the big screen I'm zooming in ... |
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| On stage. |
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| I am so impressed ... |
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| that ... |
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| an American Pope ... |
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| could conduct ... |
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| the whole Mass ... |
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| in Italian. |
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| He is like a small dot in this photo from where ... |
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| we are sitting. A dot ... ... but a very powerful one. |
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| Responsorial Psalm. This Priest has a loud, strong and a rich-operatic voice that looms boldly through the crystal-clear speakers. It is amazing to hear him. |
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| I find myself listening intently to every Italian word Pope Leo is delivering. He has a few pages of his homily written out ... (or maybe typed out, I can't be sure ...) from which he is reading aloud from. |
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| His message delivery is calm, steady, composed and exuded peace. His voice is firm, yet gentle. I whisper to Bryan, "The Pope has so much work to do. Look at him. He's doing everything. The others are just sitting down. and ... and ... doing nothing." |
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| Mass has come to an end. |
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| 12.02 pm. |
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| Sister Reni and her fellow nuns will be going back to their board. Two hours train ride, she says. I learn that Sister is from Assam, India, and is in Rome for her formation. She will be here for a year. She's 31 years old. |
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| I find myself telling her that "Mother Mary sent you to me." She smiles and speaks, "God uses people in his own way." I inform that I would send her the photos Bryan had taken of us. "What's your WhatsApp number?" I ask casually. Sister says, "I have no phone. We are not allowed to have phones." Huh. Imagine that. "How about your address? You're gonna be here for a year, right? I will send you the photos." I suggest eagerly. Yes, eager ... because I want to keep some kind of contact with this angel that God had sent us. Two angel-messengers are hand-delivered to us that morning. Clearly, those are divine intervention. Sister Reni asks me to write down my number and address instead. Looks like she can't be in contact with the outside world when she's in there doing her nun thing. Anyways ... I have the contact of Janice (the first messenger) when she shared her videos of the Pope. Ah. Now you understand why I have not viewed her videos. I did some recording of my own. Haha. Bryan's videos are much, much, much better. Mine will uh, challenge you ... Chuckle. Like ... What is that? Is there something there? Where is the Pope? Is that him? ... all the inspiration you need to still take a video when the focus-item is really, really tiny. Like a dot. It's the confidence. I learn that from Dylan. |
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| The crowd is slowly dispersing. |
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| Bryan says to let other people leave first. We are not in a rush. |
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| 12.15 pm. The Pope is on his popemobile. He is going around St Peter's Square greeting and giving his blessings to the crowd around him. Several parents lift their babies and young children up to the Pope for him to place his holy hands on them and bestow his blessings. |
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| May the record show that I was so very committed ... |
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| to capture a ... |
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| nice video of the Pope in his popemobile. |
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| The Pope is now doing his rounds. We are waiting for him to return this way. |
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| Wait. Don't take yet! Let the girl in black move away first. |
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| Okay. Now. Aiya. That man ... |
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| He's still there. Oh well, crop. |
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| I like that vibrant shade of pink on the right. |
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| The crowd is waiting patiently for Pope Leo to pass this way ... |
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| ... when he returns to the Basilica. |
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| While waiting for the Pope, Bryan takes a selfie here. |
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| Soon, a lady who is apparently watching us, kindly offers to take a photo for us. I honestly can't remember what she said, but I'm sure it is funny. |
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| She takes from near ... |
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| far ... |
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| ... back up ... |
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| zoom in. Her own words. How nice of her. |
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| We ... |
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| are ... |
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| waiting ... |
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| patiently for the Pope. |
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| 12.57 pm. This is the line going to ... |
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| St Peter's Basilica. Next thing on the agenda. |
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| We are ... |
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| following ... |
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| the crowd ... |
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| in to ... |
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| the ... |
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| Basilica. |
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| La Pieta by Michelangelo. |
Located to the right of the entrance.
The moment we enter the basilica,
we are immediately struck by
the massive scale of the interior
and its overwhelming and opulent
decorations. The enormous space and
its grandeur, the luxurious and elaborate
decorations on each stunning works of art
at every corner of the basilica,
including its spectacular rooftop ceiling,
leave us amazed and in complete wonderment.
One of Michelangelo's first major works
was his Pieta,
which he carved from a solid block
of Carrara marble in 1500
when he was 23 years old.
Pieta refers to the Italian word
for pity or compassion.
It can also mean duty or devotion.
It has been said that anything constructed
by the hands of Michelangelo
is royalty in the art world.
Art historians admire his incredible
ability and talent to envision
something so shockingly elaborate
simply out of a blank wall or
a rigid piece of stone.
This Christian art depicts the Virgin Mary
holding the body of Jesus
after his crucifixion.
It shows Mary cradling her son in a
serene and sorrowful scene
of grief and devotion.
Through this famous statue,
Michelangelo showed his
exceptional brilliance
by sculpting his craft to capture
a tranquil sense of acceptance
on the part of the Virgin Mary
rather than a loud mourning.
St Peter's Basilica
is the most important of
the 4 major basilicas
in Rome,
which makes it the most important
Catholic Church on earth.
These 4 basilicas are significant
pilgrimage sites for Catholics
around the world.
The 4 basilicas in Rome :
1. St Peter's Basilica
(in Vatican City)
2. St John Lateran
(official Cathedral of Rome)
3. St Mary Major
(dedicated to the Virgin Mary)
4. St Paul Outside The Walls
(the 2nd largest basilica in the world
after St Peter's)
(the tomb of St Paul is buried
beneath this basilica)
"You are the rock upon which I will
build my church,"
Jesus said to Peter.
Peter's name was Simon at the time.
Jesus changed it to Peter,
which means rock.
Interestingly,
Peter is my dad's name.
He was known as Bill in the Army,
and I suppose in his younger days,
but his name was changed to Peter
along the way.
(wait for it)
So if anybody is looking for me,
whilst I am in the Vatican City in Rome,
I suppose I wouldn't be wrong,
if I say,
"Why were you looking for me?
Do you not know I had to be in
my father's house?"
Hmm. Something to think about.
The original old St Peter's Basilica
stood for almost 1,200 years,
until 1506 ...
when Pope Julius II
decided it was time for a new basilica.
It took 120 years to build
this basilica.
It was finally completed
in 1626.
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