Una Giornata Particolare

Francesca knows some nuns from a convent near her house who are now living in Rome.  Sister Raffaella planned to give us a tour of St. Peter's Basilica, then take us back to the convent to make pizza.  This does not happen every day, so needless to say I was excited.  However October 22 was not chosen on accident.  Today is the 9 year anniversary of Francesca's Dad's death, so we figured going to the Vatican was the perfect way to spend it.

We both requested the day off (my first in 3 weeks!) and slept in.  Then we headed over to meet sister Raffaella at their house a stone's throw from the Vatican.  Literally, we could have thrown a stone into the Vatican from their home.  Perks of religious life.  Sister Raffaella is Roman, but also lived in the States for a few years.  She is super cute and gentilissima.  Since we had her with us, she led us in the gate of Sant'Anna (which is the guarded gate you pass on your right if you walk to the square from the metro), passed three security checkpoints, and behind the scenes.  I could not believe we were just walking around the Vatican, passing through doorways and passages I never knew existed.  I recognized our location when I looked left past a Swiss guard and down some stairs to the crowd of people in the square.  We were on the first floor of the Papal apartments.  This is an area I had seen countless times as I walked from the security checkpoint into the basilica (always wondering how those lucky people got to go in there).  Instead of walking out and joining the throngs of people, Sister Raffaella instead lead us in the opposite direction, deeper into the Vatican.  She pointed out a stairway on our right and said "that is the way to the Papal apartment."  I suggested we go say hello, but apparently he doesn't like surprise visitors.  We walked towards the grand staircase.  This hallway was gorgeous with carved and gilded ceilings perfectly framing the stairs.  I'm failing at describing it and unfortunately we couldn't take pictures (since this area is forbidden for tourists), but suffice to say it was one of the most impressive staircases I've ever seen.

Eventually we joined the crowd and headed down into the crypt, a space filled with the tombs of previous popes.  As we neared the tomb of Pope John Paul II (which is a huge deal, complete with guards and ropes and people forcing you to keep walking) Sister Raffaella asked if we had anything of significance to be touched to the tomb.  Francesa had the necklace her Dad gave her, so Sister said she would ask the guard if it was possible.  He refused, telling her they stopped doing this years ago because there were just too many people.  She told him it was a special day and asked what else we could do.  For some reason he relented and agreed to quickly touch the necklace to the tomb.

A word about the tomb of John Paul II;  his tomb is unlike all others.  It stands out and is particularly impressive, but not because of gold, mosaics, or extensive marble work.  JP II's tomb is impressive because it is completely opposite of all the others.  Instead of a masterpiece, he has a simple slab of marble with his name in plain gold lettering.  This speaks to what a humble and dedicated person he was, and he wasn't overly affected by the spectacle that can surround the papacy.

When we walked away from the guard Sister Raffaella was muttering 'very unusual' and telling us 'we just go with the flow. Unusual.'  We headed up to the basilica and Francesca saw the most magnificent church in Christendom for the first time.  Although I was there yesterday, it was just as impressive as my first time 12 years ago.  St. Peter's Basilica is spectacular.  Thanks to baroque design, almost tangible light mixes with shimmering gold, rich bronze, and stark white marble.  Love love love.  We toured the church, then Sister Raffaella brought us back down to the crypt.  Fran and I did not know why, but we just 'went with the flow.'  When we approached JP II again, the guard told us to stand to the side.  At 5 they kicked everyone out and we were left alone in the Papal crypt.  The guard removed the rope, and allowed us to pray at the tomb of John Paul II.  Sister Raffaella was in tears, saying this was most unusual and she had never been allowed to approach the tomb in all her years working at the Vatican.  Only the Pope and Cardinals are allowed the honor.  We said our prayers then went to thank the guard, Gianlucca.  Sister Raffaella was talking to him about how much it meant to us, how kind he was, etc. She did not understand why he let us do this. Gianlucca insisted that it was nothing big, and he was happy he could so some small favor to make people happy.  Then he decided to give us a tour.  He brought us into parts of the crypt Sister Raffaella had never seen, including the Polish chapel where JP II used to pray.  None of us could believe we were in these parts of the church.

Then Gianlucca brought us into the basilica.  Although a cardinal was saying mass and most of the center was blocked off, he brought us to the statue of San Pietro with his feet rubbed smooth by centuries of pilgrims passing by.  He then led us to the tomb of Clement XIII by Canova (one of my favorite sculptors), and to the Spanish chapel behind the organs that is strictly forbidden to tourists.  It was mindblowingAstin walking us around the Vatican and giving us a special tour.  At the end he told us about the closing ceremony for the Papal Senate on the church in the middle east on Sunday.  Basically all of the cardinals and many bishops go to the service and the Pope says mass.  Gianlucca gave us special tickets and told us to call afterwards and he would take us up to the dome.  Perhaps he should have a number for us as well, he said.

Ah, there it is!  Always the exchange of phone numbers.  I'm still not sure if he is an outstanding person, we are super cute, or maybe a combination of the two that instigated his generosity.  Nevertheless this was an extraordinary experience and we had a nun with us, so it's ok.

We left the Vatican and walked a few feet to the convent, where we proceeded to make four pizzas from scratch.  Yep, making pizza with nuns in a convent. In Rome.  Fresh tomato and mozzarella, margherita, zucchini and peppers, and a pizza bianca.

Before cena we went into the chapel to 'pray vespers.'  I had no idea what this was, but today was all about 'going with the flow.'  In the chapel sister Raffaella showed us a special relic in a tiny golden case.  They had piece of St Francis' bone just sitting in their house (since they are a Franciscan order and the feast day was recent, a friend allowed them to borrow it).  We listened to their chants and the smell of fresh pizza wafted in from the kitchen.  I looked at St. Francis and marveled at what a special day it was.  I can't say good day because a death anniversary is never a good day (as I am acutely aware), but it was definitely extraordinary.

One concern Francesca and I had was that we were supposed to work Sunday morning.  They sisters said they would pray that we could get the morning off.
Well, we got the morning off!  I'll tell the Pope everyone says hello.