This makes me think... from St Therese, the Little Flower on Rome

How shall I describe the feelings which thrilled me when I gazed
on the Coliseum? At last I saw the arena where so many Martyrs had shed their blood for Christ. My first impulse was to kiss the
ground sanctified by their glorious combats. But what a
disappointment! The soil has been raised, and the real arena is
now buried at the depth of about twenty-six feet.

As the result of excavations the centre is nothing but a mass of
rubbish, and an insurmountable barrier guards the entrance; in any case no one dare penetrate into the midst of these dangerous
ruins. But was it possible to be in Rome and not go down to the
real Coliseum? No, indeed! And I no longer listened to the guide's
explanations: one thought only filled my mind--I must reach the
arena.

We are told in the Gospel that St. Mary Magdalen remained close to the Sepulchre and stooped down constantly to look in; she was
rewarded by seeing two Angels. So, like her, I kept stooping down
and I saw, not two Angels, but what I was in search of. I uttered
a cry of joy and called out to my sister: "Come, follow me, we
shall be able to get through." We hurried on at once, scrambling
over the ruins which crumbled under our feet. Papa, aghast at our
boldness, called out to us, but we did not hear.

As the warriors of old felt their courage grow in face of peril,
so our joy increased in proportion to the fatigue and danger we
had to face to attain the object of our desires. Celine, more
foreseeing than I, had listened to the guide. She remembered that
he had pointed out a particular stone marked with a cross, and had
told us it was the place where the Martyrs had fought the good
fight. She set to work to find it, and having done so we threw
ourselves on our knees on this sacred ground. Our souls united in
one and the same prayer. My heart beat violently when I pressed my lips to the dust reddened with the blood of the early Christians.
I begged for the grace to be a martyr for Jesus, and I felt in the
depths of my heart that my prayer was heard. All this took but a
short time. After collecting some stones we approached the walls
once more to face the danger. We were so happy that Papa had not
the heart to scold us, and I could see that he was proud of our
courage.

--- St Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul (online edition).

Having recently visited Rome, I thought I'd share some more photos with you --specificially, the Coliseum or Colosseo, as they call it in Italy. The Cross you see erected there toward the end of the photos was erected in 2000, the Jubiliee Year by Blessed John Paul II.

Learn more about the Coliseum here.

Among Women #95- Roma!

Yes, here I am, finally. Back from Rome and finally uploading a new podcast since my travels. That's me standing on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica... near the dome...There's a heavenly view from the top, and you can tell it was a very sunny day -- but cool enough to keep the jacket zipped -- when I visited! Behind me, believe it or not, is a cafe (who knew?) selling espresso, soft drinks, etc., and there's a gift shop from where I purchased a few postcards and some lovely rosary beads that commemorate the beatification of John Paul II, (and, yes, they were blessed by Pope Benedict)... so be listening to the podcast to get in on that giveaway!

Here's a picture of the rosary:

Among Women 95 celebrates Holy Week and Easter in Rome with the Gohn family (tho' none of my fam were brave enough to actually record with me!) as we take in some of the sights and the General Audience in St. Peter's Square with my pope and yours, Benedict XVI.  This week show departs from our normal two segments in order to bring you scenes and sounds from Rome.

Some of the photographs below are keyed to the some of the things the podcast describes. But feel free to listen and to share your own thoughts below in the combox.

And a very Happy Easter, once again!

To Roma!

"The boys" and I ready for take-off out of Boston. Peter, 18, Bobby, 23. Katie is already in Europe, and Bob is working in Denmark, preparing to meet us in Rome.

Cafes along Piazza Navona

Cafe life kills jetlag! And cures flat hair from sleeping on a plane!

The Bernini fountains, Piazza Navona

Bobby, in front of St. Agnes' church (where she was martyred), Piazza Navona

The Pantheon

 Dome of the Pantheon -- yes with an open skylight. Allegedly no rain ever enters it!

The Pantheon renamed 

The altar (crucifix covered on Palm Sunday)

 "The Annunciation"

Close-up of the Father overshadowing Mary with the Spirit

Pantheon, exterior

St. Peter's Basilica, as seen from St. Angelo Bridge area

 taxi stand near St Peter's

 The Collonnade with the papal apartments above

Huge Main entrance doors to St. Peter's (those statues on the roof line are 10-12 feet high)

 Chairs set up in the Square for the papal audience, Egyptian obelisk in center. 
(Note: there are more Egyptian obelisks in Rome than in Egypt. How they got dragged and transported by the Roman I'll never know!)

 Giant statue of St. Peter outside

 The fountains at St. Peter's

The apostles

The Papal Apartments... window in top row, second from right is the window that the Pope addresses the crowd from on Sundays for the Angelus.

Check this out --->>>Below St. Peter's Basilica is St. Peter's tomb and an ancient necropolis unearthed in the mid 20th century. We toured the tomb and necropolis but were not allowed to take pictures. Here is an excellent resource, and online virtual tour of why St. Peter's is build over the Peter's tomb, following his martyrdom.

 Getting ready for the Papal Audience on Wed April 20th.

 The crowd fills St. Peter's square

 Clear skies!

 The "porch" and awning where the pope will preside over the gathering.

Pilgrims await the Holy Father's appearance

 A Swiss Guard standing by in traditional medieval dress
(Don't be fooled, these guys are military-trained protection for the pope.) 

Security police pacing and passing the time

Photographers setting up 

 Oh looky! Here he comes!

 Slowly blessing the crowd...

 Best photo of the Pope we have... thank God for tall husbands!

 Dwarfted by the immensity of St. Peter's

 Pope giving his catechesis...

...and speaking extemporaneously.

The Pope's departure

INSIDE ST. PETER's:

The Holy Door of St. Peter's (only opened during Jubilee Years)

Michaelangelo's Pieta

The approach to the main altar

 Above the main altar

Holy Spirit stained glass over the memorial cathedra chair

 The dome from the floor of the basilica--from here, the very center has a painting of Jesus and Mary, but it is hard to observe in these photos.

The inside of the dome -- After climbing to the top inside

 Those letters encircling the dome are 6 feet high... look at the height of the people in this photo who are also climbing the dome.  This place is massive!

Views from the inner dome...the quote in Latin is from the Gospel... "Upon this rock [Peter/petra] I will build my church. (Mt 16:18)"

 Remember the apostles on top of St Peter's in the photo above? Here they are from the roof line... about 10-12 feet high.

on the roof, but we did not climb to the top of the cupola... up just under that cross at the top.

 St Paul statue in courtyard of Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls

 

 St Paul's Basilica -- see those circular disks on top of the columns? That all the apostolic succession of all the pope's images from St. Peter to Pope Benedict XVI.

Sorry, not a good photo of BXVI.

A better view of BXVI

 Mosaic behind the altar at St. Paul's

Loving the cafe life!

The 5 of us - sitting in the ancient amphitheatre of Ostia Antica

 Easter dinner with the Gohn's and Benjy, (missing, Bobby who snapped the picture).

And now, some randomness:

My Husband has a thing for small, and even tiny cars...

And tiny trucks too!

And this heel-clicking fun!