Christmas calendar

Your Calendar for Christmas:

December 6, La festa di San Nicola, Patron saint of shepherds. (the original Santa Claus)

Not to be confused with our Fantastico Nicky of Capena 

Nicky profile in the morning

December 8, La festa dell'Immacolata (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) Rome, Piazza Spagna

On this day we would go to the Piazza Spagna where the famous Spanish Steps are located and the great column of the Immaculate Conception with its remodelled statue of Venus into a Virgin Mary with all the right curves. The Pope comes to the Piazza and will put a crown of flowers on the statue, the firemen are required since the statue is way up on a large column from a pagan temple.

 At the fountain of the boat in Piazza Spagna with the Column of the Immacolata behind me.

 Royal Spanish Embassy to the Holy See on Piazza Spagna with special banners for the Feast Day.

The Pope and his escort of honour.

December 13, La festa di Santa Lucia (Festival of Lights)

The story goes that She plucked out her eyes so that her intended could not see her beautiful eyes, she only wanted to be a Saint. 

December 24, La Vigilia di Natale, (Christmas Eve)

December 25, Natale (birth day of Jesus)

December 26 La festa di San Stefano (Boxing Day in Canada)

December 31 La festa di San Silvestro, la vigilia di Capodanno (New Year's Eve)

January 1, Il Capodanno (New Year's Day, the top of the year)

January 6, L'Epifania (epiphany the arrival of the 3 wise men) and the Befana, the old lady who gives gifts to children good or bad, though the bad ones get a lump of coal.  

La Befana, the old lady who brings gifts to children all the while looking for the infant Jesus. (Italian tradition)

Rome-Trastevere

Today is our first full day, this morning we got up, showered and went for breakfast at the Caffè, we had cappuccino and I had a Tramenzino of cheese and ham toasted and then an Espresso. We then went to the TIM Italia Office to buy a new phone card for my cel with 250 minutes only 16 Euros.

We then walked in the neighbourhood, Trastevere is across the Tiber from Rome as the name implies.
This means that most early Christian Churches are in this neighbourhood, most built between 360 and 420 AD. The reason for this is a political one, like so many things in this world. Early Christians were mostly Jews who lived in Rome or had lived in Rome for generations. It was seen as a Cult like Scientology is today by most Romans who worshipped Roman Gods connected to their culture and history. When Emperor Constantine decided to switch Official Religions on the people of Rome it did not go down too well. He had a near Civil War on his hands, no one could understand why the old gods were being abandoned for a new god who was a Jew from Palestine, who nobody knew much about, but was rumoured to have been a criminal. The Army had its official religion which was similar to the Christian Faith, but no one was willing to accept new temples to be built to worship this new god. So Constantine had to do the political thing and had churches built outside Rome in Trastevere or on land outside the City boundaries like the Lateran where the Cathedral of Rome now stands on land that was private and owned by the Emperors family, St-John Lateran. St-Peter basilica was built in a cemetery on Via Cornelia, a place not likely to bring many Romans to look around. In the end Constantine abandoned Rome and moved the Capital of the Empire to his new city Constantinople (today Istanbul).

Tomb of Pope Innocent II, (1130-1143) 

Main Altar, Santa Maria in Trastevere

We visited Santa Maria in Trastevere which is the Church of the Canadians in Rome, Cardinal Ouellet from Quebec is the head of that Church on top of other functions he occupies in the Roman Curia at the Holy See. Pope Innocent II (1130-1143) is buried there. The Church has many different sized columns taken from various temples of Roman gods and its floor is decorated with Imperial Roman Mosaic also taken from old temples. There is a beautiful iconostasis of Christ above the master Altar.

We also had a look at Santa Maria alla Scala (in the staircase) which is attached to the Papal Official Drug Store since many centuries ago. The pharmacy is lovely and it has kept its old decor though nowadays it is a modern drug store. In this church there is also a famous miraculous icon and people leave little pieces of paper with a note to the Virgin asking for a special favour or miracle, there are hundreds of little notes. The priests who administer this church had 500 years ago commissioned the painter Caravaggio to paint a scene with a theme on the Virgin Mary. Caravaggio wanted something realistic and so he used the corpse of a famous prostitute who had drowned in the Tiber a few days earlier as his model of the Virgin Mary. This famous painting is in the Louvre Museum today, the priests were so scandalized when they recognized the features of the dead prostitute that they refused outright the painting.  

Santa Maria alla Scala and Pontifical Drug store 

Side view of the church with brickwork of the 4th century

We had lunch with a friend just outside the Aurelian Walls in our old neighbourhood a 15 minute bus ride from Trastevere up the hill across the Tiber near Porta Pia. It was nice to go see the old neighbourhood. Things have changed and they have not. Restaurants are empty now at lunch time, the owner told us that these difficult economic times made everyone afraid. There is talk that Italy as a country could disintegrate, the wealthy North (North of Rome) could secede and abandon the South (south of Rome) to its own devices. This would be a true disaster. We have seen more beggars now in the streets, many are simply old people who have been squeezed and cannot manage any more.

 Fruit stand on Viale Regina Margherita

Our neighbourhood, intersection of Via Nomentana and Viale Regina Margherita

We had a lovely lunch and then went to walk along Via Nomentana towards Viale Regina Margherita
Will wanted an ice cream and we went to a shop we know well. The owner told us that he sold his business, things are difficult and he wants to do something else. We did notice that one of our favourite restaurant had disappeared and has been replaced by a pizza joint, another steak house had also disappeared replaced by a McDonald, the horror. Our fruit and vegetable vendor was still there and we chatted with him, he is doing great and so is the flower shop. I felt a little disoriented by all these changes, it is visible that people are worried. Many young people are immigrating since there is no work for them here. It is said that for the under 35 year old the unemployment rate is 40%.

This evening we are going further down the Tiber River on bus no 23 to the area of the Pyramid of Cestius to a new trendy restaurant to meet with friends called Porto Fluviale at no 22 Porto Fluviale.

                     Centro Piazza Venezia

On our way home we went through Piazza Venezia, the centre of Rome, and then crossed the Tiber at Ponte Garibaldi unto Via Trastevere. Just a block away from our B&B we came upon a cheese shop, the rich, creamy and sweet smell of Italian cheeses brought us to look at the wonderful assortments. Including hams of wild boar meat. What a fantastic meal you could make right there and then with a few purchases.

Boar meat hams 

Italian cheeses and wines

I still have to talk about EATALY a huge modern food emporium devoted to all Italian made foods on 4 floors unbelievable place. Located in the old Airport Train terminal now a huge food market with 8 restaurants simply beautiful for the gourmand and gourmet. You can also take the High Speed train to Milan, the connection Rome-Milan takes only 2:56 minutes at train speed of 330 Km. More on this later.

Tomorrow we are to meet with a friend who is an historian and archeologist to visit an historical site with special permission to enter. The weather is lovely and we are enjoying ourselves though a little nostalgic.

Fait divers, Fatto di cronaca

The Pope Emeritus Benedict returned to the Vatican City State today from the Papal Summer Palace at Castel Gandolfo. He was flown by Papal helicopter to the Vatican State, a flight of just a few minutes really.

On arrival he was met by the H.E. Cardinal Bertone, Secretary of State of the Holy See, H.E. Cardinal Sodano the Dean of the College of Cardinals and the Governor of the Vatican City State. The helipad is located in the vast gardens of Vatican Hill and he was driven to his new residence in the refurbished monastery Mater Ecclesia which stands next to the old Vatican Radio original building. His new house is 6500 sq. feet. he will live on the ground floor so he does not have to manage any stairs, an indication that he is frail and not in good health. His personal secretary Mgr Georg Ganswein (aka gorgeous George) will remain with him and also 4 women belonging to a religious order who will take care of all the housekeeping, cooking and cleaning. Basically the same household he had when he was pope. The ex-convent has a lovely garden, I remember visiting it, beautiful flowering bushes.

Pope Francis went to welcome him at his new residence when he arrived to wish him well. It is said they had a few words and prayed together in the chapel.
Pope Francis continues to live in the official guesthouse at the other end of the City State, near the Vatican Train Station behind the Basilica. The Papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace remain closed, used only on Sunday when the Pope addresses the crowds in St-Peter's Sq. from the window. New Pope new style, but so far it has all been cosmetic and no changes have taken place. Remains to see if Pope Francis will in effect bring any changes has he as promised.

To renounce the Papacy

On Monday morning 11 February, the anniversary of the Signing of the Lateran Treaty, I was awaken to the news that the Bishop of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI had renounced his title and functions as Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. It did not take long for the press in Canada and elsewhere to get all excited, if not hysterical over this piece of news. What is also of concern is the lack of correct information and factual information or perspective on this news.
So many terms have been used and so much information was just simply wrong. If you do not have factual and correct information how can you reflect or understand anything. We live in an age of flash information and we have never been so misinformed, it is very discouraging at the best of time.

Few of us can claim to know Benedict XVI or who he is as a person. His reputation has been established for better or worse by the media and their confused interpretation of events at the Holy See. Comparing the current Pope with his predecessor Jean-Paul II is also not helpful, two very different men coming from two very different background and countries with different experiences.
Jean-Paul II was a Pole who grew up during World War II in a country marked for annihilation by Nazi policies and then worked during decades of harsh Communist rule stage managed from Moscow. Jean-Paul II was a clever and hard nose politician who knew what he wanted to achieve. I remember being told by Vatican Official once that he was very impatient and wanted everything done quickly, he was not the typical Vatican insider. His last months of his life were difficult, kept alive with a medical cocktail prepared daily by his doctors, often in great pain and confused, everything was stage managed by his Polish entourage so the public could believe that his mind was alert. Benedict then Cardinal Ratzinger saw all this and as a close colleague found it painful, but the Polish entourage was in charge and they wanted to remain in power.  

This is what we have to remember of the Holy See, from the very beginning when Emperor Constantine established Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth Century and created the position of Bishop of Rome at the Lateran, the political manoeuvring started and continues to this day. It is a very complicated story and it has more to do with politics and power than Faith in One God.

Benedict is very well educated, a scholar in Latin and on other topics. He is also a very pragmatic person and in his own words for the good of the Church has decided to renounce his function as Supreme Pontiff. It is rare to see someone, anyone, renounce such a powerful office. Usually people in power become convince that they are indispensable and refuse to leave, even when it has been demonstrated it would be better for them to leave office.

What has also not been mentioned here is the fact that when a Pope dies or in this case renounces his title, all other Cardinals must also abandon their portfolio. Benedict had a weak number two, Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone not up to the responsibilities given to him in the management of this huge machine which is the Holy See and the World wide Church. There was failure in management and communication and Benedict was reluctant to replace people like Bertone who clearly were not up to the challenges. To many scandals including the one created over his butler who was found guilty of stealing private documents, may in the end bring the Pope to conclude that it was better to leave so that a new Pontiff could truly clean up house. A courageous gesture and one of wisdom and clarity which may help the Church in the long run.

The Pope weathered many storms, like the sex scandal which had been brewing for years under Jean-Paul II but never came to the surface, the world was busy with other events like the end of the Cold War and the long illness of the Pope and the team around Jean-Paul was far more politically minded and astute in Public Relations. Benedict inherited the mess and did all he could to bring closure. We can credit him with implementing measures to put an end to these abuses. Maybe he could have done more, maybe he could have been more political or more with an eye to the popular press to satisfy the public at large, but that was not his style. Benedict remains a man of his generation, more conservative, more European in out look, not comfortable with the rock star style of his predecessor. I also believe that with time Jean-Paul II papacy will be re-evaluated by history as the truth will finally come out on what he failed to do for the good of the Church.

It is true that the Church today appears out of step with our modern reality, but then again the Church has always been out of step, example the Galileo affair, the Reformation movement or the movement for the Unity of the Italian Republic or the eternally festering dispute with the Orthodox Church on who comes first in Christendom, the Bishop of Rome or the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Today the issues are different but it remains that the Church does not change to suit popular taste which are seen as a passing fad.

If you think that things are bad in the Roman Church, look at the Anglicans or the Lutherans or the Orthodox, similar political disputes and disagreements. Muslims are not any better with fights between the Shia, Sunni, Druze and Alawites. Or in Israël between the Orthodox Jews and the more Liberal Jews.

In the last few days the popular press including some so called serious newspapers have talked of the Pope quitting his job, resigning, he has done neither. He renounced his functions which are governed by Cannon Law article 332. No there is no signing of papers or retirement parties, no pension for life.
Like any Sovereign he cannot quit or resign, he does not have a job and he is chosen not elected by the masses. The Holy See is not a democracy but a Theocracy, something many people do not understand.

The Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano pointed out that in 2009, Benedict had visited the earthquake devastated area of L'Aquila and had made a point of visiting the tomb of Pope Celestine V who had renounced the papacy in 1294 of his free will. Benedict had said then that he would do the same if he felt unable to continue, he had left his Pallium at the tomb of Celestine V. The Pallium is the white woollen band with pendants worn by the Pope as a symbol of his authority.

the small building on the right of the photo will be Pope Benedict's home in the Vatican garden.

Now the Cardinals will assemble in the Sistine Chapel, sorry tourists it is closed for the duration, and will discuss and vote on a successor. Benedict will retire first to Castel Gandolfo just a few minutes outside Rome, the summer residence of Popes and then after the election will move to a house in the immense gardens of the Vatican Hill near the old radio Vatican tower to live out his days. It is not a palace and a rather plain two story building with a small chapel and a garden surrounded by a high greenery wall.

And for those who commented that maybe there should be fix terms in office and all kinds of civilian job related modernity a la US political system, again the Holy See is not that kind of organization. The Pope reports to God and not to us, maybe it is better this way, humans tend to be a fickle bunch. I also do not believe the doom sayers who say the Roman Catholic Church is going to disappear. On the contrary it is thriving and growing rapidly in all parts of the world with the exception of Europe and North America. So our thinking is skewed by our North American biased view of the world.

fresco God the Father in the Royal Spanish Church of San Pietro in Montorio, Rome

  










  

La terza Loggia, Vatican City

The Canadian Club of Rome was invited today to a lecture on Foreign Relations and the Holy See. This meeting took place on the third floor or Terza Loggia of the Sacred Apostolic Palace where the Pope lives. If on a Sunday morning you are in St-Peter's square you will see the Pope at the window of his apartment deliver his blessings and message to the crowd below. That is the Terza Loggia, it is also the floor where the Secretary of State has his Office. These are the closest advisors to the Pontiff on matters of church affairs and Foreign Relations with other States. I was keen to go and see the area where the Pope lives and walk in the corridor of Church power.

We entered from the St-Anne's Gate and walked to the great courtyard and through an ordinary looking door up a flight of stairs to what is the staff entrance. There you will see Vatican Police manning the door, once through an attendant in the oak paneled elevator takes you up to the third floor, we arrived in this vast corridor decorated with gigantic painted maps of the world showing the world in 1578 when Pope Pius IV had the area decorated. Note that Australia does not appear anywhere, Canada appears in the area of the Saint Lawrence river between what is today Quebec City and Montreal, Land of Cod, where the Saint Lawrence Gulf is. The USA is divided between Mexico and Canada. One map showing the Holy Land in gold leaf is on the left hand side of the door to the Secretary of State Office, each tribe of Israel is identified as they cross the Sinai Desert and you can see the figure of Moses looking at the Holy Land from Madaba. Little men in white carry the Arc of the Covenant towards Jerusalem. Above the entrance door to the Secretary of State, a painting showing God the Father with Christ to his right and the Holy Ghost to his left. Swiss Guards patrol this corridor and though we were guests, we were invited to move along, the Pope's private apartment is just a few steps away. We then went to a little room decorated by Raphael in Roman imperial style with grotesque and unto a terrace with the most incredible view of Rome I have ever seen in this city. We are way up, level with the statues of the facade of St-Peter's Basilica, in the distance you can see the Cathedral of Rome, St-John Lateran, the Pantheon and all the other monuments of the city. Below us the Pope's car waiting to ferry him to a funeral service for Cardinal Tomas Spidlik, a Czech Jesuit scholar, died in Rome on April 16 at the age of 90. He was
a theologian who specialized in the study of the Eastern Christian traditions. We were told not to look down and move along to the other side of the terrace.

In the Palace itself all you can hear is silence and the bells of St-Peter's Basilica clock marking the half-hour and the hour. There are people coming and going but all move in perfect silence. I cannot go into the details of what the lecture was about but it was interesting for what I learned on the Holy See and relations with other Foreign States.
More photos to come a bit later.