Rome, Italy: Day 2, Part 2 - St. Mary Major

 Okay, I'm back again for just a little while before we can go get dinner tonight in San Giovanno. 

I left off in Day 2 at the Basilica of St. Mary Major: The first basilica/cathedral to be built inside of Rome itself. St. John Laterne and St. Paul outside the Walls were outside of Rome, if you remember, because of the high pagan count in the city. The story goes that Mary appeared to the bishop or cardinal (can't remember) and said that where it snowed that they should build a basilica to her. It was August. In Rome. Highly unlikely. But it did snow, so built it they did. (Wow, I just sounded like Yoda there for a second)

 

 

 

 

They had a lot of confessionals in there. Mom said, "Either they sin a lot or they are really holy." I noted that there were languages labeled on the top, so maybe the different priests used specific ones for the languages they know how to speak.

 

The main alter where only the Pope can say Mass:

Below the main alter is where the relic of the Holy Crib is kept: the crib (manger) where Jesus lay as an infant.

A side chapel:

I think I'll leave it there for tonight. The internet here in San Giovanni is SO SLOW. I do plan on continuing to blog so that I can remember everything from this trip...even if I have to finish when I get back home to decent wifi and better bathrooms.

But we're pretty much 2/3rds of the way through the 2nd day!! Isn't getting sick and slow wifi so frustrating? 

Anyways, I'm going to head to the shower. Currently, we're on our second night in San Giovanni, finishing up the Padre Pio part of our trip and heading out to Lanciano, Loreto, and Assisi tomorrow. But, you'll all probably see pictures of that on Facebook tomorrow...and maybe read the post that I'll get to...someday.

Bueno Notte (Good Night)