A BAPTISM AND BLESSINGS GALORE IN ST. PETER’S BASILICA
I needn’t tell anyone reading this who has been to Rome and the Vatican how absolutely, breathtakingly stupendous St. Peter’s Basilica is! Its sheer size, the magnificence of its art, its many beautiful altars, the stunning mosaics and the very floor of this church erected to the glory of God overwhelm the senses. Those of us who are wordsmiths by trade, run out of words to describe the basilica, the square, the majestic colonnades and the statues atop them.
In my book for the 2016 Jubilee, “A Holy Year in Rome,” in describing St. Peter’s basilica, I wrote that many years earlier I heard someone say “if architecture is frozen music, then St. Peter’s is a symphony.” No church, no monument we have ever seen prepares us for the grandeur, the glory, and sheer immensity of St. Peter’s.
I am blessed to have been in that basilica hundreds of times over my decades in the Eternal City and still feel awed the minute I walk in! And that was how I felt today when I went to the baptism of adorable, one-month-old Leo Swenson, the son of the music director of the North American College, Dave Swenson and his wife Clare in the basilica’s baptistery. Leo has a huge family in Rome – all the seminarians and faculty and staff of NAC, some of whom were at the baptism! What a blessed child he is and will be! Perhaps even spoiled! His American grandparents were also there today, as you can well imagine!
For reasons I can’t explain, I thought the baptism was at the College but when I arrived, I learned it was in St. Peter’s which is, of course, almost across the street from my home! A quick taxi ride and my Vatican ID allowed me to enter Vatican City and then the basilica via the Prayer Door. I was a few minutes late to the ceremony so not have photos of that beautiful, sacramental moment but I did take some later at the lunch offered at NAC for the Swensons their family and friends.
There was some time between the baptism and lunch, so I decided to remain a while in the basilica. Actually, I exited and walked down to the Holy Door and re-entered through that door, opened only in Holy Years, slowly and prayerfully! I decided to first say the rosary at the tomb of a pontiff I knew well and so loved, Pope St. John Paul! I spent about 40 minutes in the basilica, praying and taking many photos of my favorite altars or statues. My personal memory-filled and prayer-filled pilgrimage!
Let me share some of that with you now…. apologies for not identifying each photo -I know each and every altar, statue, door, etc. I started by taking pictures of the two sides to the Holy Door and the final photo I took was of the handle on the glass door as I exited St. Peter’s through what is known as the Prayer Door and also the Diplomat’s Entrance
Joan's Rome 