Saturday on the town, Sunday in nature

One of the things I have loved about both Rome and Florence is going out at night and wandering amongst the various piazzas. There is always someone performing. people are strolling and having dinner.

As you walk from one place to the next there are open shops. It is lively! Last night in Florence the merchants put on a celebration called White Night. There was music and food in every neighborhood. It seem like the whole city was wandering the streets. Not to mention the parade with costumed drummers making the rounds.


I attended Mass last night in the Florence Duomo to leave Sunday free for a planned trip to Cinque Terre. This little strip of coastline is home to five villages that were only accessible by boat until 1871. It's a warm day, so we started early. As we walked along the coast in the still of the morning it felt good to be out in nature. Spending so much time in churches can be spiritually enriching, but it can also be confining. God created the whole world for us to delight in. And in the wonder of creation we can delight in the God who created it all. It was good to be out.

Tomorrow we head back to be ready to catch a plane the next morning. My head is so full of thoughts and images. My heart is full, and grateful for this wonderful two weeks. I am sure it will take me a while to sort out these experiences and my reactions to them. It will be fun to spend the next few weeks doing that.

I am also ready to get back to Julie and Elliot. I miss them! I look forward to sharing our vacation together and revelling in the wonder of a loving family.

I pray my parish family is well, I think of you all often and look forward to sharing stories from this journey when I return in August.

Stay tuned, I'll probably post some less exotic musings in the weeks to come.

Thomas

A little backwater called Ravenna

 In a seminary class on Church history, a professor took one class to show us a slideshow about the ancient city of Ravenna.  It was this slide show that led me to decide to go to Italy for this sabbatical.

In most of Italy, the churches have been torn down and rebuilt many times their 1600 year life span.  This is not so in the small former seaport of Ravenna.  For a brief time in the 5th century Ravenna was the capital of Italy, but when the seaport silted over, it became a backwater instead.  Bad for Ravenna, good for history!  Ravenna contains a number of churches that have remained largely unchanged since the 5th century.  Like Pomeii, going there is like stepping back in time 1500 years.  

Unlike the churches of Florence, which are beautiful in many ways, the ancient churches of Ravenna seem to invite one into a holy space, a place set apart.  It seemed to me that this was due to the perfect melding of architecture and beautiful mosaics.  In Florence it seemed the churches (on the inside) were a setting for great art.  In the Ravenna the whole space was a work of art operating on whole different spiritual level.  

Though I didn't call it this at the beginning, I realize now that this trip has been a pilgrimage for me, a seeking of spiritual connection.  In Ravenna I can see how the young church created spaces where pilgrims would truly encounter the holy.  

It was serendipitous that as I entered the church of S. Vitale in Ravenna, there was a choir rehearsing on modern sacred piece.  It's hard to say how profound it was to contemplate that ancient place against the back drop of a 21st century piece of music. The music, the space, the mosaics, the spirit of hundreds of generations of Christians all coming together in that moment.  The best word I can use: Heveanly.

Thomas

Entering the Renaissance

My mind already full from a week of experiencing Rome, Richard and I head off to Florence as our next base of operations.  The first adventure of the day was renting a car in the middle of Rome.  Thank goodness for GPS!

Florence was not in my original plans, and so I had no expectations in going there.  I think I fell asleep in humanities when we discussed the whole Renaissance thing.  For whatever reason the art and the sensibilities of the Renaissance never caught my imaginations.  So I entered Florence with few expectations.

Our first experience of the this region came as we stopped in Siena on our way to Florence.  I made a point to stop here at the suggestion of Fr. Al, the pastor at St. Catherine of Siena church here in Burlingame.  

The town square was interesting, but I was not prepared for the Duomo (Cathedral) of the city.  Faced with white and black marble, the exterior of the church is striking.  The church itself is a work of art.  On entering the church there is more art.  The floors are art, there are paintings everywhere, and again the building itself was art.  I found myself captivated by its beauty.  

Even this didn't prepare me for the Duomo in Florence.  While we were too late to see the inside, we did arrive in Florence in time to walk around the outside.  Again, I was stunned by the liveliness of the outside of the building.  Not just a big stone edifice, the outside is vibrant.  I didn't expect to be moved in this way, but there it is.

The next day we had the chance to visit the inside of the Duomo.  After seeing the outside I could only imagine what was inside. And...what a disappointment.  It was big. There were a lot of paintings of the wall.  But while the outside was alive, the inside seemed sterile.

In Rome the churches were often plain on the outside, but when you went inside they came alive with color and image everywhere.

It made me think a little of my own life.  What kind of person do I want to be?  A person who spends most of my energy on the outside, or a person who works on making the inside beautiful?  

Tomorrow, museums!

Thomas

Back in time

Monday we decided to take a last minute trip to Pompeii.  You may remember that Pompeii was the city buried when Vesuvius erupted about 70 AD.  Since excavated, it gives a snapshot of life in that time.

Stepping back 2000 years makes you think about some things.  In my case it made me realize how much people stay the same. In many ways you or I would recognize this city.  The homes were made for comfort.  There were public places to rest and exercise.  There were fast food restaurants along the road.  These were urban people working together to make a civilized life.

In other ways, they seem different from us.  They were very religious people.  In the center of their towns, in little buildings along the road, indeed almost everywhere, there are temples.  Granted, historians tell us their religion began to lose its influence and power in late antiquity, but there was a spiritual sense of things.  Perhaps that is why it was so easy for Christianity to gain a predominate place in organizing the society after the fall of the empire.

In the end, I suppose the other lesson of Pompeii is that life is transient.  There are no guarantees that disaster won't strike, and so we must live each day fully.

Signing off from 70 AD

Thomas

Capturing the week

After a packed week in Rome it was off to Florence, where I have yet to post this week.  So, instead of posting on long entry I think I'll try a few little posts to cover the last week.  Fasten your seat belts for a whirlwind blog journey through the last few days.

Sunday in Rome

What's a good Anglican boy to do on his Sunday in Rome?  At first my plan was to go to Saint Paul's within the walls, the local Episcopal church.  But on the bus this morning I had a very original thought: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  I got off at the next stop and made my way to the church that drew me to Rome in the first place, Santa Maria, Trastavere.  Arriving about one hour before the service I had a chance to wander in the church a little and soak in the the spirits of all who had worshipped on that piece of real estate since the 2nd or third century.  Then over to a local bar for a cappuccino and watching the world go by on a Sunday morning. 

I have to admit, that was my favorite part; sitting on a little Roman street, sipping cappucino of a perfect sunny Sunday morning.  I don't get to do that very often!

I also had the chance to make notes about the previous day's travels.  Most intrguing was San Clemete church.  With recent excavations they have expose a 4th century church under the existing 12th century church, and under that a 1st century worship place for the cult of Mithras. You start at the top, and walk down the stairs through centuries of history.  The day also included an aborted trip to the catacombs (They closed for lunch for two hours just as we arrived, ahh to be Italian!), San Giovanni Lateran, first great basilica of the Roman church, and the Pantheon.  I closed the day with a walk through the lively piazzas that are around every Roman corner.

In all this talk about church stuff and history I don't want to leave the impression that it isn't great fun being here.  The city comes alive each night in the piazzas.  With sellers and buyers of cheap knockoffs, people having dinner at outdoor cafés in every alleyway, and people gathered around the fountains enjoying one another.

I did make it to church by the way.  The sermon was well delivered but I think I missed the main message (it was in Italian after all).  The church was full, the music was nice, a lot of children and really a joyful place.  It was good to be worshipping with the Saints of Rome who were gathered there today.  The saints include those who were there and those who surrounded us from centuries past.

Peace.

Two days in Rome

I arrived yesterday in the morning and Richard, Elliot's godfather, my old friend and travelling companion, and I immediately started sightseeing.  We went first to Saint Peter's at the Vatican.  On the plane during the flight I had been reading about the Roman church in the first 150 years of its existence.  A small community meeting in homes and often in secret.  The empire didn't understand them really, only thought they were a part of the large Jewish community Trastavere. 

 

Sometimes they were blamed for trouble, and the Roman authorities expelled them, or as in the case of Peter and Paul, arrested and executed them. I visited the prison today where Peter and Paul both were probably held for a time. It was dark, dank, a place without any comfort.  It is said that Peter converted a number of fellow prisoners there, even the guards. The Roman society was in many ways brutish to those who were weakest.

Yet, they were known throughout the Christian world at the time for the kind of love and concern they showed one another.  Perhaps that's why they were both so attractive to some, and a threat to others.

Fast forward 1400 years  to the Christian church at the pinnacle of its power.  Great learning and great art are at the service of the church.  I have to admit I was stunned by the immensity and beauty of Saint Peter's.  I have been to a lot of big churches, but this was unbelievable.  There is the shear size.  There are the great works of art.  The place exudes power.

I found myself wondering what the world needs more, the simple house churches of Travatere or the kind of power to create such beauty.  I suppose both have some grace, I'm definitely leaning toward the Trastavere.

Aside from all that having a great time walking the streets of Rome and finding surpises around every corner.  I'm writing this blog in the Piazza Santa Maria Trastavere tonight where it is 11:00 p.m. and the party is just starting! So more later.

 Peace,

Thomas