The Good Shepherd portrayed in this fresco on the walls of the Catacombs of Priscilla
A visit to any of the catacombs of Rome is always interesting if you want to get a glimpse of the life of early Christians. Contrary to some assumptions, these were not secret places of worship during various persecutions, although there may have been occasions for Mass. They also adorned the walls of these catacombs with symbols of the teachings of their faith in the form of frescoes. The catacombs are perhaps the earliest example of these, since the religion was not practiced openly before the 4th Century.
More likely any Mass here was a funeral Mass because the catacombs is where Christians…and for that matter the pagans as well…buried their dead. Unlike the pagans, however, the Christians believed in the Resurrection of the dead. Death was not the end, but the beginning. A difficult concept for most Romans to grasp I would think.
One of these Catacombs, the Catacombs of Priscilla, have what is believed to be the earliest known image of the Blessed Virgin Mary nursing the child Jesus that is believed to date from around 230 AD. This depiction of Mary nursing Jesus was common as a symbolism for the way Jesus nourishes his church. Although there are many later examples of this image in Catholic art, this appears to be one of the first.
Benedictine nuns are in charge of the Catacombs and offer the visitor guided tours.
The Catacombs of Priscilla are under the care of Benedictine Nuns who offer guided tours of the Catacombs. We suggest you consider a visit on your next trip to Rome. There is a fee, but that is the case for all of the catacombs of Rome.
It isn’t often we recommend plays, but this one really caught our attention. It traces the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe and the events that led to his death at the Auschwitz concentration camp. It is the story of a man’s love for his fellow man and covers his achievements before and after his arrest and execution.
It is playing in London at the Leicester Square Theater (just under the Notre Dame de Paris Church) from October 1st-6th. We understand that it is almost sold out.
We know that Pope Francis has a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. One of the first things he did when elected Pope was to visit the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome. And as recently as September 22nd, he visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria on the island of Sardinia. It is from this shrine that the city of Buenos Aires took its name.
So we wonder if he will mention another Marian Shrine: Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolas, located in Argentina. The celebration of the Feast Day will take place there on September 25th. It is the 30th anniversary of the day that the Blessed Mother appeared to a local woman,
The anniversary celebrations attract up to 100,000 pilgrims to the site. We are not sure, but would suspect that Cardinal Bergoglio, before he became Pope Francis, possibly visited this shrine on more than one occasion when he was Bishop of Buenos Aires.
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Along with the many firefighters, first responders and individual citizens killed in the terror attacks of 9/11 was a priest, Father Mychal Judge, a Franciscan fire chaplain killed by falling debris in the North Tower.
Saint Peter’s Church was the first Parish church in New York and stood in the shadows of the World Trade Center. A landing gear from one of the planes struck the roof of St. Peter’s. The pastor of St. Peter’s, Father Kevin Madigan, narrowly escaped death when he hurried out toward the flaming towers to see if he could be of help.
The body of Father Mychal was carried to the church and placed in front of the altar. The church was later repaired and to commemorate not only him but all who lost their lives that day, a Catholic Memorial at Ground Zero was placed in Saint Joseph’s Chapel of the Church in New York and consecrated by Cardinal Egan in 2005.
Four life-size statues were commissioned as memorials to groups affected by the tragedy: St. Joseph, patron of construction workers; St. Michael the Archangel, patron of police; St. Florian, patron of firefighters (shown here), and St. Mary Magdalen, first witness to the Resurrection and “apostle to the apostles.
Found this interesting site. Lists places that have Perpetual Adoration in countries throughout the world. Maybe you can visit one…or add one to their list if it is missing.
With a large investment in a tour or cruise, it naturally makes sense to purchase travel insurance. Among the things such policies normally cover is medical evacuation. This means that if you are injured or become ill on your trip the insurance company will pay to have you flown home. But a recent case made headlines when a passenger on upscale cruise line Azamara received what we would have to call sub-standard treatment. For the full story we suggest you click this link.
The main thing we want you to take away from this story is the importance of from whom you purchase travel insurance. Buying it directly from a cruise line or tour operator is not recommended for several reasons.
As pointed out in the Frommer’s article, the cruise lines do not necessarily include everything that you might want, or possibly, need. And if you buy directly from a tour operator and they were to go out of business (a rare ocurrence, but it has happened before) then you would have no guarantee of getting a refund for the tour or even for the insurance premium.
But we want to point out a difference: many travel agents who sell cruises or tours will sell you insurance that is purchased directly from the insurance company, and that is what we recommend. Buy your cruise or tour through them, buy your insurance through them if you wish, but just be sure you are actually buying the insurance from the insurance company and not the tour operator or cruise line.
We said it elsewhere, but will say it again here. Ask someone near the end of their life and they will probably tell you they don’t regret the things they did nearly as much as the things they did not do.
Never is it more true than when someone postpones a trip to Israel because they, or some well-meaning friend or relative, decide it is “just to dangerous to go there right now“.
Walking the Way of the Cross (via Dolorosa) in Jerusalem is a tradition with pilgrims who visit the Holy Land
Having traveled there many times in the last 20 years, we have heard that song before. Yet thousands, or perhaps hundreds of thousands, of pilgrims have traveled there safely and brought back memories for a lifetime. How sad that some of those people who put it off never got to go and missed out on such a wonderful experience.
We just saw a post from Steve Ray, who conducts Catholic tours to the Holy Land, about his group arriving (safely, of course) in Israel to start their pilgrimage. The airports in Israel have security that is second to none….in fact it is the best in the world. And the holy sites are safe and secure. So if you feel that urge to go then there will never be a time more safe than “now”, whenever now happens to be.
By the way, we have no connection to Steve Ray, but like to follow his blog.
Those of us who dream of living in Italy for an extended period of time….which is just about everyone reading this blog I suppose….often wonder what it would really be like. Not the glossy images of the travel brochures or what we see in the movies, but the day-to-day lifestyle.
Locals bring their empty bottles and jugs or just buy new ones and fill up with great local wines, at a fraction of what the bottled wines cost.
Of course when we imagine life in Italy we think, I suppose, of food and wine. Most small towns or even mid-sized ones have farmer’s co-ops that offer great bargains and fresh produce. When it comes to wine, you can get a good bottle of red or white for a decent price. But what many locals do is bring their empty jugs to the local co-op and just fill them up for a lot less.
Bring your own bottles and just have them filled for you.
These wines have the nickname “landlord wines” meaning the grapes are locally grown, harvested and fermented. In some cases they appear in restaurants as “vino della casa” or the house wine of the establishment. For those lucky enough to be staying in private residences you just show up with your 5-liter (1.3 US gallon) jugs and fill them up. The cost? About 2 Euros per liter. For the mathematically inclined that means you get a bottle (750ml) of good table wine for about 1.75 euros or $2.25 U.S. Don’t have any bottles? No problem, they will gladly sell you some.
We would imagine the health benefits might even be superior to just about any bottled wine…..not that we are knocking Italian wines, just that the closer you eat or drink to the food source the better in our opinion. The taste may not impress any “wine snobs” who talk about fruity flavors or bold finish and such, but for a lot of us on a budget these wines are just great!
And…this pretty much applies throughout Europe. Pick just about any country and if you are staying at a local home or inn then chances are the grapes are locally grown. Many families have their own vineyards and produce enough for their needs and perhaps sell some that is left over.
We recently found a website based in Austin Texas that has suggestions for pilgrimages throughout the state of Texas in observance of the Year of Faith. This led us to the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s website that gives suggestions for pilgrimages in the San Antonio area. As the oldest continually-operating Cathedral in the United States, the San Fernando Cathedral is one of the most interesting.
San Antonio is a popular tourist destination, so if you are one of those planning a visit there this year we encourage you to check out some of the churches and shrines in the area.
Four life-size statues were commissioned as memorials to groups affected by the tragedy: St. Joseph, patron of construction workers; St. Michael the Archangel, patron of police; St. Florian, patron of firefighters (shown here), and St. Mary Magdalen, first witness to the Resurrection and “apostle to the apostles.
