Because it’s MY blog, I’m going to change course for tonight and
start my recounting of our recent trip to Italy in a somewhat chronological
order. It’s easier to remember that way. And, most of my really profound spiritual
moments occurred starting on the 2nd full day anyway, so it will
really get interesting then!
We started our
vacation on Friday, May 29th after Lily’s kindergarten graduation
ceremony. We left from the school for
the airport. Our flight to Italy was in
two stages. The first was from San Francisco
to Istanbul. There was a five hour (or
so) layover. The second flight was from
Istanbul to Rome. With the length of the
flights and the time changes—a nine hour difference—we “lost” an entire day to
travel and we arrived in Rome at around midnight on Sunday, May 31st,
Rome time. We caught a shuttle to our
hotel. I hesitate to call it a “taxi”,
because it wasn’t, really. It was an
independent contractor who was hustling for fares inside the terminal and we
negotiated a reasonable fare. Sarah and
Tony were staying at a different hotel, so we made arrangements to hook up
about 8am to “get familiar with Rome”.
When we awoke
the next morning, our first order of business for Sunday was to go to
Mass. According to the internet, there
was a 10am Mass in St. Peter’s. We
thought that would be a great experience, so when we met up with Sarah and
Tony, we started to make our way to St. Peter’s. When we got there, there was a huge
line. I couldn’t believe they were all
there for Mass because the crowd didn’t look particularly dressed for it. We stopped to ask one of the local policemen
who was helping with crowd control where the Mass was in St. Peter’s. He didn’t understand a word we were saying,
and we didn’t understand him. But we
were given the impression that there WASN’T a Mass in the basilica that
morning. It sounded odd to me that there
would not be a Mass every Sunday at the very seat of the Roman Catholic Church,
but now we had to re-think our plan. I
said “It’s Rome! When I checked on-line
there is a Mass somewhere in this city every hour until 8pm. We just have to find one!”
As it turns
out, about two or three blocks up the street from the Basilica there is another
church, St. Mary in Transpontina. They
had a Mass scheduled for 10:00am. It was
now 9:30. Perfect! And so we attended our first Mass in Italy. The beautiful thing about the Catholic Mass
is that no matter where you are in the world, the liturgy is basically the same. There are some cultural differences though,
like language of course. Also, there are
differences in postures and gestures on the part of the celebrant and
congregations. As a side note, there are
even differences in postures and gestures between some dioceses in the
U.S. As an example, when I attend Mass
in Stockton, we are asked by the Bishop to remain standing after receiving
Communion until all have received as a sign of “unity and community” (Bishop
Blaire’s words), but in Fresno everyone goes back to the pews and kneels until
the leftover Hosts are reposed in the tabernacle.
Anyway, there
we were at Mass and I’m responding when appropriate in English (softly, so as
not to draw attention to the “tourist”) and Sarah and Marilyn are in the pew
behind me attempting to say the same prayers and responses in Italian! I thought “How are they doing that?” Turns out I should have picked up one of the
bulletins at the front door because they were also tiny missalettes with the
prayers said by the laity.
Another difference
in the Mass I had never seen before was that after the “Mystery of Faith” (a
declaration of Christ’s sacrifice for us said right after the priest
consecrates the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus) the
congregation stands and remains standing for the rest of the Eucharistic
Prayer. With all of the different Masses
I’ve attended in different countries and different dioceses, this was a first
and it felt really uncomfortable, until I reminded myself, “When in Rome, do as
the Romans do”!
I thought I was being “original” in using the phrase in this
situation. I was wrong. In fact it was differences in liturgical and
religious practices in the early Church that brought about the saying!
From what I can glean from the internet, the phrase is attributed to
St. Ambrose, way back in 387 A.D. (I wonder what people did before we had the
internet?—Oh, that’s right! We went to
the library! But I digress).
As the story goes, when St. Augustine arrived in Milan to assume his
role as Professor of Rhetoric for the Imperial Court, he observed that the
Church did not fast on Saturdays as it did in Rome.
Confused, he consulted with the wiser and older Ambrose, then the
Bishop of Milan (and who played a part in St. Augustine’s conversion). Ambrose
replied: “When I am at Rome, I fast on Saturday; when I am at Milan I do not.
Follow the custom of the Church where you are.”
In 1621, British author Robert Burton, in his classic writing
Anatomy of Melancholy, edited St. Ambrose’s remark to read: “When they are at
Rome, they do there as they see done.” His
advice has remained in the English language as the saying, "When in Rome,
do as the Romans do."
Even with all
of the differences, it was still the same Mass but for some reason it was a
much more intense experience. Probably
because WE WERE IN ROME!
The rest of the
day was spent riding around on the double-decker tour bus or walking around the
city, getting a “feel” for what we wanted to do the next couple of days. Except for a couple of hours when Alicia,
Lily and I went back to the hotel to take a nap while Marilyn, Sarah and Tony
walked around some more, taking some pictures and having fun. It was a good plan. They scouted out some sights to visit in more
detail over the next couple of days, and I don’t feel that we three “sleepy-heads”
missed out on anything.
Next
up: The Vatican Tour, the Colosseum, great
food and more!
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