Kehrmiterranean Day 5 - Vatican Mass and Museum

This was a day I had been looking forward to for months. Mom and Dad Kehrman are friends with a number of priests from the Disciples of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and one of the Disciples is currently at the Vatican studying. They communicated with Fr. Enrique Saiz Garcia and he offered to say Mass for us. He set up the date and time and reserved the Vatican Grotto Chapel of the Madonna of Partorienti.

Monday morning we left the apartment early and took the bus to St. Peter's Square. We made our way through security after a few questions about knives ??? and entered the Basilica for the first time. It was breathtaking. To think that our Father's Glory is so much more and this offering of a house pales in comparison to the one He has prepared for us. We took in the beauty of the church and made our way to the left side near the sacristy where we met up with Fr. Enrique. Father went in and prepared for Mass. He came back out with an Altar Boy who carried the Sacrmentals and lead us down to the grottoes. He moved at a brisk pace and it felt rather surreal for our group to be left in a grotto. Father Enrique asked Emma and Rachael to read and he explained that he would be doing the readings for St. Peter's feast day.

Hanna was so squirmy but even her energy couldn't penetrate the calm and serenity of the grotto. Mass was intimate and beautiful. Father Enrique talked about how it is special to be in the place of St. Peter's tomb. Peter must have sounded crazy bringing such an outlandish story to the cultural center of the Western World. And yet people believed him. Why, because it was truth. Father spoke about how God wants us to be close to Him and uses our family to do that. After Mass we paused to take a group photo and then ascended the stairs to the Basilica. We had tour tickets booked at 9:00 and we had to make our way to the Vatican Museum entrance which was on the other side of the country. The lines we passed on our way were ridiculous and I was so glad to have a reservation. We were late but our tour was still in the main space. We were given our headsets and joined our group as our tour guide was going over some highlights of the Sistine chapel. Hanna at this point was miserable and not interested, she was tired and she had the sniffles. She was loud and fussy. Our guide was very kind and even offered her hard candy. I gave Hanna some benedrayl. Our group entered the museums  and we got to take in some of the masterpieces. We especially like the Carvagios. After a snack Hanna fell asleep in the stroller. There were a number of flights of steps as we moved through galleries but having her nap made it possible to enjoy and offered me the chance to listen. The tour was focused on Art and Faith so she added info on the Christian aspects that the art was conveying not just the famous painters who did them.

Look Two Keys! and right above the Holy Doors.

Our tour took us to the Sistine Chapel and that was a difficult navigation of stairs as Jim carried a sleeping Hanna in the stroller on the stairs between crowds of people, but the Chapel was really a sight. So much information and history displayed by such skill in a very large space. It was will air-conditioned and they kept people moving. When our tours time was over we then headed into the basilica itself. It was a 3 hour tour and this is where Hanna woke back up. Everyone was hungry but we did still stop at the Vatican museum shops before going back to the B&B.

Our plan that evening was to go back to the Gesu to visit the Loyola Rooms. Hanna remained out of sorts and Bridget was tired. We determined that they were not up to going out and should stay home. Grandma Kate could see that Jim and I were also needing a break and she volunteered to stay back with the girls. Megan also stayed home, and helped and played games. This meant that Dad, Bill, Jim and I, Emma and Rachael headed out to catch the bus to the city center together.

We easily got to the Gesu and the Loyola Rooms. Bill took a minute to pose for a picture or two and then we walked through a simple set of halls displaying St. Ignatius of Loyola's life story and information on the founding of the Jesuits, then we entered his personal rooms. These were small, low ceilinged rooms with simple white-washed walls and simple sturdy wooden furniture. They were a great contrast to the flourish and opulence of the Basilicas. Emma and Rachael were relieved to see the genuine simplicity in which the saint lived. This to them felt more like faith.

There was also a small entrance hall that was done with an astounding amount of skill in creating depth through use of perspective and many elements that looked 3 dimensional but were in fact flat surfaces.

It was easy to spend time there just marveling at the painting. But we headed back out and passed the Largo di Torre Argentina, a set of 4 ruined Roman Temples, on our way to find a gelato place that Rachael's online pen pal had recommended. The store was supposed to be near Campo Di Fiori, a traditional city square. We never found the shop but we did find a delightful gelato shop and we ate the best gelato in the square as we soaked in the evening. Then we walked a few blocks over to Piazza Navona. This is a huge elegant square that hosts 3 large fountains, including the Fountain of the 4 Rivers by Bernini. It was fun to see Emma and Rachael relish the experience. The air was lively and pleasant and we decided that we would get dinner here. We found a restaurant and got a front row table on the square. There were street performers and lots of people to watch as we ate our food.

It was a wonderful night and we were so happy to come back to the apartment to see that the girls had also had a good evening together.