Christmas Eve in Roma, the Eternal City
Trip Start
Feb 10, 2005
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45
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Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
I flew to London to meet my friend Stephen and the next morning, Christmas Eve, we flew to Rome. The first place we went was St. Peter's square and basilica. We found out we needed tickets to get into midnight mass with the Pope, and they were all given out. The tickets are free, but they issue them so the Basilica isn't overrun. We wandered around Rome in awe, and by 11 pm finally settled on Mass at Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) Basilica. The church was 1700 years old and built on the site of a Roman temple. The mass was one of the most beautiful I have been to. Bells, Trumpets, Gregorian Chant, Polyphony, a mercifully short aermon in Italian, and of course the most ancient of settings. I really felt in touch with the Incarnation (Christmas).
