Week III, GL350

Well time is really starting to fly!  I can't believe week three has come to end so quickly.  I can't keep track of all the awesome experiences.  After get back at midnight on Monday from Venice, we woke up early and David and I led the class on our tour through San Giovanni.  San Giovanni was one of my favorite churches so far, and it was probably because we researched it and learned a lot about it.  I think that once you learn about something you appreciate what you're seeing a lot more and the pictures have more meaning. We started our tour at the church of St. Constantine. This was a really awesome church filled with a lot of  history.

The next stop of our tour was at the Sacred Steps.  It is said that Constantine's mother, St. Helen brought these back from the Holy Land and that they were the steps that Jesus descended after his trial in the home of Pontious Pilot.  The 28 stairs are a holy symbol and were covered with wood and in order to ascend the stairs you must climb on your knees.  It is said that on each stair you must say a prayer, usually a Hail Mary.  I climbed these stairs on my knees and it was a great experience. My knees were sore after about the tenth step but the last eight seemed to go really fast and my knees didn't hurt so bad.  It made me feel that something helped me get through the last steps with ease. Below is a picture of the Sacred Steps. 

 

San Giovanni was really amazing as well. Dave and I spent a long time in here walking around and preparing to give the tour. Visser hit the nail on the head in "The Smiles of Rome" when she states, "Memory, in a church, is not only individual, but also collective: the building is a meeting house for a group of people who agree with each other in certain important respects.  They come together to express solidarity, and they do this by participating in an intensely meaningful performance known as a ritual."  You could feel a lot of history throughout this church. There was a lot of art in this huge church including statues and painting.  There are a number of popes buried here.  Only the pope is allowed to say mass at this church and he still does so every Holy Thursday. 

 

We also had a tour of the catacombs and this was by far my favorite tour.  The guide was excellent and we got to learn a lot about the history of the catacombs and how and why they came to be.  Week three was great and next we're going to tackle London!