Musings from Rome… pt. 1
Last year, my wife and I went on pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee Year. My wife and I hadn’t been out of the country since we studied abroad in undergrad back in 2010. When Pope Francis announced the 2025 Jubilee Year, I knew my wife and I had to make a pilgrimage to Rome. As I tend to do, I made a very detailed itinerary, all with the understanding that flexibility in the moment was key. I also knew that my wife (high school social studies teacher who especially loves history) needed some history breaks to separate all of the churches we would be visiting.
I’m not going to give you a detailed walkthrough of our time in the Eternal City (it would feel eternal), but there were some things the Holy Spirit really spoke to me about at various times. To break up the monotony, I’ll include photos.
My high school Bible study group worked its way through Luke that summer. In Luke, Jesus declares:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
This “year of the Lord’s favor“ refers to a Jubilee Year, a year in which the captives are set free, the debts forgiven (good news to the poor, surely). This is a good thing! A happy thing! As a result, a Jubilee Pilgrimage should be marked not only by proper spiritual reflection, but should have some enjoyment to it.
The walk towards the tomb of St. Peter
The only organized walk to the Holy Doors is at St. Peter’s Basilica. Starting at the end of the street (Via della Conciliazione). You slowly approach St. Peter’s, where it begins to loom larger and larger. Initially, you can only really see the building, but then slowly you can make out the saints on top and who surround it. As I approached, I began to forget that I was walking towards a basilica, and I instead remembered that I was approaching a tomb: the tomb of St. Peter.
Closer now
Walking through the Porta Sancta. It’s an unreal event. It’s important to pull oneself out of an individualistic mindset that I am passing through the Porta Sancta, and instead I am treading on the same ground that countless others have: sinners, saints (canonized and uncanonized), priests, bishops, and popes. You are living history at that moment.
St. Peter’s Basilica porta sancta
A pilgrimage is a journey to somewhere. The question is where. In a way, it’s a journey towards sanctity, using the occasion to be strengthened and supported. It’s a journey towards the destination itself, a reminder that Christianity is truly universal and beyond your front door. It’s a journey towards Christ, the true destination of all of our lives.
