As we approached St. Peter's basilica, the teenager
in our group had to visit a vendor to buy plastic pants to wear over his
shorts to get in. |
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One of the two "arms of God" that encircle St.
Peter's Square and welcome you. |
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Such a vast space! And to think, a lot of
this stone was stolen from the Colosseum. |
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This must be the overflow area, when there is not
enough room in the church.
These chairs are mighty sun baked. |
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The line of people on the right leads all the way
into the church. |
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Mosaics! So beautiful. |
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Pioneers of Catholic Orders have statues all along the
wall. |
Everywhere we looked, there was something beautiful
to see. |
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The dark awning thing covers the altar that only
the Pope may use to say Mass. |
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Here is a closer view of the Pope's altar and the
dark pillars. |
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The thing that looks like an amber glowing clock is
a panel with a flying dove in the center, not a clock at all.
Mass was being said, way back there against that wall.
We could not get closer. |
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This is the long view of the picture described
below. Gives you an idea of the crowds.
We had a mere 25 minutes on our own in here, and
Karen was shocked at how quickly the time flew. |
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We were there on the day of the Feast of St. Peter
and St. Paul. This is a statue of St. Peter which comes out one day
a year, to be dressed in the robes of a Pope. |
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One of the Popes? Brought up for the year
2000 celebration. |
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Closer look. |
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It is hard to believe that this lovely picture is
not a painting. But it is a mosaic. That's why we could take
pictures, because the camera flash does not hurt the colored stone the way
it does paint. |
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Karen was very moved in St. Peter's Basilica. |
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The Swiss-German guards in traditional uniform.
The guide said that at the time, Swiss-German guards were excellent
soldiers -- and a little less expensive than German guards.
If you had a special pass, you could approach these
guys and go through the archway. I should have talked to my parish
priest! |
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Every day at noon when he is in residence, the Pope
goes to a window and blesses everyone who is there. We had to leave
to continue our tour, but we did meet people who were there at noon and
got blessed. |
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