From Paul to Peter

Once you get to Rome in pilgrimage, you should visit the tombs of St Peter and St Paul in this order, so the tradition goes. However, the Beda's custom seems to be the opposite, as we visited the Basilica of St Paul outside the walls on a Saturday and then we went to the Basilica of St Peter on a Monday.

I wake up at 5:00, 15 minutes before my alarm set off. I suppose the mixture of excitement and the fear of not being ready in time for such a significant occasion pushed me promptly out of bed. The college headed to St Peter's by 6:30 so that we could celebrate the Eucharist at 7:45. Though the trip would take us only 30 minutes, we had to make sure we wouldn't be caught up on any long queues in the security checks. So that gave me enough time to roam around.

My greatest joy thirty years ago when visiting St Peter's became my greatest disappointment: visitors to the Pieta are now kept 10 metres afar with a wooden rail, and there is a thick security glass protecting Michelangelo's magnificent sculpture from any potential damage. The spot where one can stand to see Our Lady holding Jesus' lifeless body was insufficient to accommodate all the crammed tourists eager to take a picture. So, I just gave up and moved further inside the church. Then to my right, I devised the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and I walked in for a short devotional. As I was praying, I could sense an almost tangible spiritual presence made of people's adoration and God's merciful response to his children. The basilica has several pulsating sites, but this chapel is where one can feel God's presence most intensely.

The two papal churches impressed me enormously. My colleagues were asking what my impression of St Peter's was. Contemplating St Peter's is like seeing St Paul's in London but on a much bigger scale and with an extraordinary variety of stone and sacred art. However, if I had to pick a church in Rome, between St Peter's and St Paul's I would go for the latter. There is something about St Paul's austerity compared to St Peter's, and its structure brings reminiscences of classical temples that resonate more with my aesthetic leanings. Let us see if I will keep the same impression after I return to St Peter's in October.