7 Church Pilgrimage

HI FRIENDS!
Amy reminded me that there hasn't been a post in some time. She also wanted to know if I am alive. This should resolve any fears of my being 'offed' on an Italian side street. Unless someone has taken up the writing of this blog, thoroughly replicating my unique personality as made manifest in my random writing style, in order to cover his tracks...
I will say in my defense... which will have the dual purpose of explaining what I've been up to, that I started classes! On October 12th I began the Intensive Course at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, otherwise known as the Angelicum. The intensive course, is true to its name, covering much of the course work from the first and second year of philosophy. This term I am taking 8 classes. Next term will be 10 or 11. Given the American standard of 4 or 5 courses, this is... crazy. The additional factor of this being philosophical study does not make this easier. Studying theology is somewhat synonymous (to me) with living or breathing. They seem to have a similar effect of being essentially life-giving. In the same way that breathing just happens, theology sinks into my brain nicely. Alternatively, philosophy sounds like words I've heard before, all strung together in ways that don't sound like English anymore. Different meanings seem to be attributed to words like 'extension'. Extension cords? Hair extensions? Does something get longer? No, your 'being' has extension. It can be extended into particular 'being'. Particular being is limited by its extension. Or something. I might be quoting my roommate. Who might be wrong. Who knows. I previously have chocked up philosophy as a non-sensical way guys since the BC years have tried to define reality. Maybe that is actually true, but philosophy would just knock out the 'non-sensical'. I don't even want to define it here. I like the classical definition of 'the love of wisdom'. I just feel a long way from sane or wise in the midst of studying it. And now, it is ALL I'm studying. It's a lot to take in.
Anyway, usually I am reading the same sentence written by Hegel 500 times in my free time, which is why I wasn't blogging. That and the once accessible internet is more or less inaccessible now. So, all around harder to blog. 
I am trying to remember things of note since the last entry....
I went to Madrid, Spain for 5 days to visit Martha Gornik. It was lovely. Spain is so much cleaner than Rome. And less hectic. It was a nice reprieve. And of course, it was so good to spend time with a dear friend from home! I saw real life Picassos and Dalis. I wandered famous Plazas. I bought a scarf. I attended Mass at the Cathedral and saw the Palace. 
I came back at like 4 am the first day of classes (talk about tired!) and entertained guests of my roommate for several days. Saw the Pope in Rome for the first time. Had dinner at an Italian restaurant for the first time. And managed to finish first one week, then two, of classes! Tomorrow will start my third! And, I learned that the cafe I ran in Ann Arbor for over three years before leaving, is now scheduled to be closed November 3rd. Heartbreak! It is really really sad....
Yesterday, I accompanied my roommate on "the seven churches" - a pilgrimage to the 7 pilgrim churches of Rome. The entire pilgrimage is walked, which I learned would be 12 miles only the night before - whoa! It is a devotional practice renewed by St. Philip Neri, to visit these particular churches that have a special connection to pilgrims who traveled to Rome to visit the churches, which are all ancient churches, with ties to ancient martyrs. One of the churches is more particularly connected to St. Helena, however, and her bringing of the sacred relics of the crucifixion from Jerusalem.
I found a site that has a slide show of pictures of the 7 churches, if you'd like to see some. I'll post my own eventually, but my camera died at #6. http://www.fotopedia.com/en/Seven_Pilgrim_Churches_of_Rome


The Seven Churches are (in the order we visited them, with their Italian names):
San Pietro (tombs of many, but of course, St. Peter as well as SS. Simon and Jude)
Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Matthew, St. Jerome, relics of the manger and true cross)
San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (outside the walls) (St. Lawrence and St. Stephen, 1st martyr)
Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (St. Thomas, the doubter's finger - the one that was in Christ's side!, relics of the true cross, 2 thorns from the crown of thorns, the wooden inscription hung on the cross by Pilate, a nail from the cross, and relics of the scourging pilar, etc. as well as a copy of the Shroud of Turin.)
San Giovanni in Laterano (relics of the heads of Peter and Paul)
San Sebastiano (St. Sebastian)
San Paolo fuori le Mura (outside the walls) (St. Paul himself)


Just listing off the names of those Saints is profound... We began with Mass at St. Peter's. Went to confession at Saint Mary Major (I did my penance in front of St. Matthew and above St. Jerome - what!?!?). At St. Lawrence, I touched the tomb of Lawrence and Stephen and prayed for my brother, Paul, who took Stephen as his confirmation name. A baby was baptized while we prayed in the crypt below. I thought, can you imagine being baptized here? Where the first martyr is buried!?! 
At Santa Croce (the Holy Cross in Jerusalem), we prayed in a chapel before the relics of the crucifixion. Thorns that were IN the head of Christ. The finger that was IN his side. A nail, that pierced his hands or feet. How crazy is that? I saw a copy of the shroud for the first time. Saw the places where Christ's injuries soaked the cloth. Saw his face. I laid down in line with the shroud and determined Christ was about 7 inches taller than me. We looked at the bottom of the cloth and saw how the blood pooled beneath his body. And saw that his entire backside, all the way to his feet, every inch of his legs and back, was covered in lash marks from the scourging. I thought, "oh my gosh, those are the marks of the scourging." It hit me like a ton of bricks.
The statue above St. Sebastian is prior to his martyrdom, when he was shot with arrows by his own soldiers, and was carved by Bernini. As was a beautiful bust of Christ. In St. Paul's outside the walls, our final stop, we prayed at the visibly excavated tomb of St. Paul himself, around which the current alter is built. I thought, "Here is Paul. PAUL! Who wrote so much of the New Testament. Who met Christ on the road to Damascus. Whose whole life was transformed and who gave the entirety of his life to serve God. Paul!"
We walked 12 miles over the course of about 10.5 hours, a trek made by the faithful who've come to Rome since the 3rd century (approximately). The road we walked on the way to St. Sebastian is one of the Ancient Roads in Rome, the Appian Way, a road that has been traversed in and out of the city since BC 300. There is a tradition held that Peter walked this road to flee the city during persecution, but returned and was martyred. We passed by catacombs on our way. 
There is something profound about the tangibility of it all. Of seeing. Of touching. Of knowing that it is THE St. Paul beside who's grave I sit. Much like seeing the bones of Peter in the tour of the scavi. Or SEEING 2.5 inch thorns that were actually shoved into the head of Christ. Something different than the kind of knowing you have from trusting the tenants of the Christian faith and the truths of the Scriptures. Something so human. so real. And there is something quite real and immediate in the pain in your limbs and especially your feet after walking 12 miles. 
Here is a google map of our approximate route: http://maps.google.it/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Via+Fratelli+Bandiera,+24,+00152+Rome,+Italy&daddr=Saint+Peter's+Basilica+to:St.+Mary+Major+to:St.+Lawrence+outside+the+walls+to:Santa+Croce+in+Gerusalemme+to:St.+John+Lateran+to:St+Sebastians+to:St.+Paul+outside+the+walls&geocode=%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3BFY6qfgIdNf2-ACEHY6Pf4ogwZw%3BFV_XfgIdc4u-ACGz5IoPNeWr4w&hl=en&mra=ls&dirflg=w&sll=41.87902,12.48858&sspn=0.074258,0.133381&ie=UTF8&ll=41.882598,12.490082&spn=0.074254,0.133381&z=13

OK... I think that is all I can type right now. Likely way more than you want to read even!
Love you all! Will try to be more frequent in posting. Please pray for understanding in my coursework and less crankiness on the part of my asthmatic lungs (stupid smokers and ancient dust).
<3 Elizabeth