We haven't posted an entry for two weeks! But that's not because things haven't been happening, quite the opposite - too many things have been happening, most notably Holy Week - that wonderful but very busy time of celebration in the life of the Christian Church. In addition to Holy Week there have also been various family activities and responsibilities, and if that wasn't enough it's tax season as well! Since our last posting there have been a number of developments in our travel plans as well, in the coming days we will be sharing some of these with new posts... stay tuned.
Speaking of Holy Week, a little while ago it dawned on me that we would be in Rome during another major Church festival - that being Pentecost. I wondered if there was some unique Pentecost celebration we could take in while there. A little internet searching and I came across one that really sounds visually spectacular, the only problem is we may miss it by a matter of minutes. Let me explain: first with the event, and then with our circumstances.
The Pantheon is an ancient Roman building, dating back to the second century. It was originally a temple to the gods of pagan Rome (Pantheon is from the Greek word meaning 'every god'). In the early 7th century Emperor Phocas gave the building to the Pope Boniface IV who converted it into a Christian church known as Santa Maria dei Martini (Saint Mary and the Martyrs). This church continues to hold Mass in this ancient building. For the celebration of Pentecost it is the custom of this church to drop rose petals from an opening in the roof down on to the congregation below at the end of the Mass. Apparently local firefighters are given the task of climbing the roof and dropping the rose petals at the appointed time. One observer says it is like the tongues of fire descending on the heads of the disciples. I've attached a picture of the rose petals falling through the opening in the ceiling of the Pantheon (which I hope is large enough for you to make out the petals falling).
Now to our circumstance: Our plane is supposed to land in Rome at 11 AM. The Mass at this church begins at 10:30 AM (though apparently you need to line up at 9:30 to be able to get in). This celebration Mass is about 2 hours in length, which would mean the rose petals would fall from the sky around 12:30 PM. Our question is: How long will it take to disembark from the plane, get through customs, and get from the Airport into the city center? Checking on the map we've noted that the Pantheon is fairly close to our hotel (less than half a kilometre), but should we head straight to the Pantheon, with luggage in tow, hoping to catch the moment the rose petals start falling (realizing that at that point we would be relegated to the tourist zone behind the ropes). Or do we simply go to our hotel, check in, then head over to the Pantheon to see the rose petals covering the ground after the Mass (hopefully they don't clean them up immediately). We will be playing this by ear, it will all depend on whether the flight is on time or not, and how quickly we get through customs. It would be very cool if it all worked out, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
More certain is that we will be able to visit the Catacombs of Rome, and even doing that on Pentecost gives it a bit more significance. I will keep checking for other things to do in Rome that day, who knows what else might turn up - until a couple of weeks ago I never knew the Pantheon was used as a Christian church, and I had certainly never heard about the rose petals falling from the sky. We're already learning so much, and we haven't even left Regina yet!
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