Church History Meets Vacation Memories
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7 (ESV)
In May 2023, my husband Ron and I spent several hours visiting Vatican City. While pre-planning our vacation, I had reserved a semi-private tour for this site. It was on the spendy side, but we felt it was worth every penny. Considering the recent news about the selection of a new pope, I hope you’ll enjoy a few of Ron’s vacation photos as well as some of my reflections today.
A balcony view of Vatican City.
Almost two years to the day of our visit, St. Peter’s Square, where we had strolled under umbrellas on a stormy May day, was sunny and jam-packed with believers from all over the world waiting to catch a glimpse of the newly elected pope. As I watched the coverage, a barrage of memories flooded my thoughts.
This is one of my favorite photographs Ron took while walking around St. Peter’s Square on a gray, rainy spring day. It reminds me of a painting, and a copy hangs in my home office.
St. Peter’s Square. If you watched any of the recent news coverage, you can imagine this place packed with thousands of expectant and excited people.
While I am not Roman Catholic, I do consider myself a member of the [lowercase] catholic church since the word catholic comes from a Greek word meaning “through the whole” or “universal.” I have prayed with my Catholic friends for the selection of the 267th pope, who we now know is Pope Leo XIV. I also regularly pray for leaders of other religious groups as well as for world leaders.
Here Ron and I are in the huge Vatican museum, wearing our tourist headsets. (The rainy weather made for a not-so-good hair day for me!) Ron took dozens of photos, such as of this painting depicting Christ exiting the tomb on Resurrection Sunday.
Although we spent a good deal of time in the Sistine Chapel, photographs were not allowed. As I watched news coverage of the Conclave of cardinals in that location, I recalled the beauty of this sacred site as well as the crick in my neck I experienced from gazing at the amazing artwork of Michaelangelo painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the 1500’s.
I believe St. Peter’s Basilica may be the most beautiful place in the world I’ve visited. The Pietà, Michaelangel’s famous sculpture, sits at the entrance of the massive cathedral. The stained-glass dove, depicting the Holy Spirit, rises above the altar.
Blessings on each of our faith journeys,
