September 04, The Cannonisation of St. Teresa (mother Teresa)

My entry Pass for the function

The big day came. I got ready at 2.30 am and waited for the father to go Vatican. He came with his personal car, in which I boarded with Mr. Shine, a Senior Manager of a Swedish Firm in Bangalore, with his son. In few minutes we reached Vatican.

3 am 

6.30 am

We expected a huge crowd, but there were very less number of people at St. Peters square. There would be less than 25-30 people. We also sat near to the barriers, where the guards told us that the gates will open at 7 am only. Slowly people started arriving and the noise around also were going up. By 5 am the entire area was crowded with people. The barricades were slowly moved inside along with that the entire crowd were also moving. I found people sitting next to me were from Ecuador, Spain, and a Christian priest from USA.

The wait continued till 7 am and slowly the entry was allowed. 
There after a run towards the security gate for screening of bags. Slowly I found my seat near to the aisles. I felt really proud of being part of the event as the Indian Flags were in the air ahead of me in either side and behind my seats too. There were several flags of the nations, but I found that that day was meant for India, where Mother spent her life time for the service of the poor, orphans and destitutes.

The pic of Mother at St. Peters Church

After a brief introduction about the event there was a long applaud of around 2-3 minutes when the declaration of canonisation was made by the Pope. The prayers continued in Italian and the participants were quite enthusiastic to attend the event with utmost devotion. Meantime, the sun reached its peak by 12 noon, and there were several people started fainting due to excess heat or dehydration. The volunteers rushed every single spot wherever such cases were reported.

The family around me were from Brazil and they often offered me some eatables and fruit. Though at first I denied, later I could not say no to an old lady who offered me some grapes and biscuits.

Om namasivaya at Vatican

It was a great surprise (still I can’t believe) for me to hear a Hindu Prayer ‘Om Namasivaya’ at the end of the service. I could record a part of this song at the end. It seems the Vatican wants to echo the Indian culture and also a tribute to the people of India.

At the end of the event, the Pope blessed the crowd, which is called as Angelus.

Castel Sant Angelo

The helmets used by Roman Soldiers

I had two points to cover in the afternoon. One is Castel Sant’ Angelo, also known as Castle of St. Angels. It is believed that the angel appeared to the Emperor here in the castle. The castle is a beautiful building with traditional architecture style, located on the banks of River Tiber. The structure also contains the mausoleum of the nobles, then later in 14^th century it was converted in to Pope’s residence. If my knowledge is correct, once up on a time, the same fortress was used as a prison by the king to restrict the Pope’s movements (including political) of during the middle ages. The spiral stairs lead to the top of the building which has magnificent paintings in the walls and ceilings depicting various stories and myths. Standing the top floor, once can see the city of Rome with the towering buildings. River Tiber silently flows through the city, which witnessed the changes of time and seasons, which also elevated many to power and the downfall of those who couldn’t compete with the waves of challenges whether it is conspiracies, battles or people’s movements. (There is no entry fee on Sundays)

Paintings at the Ceiling

Once I finished the visit to Castel, once again I went to St. Peters Bascilica. This time I went with a specific task to present some flowers, two small candles and a painting of Kashi at Vatican which were given my wife. To my disappointment, I couldn't find a place in the Bascilica to present the offerings, hence, keeping close the things to my chest I prayed in one of the chapels for a while.

The last point at Rome

The last point was to see the place where St. Peter was buried. After asking several people, I reached the area, where I could see it. Here again I was perplexed and I thought I need a ticket to visit the area. The person in counter asked me, whether I prefer lift but I said no.

It was close to 3.30 p.m. I had to reach the Roma Termini Station at 5.30 pm to take my train to Milano. The spiral slopes continued and I thought it would end soon. But the way became narrow and the stairs appeared at a further distance going upward in a spherical way. I started moving fast but my legs couldn't move the way I wanted. Finally I reached at the top of the building where the stairs ended. But I could realise now, that I am moving to the top of the Basilica and there is no tomb of St Peter. The lift takes people up to this level and I believe it is 10^th level (if my memory is right).

 There is another level of stairs I have to climb (three or four levels). Taken up the challenge ahead, I moved ahead. But this time it was so tough that there was very limited space for the body to move. It would be really difficult for people with obesity to climb up the stairs or those with breathing problem as the physical exertion is more at the top level.

View of the Main Dome of St. Peters Basilica

Cursing my bad decision and wrong choice, finally I reached the top of the Bascilica with a long - long breathe. My tight schedule was more bothering me than the height of the building. I could realise that the dome of the basilica is approximately 137 meters height, and I am standing somewhere near 130 meters from ground level. I was wondering how the architects of that period moved up and down, completed their tasks in a perfect manner in which the dome of the Basilica even today stand as the no. 1 in the word in terms of art, architecture and its design.

I didn’t spend much time in the dome. Climbing down was easier and I could reach fast in the ground level. Leaving the tomb of St. Peter for the next visit, I moved to the Bus Shelter to catch my bus to Roma Termini.

I reached the station well before time, boarded the train to Milano. It started at 6 pm and finally I reached Milano at 9 pm covering a distance of approximately 572 km.

Looking for my connecting train to Arona, I met Shree (Sri Lankan friend). The train started 30 minutes late from Arona, but the difficult part of this one hour trip was the Ac was not working and we were troubled with extreme heat. I wondered how this could be possible in such a developed nation like Italy, where we find in India some cases of Ac failures of trains.

When we reached Arona, Peter was there to receive us. We were quite happy to see Peter again and this time we were telling him the stories of Rome visit to Peter the entire way to Armeno. We reached Armeno at around 11.15 and there Elisa, Franchesco heard our story with great interest.