Day 14: Rome - Canonization of Mary MacKillop

It was another early rise this morning as I needed to get to the Vatican early to secure my seat for the Canonization mass of Australia's first Saint, Mary MacKillop, along with 5 others. This event was the reason I arranged my travels to come back to Rome so I had to make sure I got a good seat.

Thankfully my hotel was only a 5-10 minute walk from St Peters and I arrived around 7:45am. Even though the mass wasn't scheduled to begin until 10am, we were advised to arrive before 8:30am at the latest. When I arrived there was already quite a crowd and I really wasn't sure where the line started or ended so I spotted a group of aussies and got talking to them and found out that they included a group of Josephine nuns (the order commenced by Mary). Anyway within seconds I found myself talking to Sister Judith who is from my home town of Toowoomba. Who would have thought....

Anyway, the ladies graciously let me join them in line, and when we finally started moving we got through “security” (although it surprised me that it was really only a curious glance at our bags) very quickly and made the dash to claim our seats.

Getting there early paid off as our seats ended up being only 16 rows from the front. And I'm happy to report that I didn't hear that stupid "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" cheer.  Maybe sitting with the nuns had an unexpected benefit. Our seats were great, and thankfully we were in the shade for the majority of the service.  Things kicked off around 9:30am when each Saint-to-be got their moment in the spotlight as their story was read out to the waiting crowd in their native language, before the main event kicked off at 10am.

The 6 Saints being canonized at today's mass were: Stanislaw Soltys (1433-1489); Andre Bessette (1845-1937); Candida Maria De Jesus Cipitria Y Barriola (1845-1912); Mary of the Cross MacKillop (1842-1909); Giulia Salzano (1846-1929); and Battista Camilla Da Varano (1458-1524).

The portraits of the 6 Saints being canonized...

Before the mass began:

 

 

 Mary's story being delivered prior to the mass beginning:

The mass:

 

Can you spot Pope Benedict XVI???

 

Can any of the aussie's spot KRudd???

 

Communion preparations:

The priest who was distributing communion in our area...

 After it was all over (and the view from further back than I was).

Once the mass was over and I was finally able to fight my way through the hoards of departing pilgrims, I made my way to the metro, where I caught the train to the Piramide station, where I changed over to the Rome-Lido line and caught the train to Ostia Antica.

 

 

Ostia was the ancient port town founded in the 4th century BC that was eventually abandoned and then slowly buried in river silt.  The ruins are greatly preserved and unlike Pompeii, it is relatively undiscovered, but a really pleasant place to visit, not least due to the great number of trees that help shade the ruins. Also, many of the original mosaics are still here and haven't been moved to museums etc like Pompeii which have been moved off-site.

 

 

 

Yes, they are what you think they are...

It really was a nice way to spend my last afternoon in Rome.

After two weeks in Italy, it's sadly time to say Arrivederci. Next stop München, albeit a few weeks late for Octoberfest (insert sad face here)...