We all got off the 280 bus at the Ponte Sisto and made our way to the Piazza Trilussa. Shelby and I stopped in front of the Trilussa statue and both agreed it would be funny to get a group photo all copying the pose. While we’re walking down a side street to get to the basilica Emma stopped in an English bookstore and Shelby and I waited outside, since the store was rather crowded and the rest of the group went inside. After their bookstore needs were met, we continued down the road and and after turning a corner Santa Maria in Trastevere was in front of us. I don’t think Emma was paying too much attention last time we were in the square because she seemed so stunned by the façade of the church. Earlier in the day I looked up the hours of the church, and we were arriving in the middle of the daily Mass. Worried that we would be interrupting and not allowed in or kicked out, we headed across the piazza to the entrance of the basilica. While we were walking I saw tourists milling about the portico of the church so I took it as a sign people were allowed in. In front of the fountain of the piazza a man was making those spray paint pictures of the Colosseum and the whole area smelled of spray paint.
Before the entrance to the church there was a large sign showing no cell phones allowed and everyone who didn’t bring a journal to write in panicked; I just switched out my phone for my journal. As soon as we opened the doors into the church the smell of incense hit me. The sound of the priest preaching was interrupted when one of the other tourists taking photos of the church dropping their phone. I thought to myself that this basilica was definitely different from last one, Santa Sabina, I was in. It was so much more ornate, with a number more mosaics, statues, marble facing, and gold. There was a lot gold. While still standing in the side aisle I tried to listen in on the Mass to recognize the prayers, though it seemed my Italian wasn’t up to par. I moved on to the nave of the basilica just in time to see a part of the service I recognized, the extending of the sign of peace. In a moment of silence the priest blessed the Eucharist and I watched the people line up to receive the body and blood of Christ. Emma kept walking up to me and asking what was happening during the service, which I thought was funny because I was by no means the expert. It did make me think thought back to the last time I went to Mass. I went with my grandmother and it was a rather similar experience since I didn't understand anything then either; it was a Hispanic church and the whole service was in Spanish. Someone sitting in the pew’s phone then went off just as the service was ending. The bells began to ring and I could hear them coming from this church and nearby churches. Tourists shuffling out tired of watching the mass creaked open the old wooden doors to the church.
I walked to the other aisle now that the Mass was over and light a candle for grandma like I always do when I’m in a church. I noticed a statue covered in in notes next to the candle stand and wondered what it was. The paper slips were for prayers, as the blank slips leftover said “preghiera” on them. The statue was a monk holding a baby Jesus, but there was no additional signage indicating why people left prayers here specifically. As I walked around the church I noticed a number of popes like Pope Innocent II buried there. In the rear chapel there was a worn icon of the Madonna and Child and it made me think of the Achiropita, where the bottom of the painting was worn away and all that was left was the canvas. The rest of the group started to head out so I turned away from the painting and followed them back out into the piazza.
(Santa Maria in Trastevere 5/29/19)
No comments:
Post a Comment