Finally, some more pictures

Happy Feast of our Lady’s Nativity. In the morning I went to Trastevere, to our Lady’s Church there, which was one of the original parishes in Rome even before Christianity was legal, and to St. Chrisogonus, which has a very nice collection of relics (in a chapel!) and the incorrupt body of Blessed Ana Maria Taigi. Of course I prayed for my mom at her tomb, it seemed very appropriate. I wasn’t able to get to the Corsini palace in time, (it closes at 1), so I went to the botanic gardens after lunch like I had planned after going to the palace. It was very refreshing to walk about the garden, and I spent an hour under a shady tree reading Hibbert’s (sorry, not Herbert’s) Rome. It is an excellent book, which I really recommend, especially to any fans of H.V Morton out there.
After the garden I went up the Janiculum to discover some astonishing views of Rome below. The sight was even better than from the top of St. Peter’s. I also went to San Pietro in Montorio, but couldn’t look around much because of a wedding, but really contented myself with visiting the spot where St. Peter was martyred, and where Bramante built a little temple to adorn the place. There is a hole in the floor that lets you look down to the crypt below where the precise spot is covered with glass. I then discovered that it is possible to go around the back and down to the crypt, (but not go in) so I was able to get a better view. I also went to the Acqua Paola, where the view of Rome is magnificent. I came down after that, deciding to explore the very top of the hill, San Pancrazio and the villa Doria Pamphili some other time.
On my way to San Gregorio for Mass, I walked along the via Julia. I liked the facade of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, and of course the dome, but there is something about the inside that left me cold. I don’t know, but I had a weird feeling in the place, despite the fact that they have a nice altar to St. Philip Neri. The altar cross is a reliquary of a wooden cross that used to belong to him. Met several new people at San Gregorio today, and it was confirmed that there would be a sung Mass on the 14, and maybe even a solemn High Mass. I am really looking forward to it.