First part of a series

Pinoy in Rome: Countdown to the Jubilee Year of Mercy

By ROBERT Z. CORTES
December 5, 2015

The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy announced by Pope Francis around Holy Week this year is finally starting on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, just a couple of days from now. That this special event in the Church’s history begins on that date is, of course, no accident. This Pope’s devotion to Mary, shown publicly every time he passes by St. Mary Major before any major trip abroad, should have made that choice almost predictable. However, aside from human choices, one ought to consider above all the guidance of Providence, whose will it is that the most important events in the Church happen under the mantle of Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of Mercy.

So the idea to prepare proximately for the Jubilee Year of Mercy by making a novena to the Immaculate Conception made a lot of sense to me. And being in Rome, the city that arguably no place in the world can match in terms of the quality and quantity of sacred art present, I took advantage to do the following. For nine days – including the Solemnity, hence the term “novena” – I was going to visit an image of Our Lady venerated in various churches around the city. But which churches, though?

Given the multitude of beautiful and historic churches in Rome, it seemed the best way to approach this project was simply to be led by Providence. This approach is not “to be too mystical about it,” as I learned quite recently from, of all people, a non-Catholic ethics professor in a very secular American university whom I interviewed a couple of months ago. His defense is that “there still is another dimension in terms of a holistic being in which our reason and our spirit and our emotions are an integrated whole… So, you listen to the voice of the spirit.” This was actually good ecumenical advice to which my experience in the following days would attest.

These experiences, culled from my journal of these novena days, are actually Church history lessons devotional, tour-guiding tips, and philosophizing all rolled into one. I share them seeing that they can serve some purpose, however one may be preparing for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Day 1: Our Lady of the Sacred Hear in Sant’ Andrea della Valle

Yesterday, November 30, was the beginning of the novena to the Immaculate Conception. It also happened to be the feast of St. Andrew. Now at the other end of the street where my university is happens to be a huge, looming basilica dedicated to Saint Andrew with the name "Sant ’Andrea della Valle." People with very limited time in Rome usually don't have time to visit this magnificent church, but really next time you come, you should. This church was actually built by the very same people involved in the building of St. Peter's and used this as their "practice" church; people like Giacomo della Porta and Carlo Maderno. The fountain in the square fronting the church is Maderno's.

The paintings and the frescoes inside are even more breathtaking. The dome and the ceiling are one of the best there is in Rome – and perhaps in Christendom. Since it was the feast of St. Andrew, precisely, I decided to do my prayer right there, before the huge fresco of the crucifixion of St. Andrew. I did my rosary in one of the side chapels dedicated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. And by the time I left the church, which is just a five-minute walk from my house, what else could I say, but thank You. Really there is nothing much else one can say.

Day 2: Our Lady and Child in San Salvatore in Onda

Funny what one sees when one changes perspectives. Going home from jogging one day, I decided to pass by the right (instead of the left) side of Via dei Pettinari (Combmakers' Street). I happened to look up by chance and I saw this charming image of Our Lady I had never seen before, even if I'd already passed by here more than ten times. Then, when I looked down, I likewise noticed what should have been an inconspicuous door. Now I saw there was a paper posted on it hinting that inside was actually a church called San Salvatore in Onda and the place where Saint Vincent Pallotti's remains are venerated. I took mental note of the opening schedule and resolved I would do the second day of my novena there.

What was behind that inconspicuous door? Actually a small but amazingly beautiful jewel of a church. First, behind the green door commonly seen along the street, was another set of wider doors made of beautiful, strong, old wood. It had a huge tarp proudly claiming that St. John Paul II had visited this church. For such a small church, I thought, it would be surprising any pope would do that.

But of course, if one knew JP II and St. Vincent Pallotti and what they each stood for, one would understand. For JP II loved to promote the apostolate among lay people, and St. Vincent, in his own 19th century, religious way was one of the promoters of the lay apostolate at the time when it was so much lacking. He founded the "Pious Union of Catholic Apostolate." That’s a union of priests, religious and laity – but the "Pallotines" as they are called, really just consists of the religious brothers and priests, and the laity are, well... they’re there. But that was certainly a huge start.

The church is now their home base, but it wasn’t so at first. Built near the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century, it was given to the Franciscans from which two popes came from. Knowing this historicity of the church and that St. Vincent’s body is now under the altar, one then understands this church deserved the Pope’s visit. But to add to these, there’s also the sheer beauty of medieval and renaissance art that one sees on the ceiling and the simple baldachin under which Mass was held, when I was there. The image of Our Lady and Child by Cesare Mariani in the main altar is also arresting.

The church has the appellation "in Onda" which means "in the wave" most probably because of the frequent flooding of the Tiber. I've seen some of these signs on marble stone around several parts in Rome, indicating where the river was at this or that point, and there's only one thing I can say. The worst Manila floods are as if only two inches, compared to Rome flooding in those days! I'm not sure if this has any connection to one image of Our Lady venerated there on a huge side altar, "Virgin most Powerful" – because one certainly needed a huge power to survive such inundations!

But last night, I know I was inundated by only one thing – thanksgiving for being surrounded by such beauty and holiness.