065 - Chapter 65

(Illustrations: Places we visited in Rome)

Our whole family loved being on holiday together, and we booked up for Centre Parcs, a self-catering holiday park in Penrith, for a long weekend. How lovely to have everyone all in one place, doing cycling, football, badminton, archery and swimming. Bob and I were at hand too in the evening for babysitting grandchildren, so our children could have time out together. Katie was just beginning to walk, make sounds, climb stairs and settees, that interesting age of experiment. Stephen and Dionne took us along to a photography studio, and we ended up with some fantastic family photos.

We knew that Peter was getting prepared to ask Amanda to marry him, the engagement ring had been bought. He had booked a holiday at the Lakes for the two of them., with a plan to propose to her at Friar’s Crag. On the day it was blowing a gale, but nevertheless he got down on one knee, produced the ring and proposed. Amanda said her ‘Yes’ straight away, without hesitation. She had been feeling poorly, but made quite a recovery at such a lovely surprise. Our youngest son’s dreams and hopes, had come true, and ours for him.

Our children had flown the nest now, and it was our turn to ‘fly off’ too, to Rome for a holiday. Off we went, delighted at the prospect of yet another marriage in the family, and a lovely future daughter-in-law to look forward to.

We first circled over the city in the aeroplane, which was fascinating as were able to pick out important buildings we’d read about, through our window, but as we made our descent to the landing strip, our Boeing suddenly rose back up into the air again, with a massive thrust of its engines and an almighty roar. Bob and I were delighted to be able to circle the city for a second time, and see the famous landmarks once more and get our bearings. However, on coming in to land for the second time, we looked around and passengers near us seemed to be praying, they sensed by that first attempt at landing that something was not right! But there was no problem at all, it was fine, and we had a very safe landing. As we touched down everyone bust into a loud applause as we taxied the runway. Their prayers had been answered.

Apart from the fact I had a cold with a really sore throat which got steadily worse as the holiday wore on, we really enjoyed every aspect of this adventure together round this ancient city. With each swallow though, I felt like I was swallowing cut glass. I would love to visit Rome again as a healthy person.

On the day we visited St Peter’s, it was heavily guarded at its perimeter fence, and we were quite amused to see a young man who was covered in heavy metal paraphernalia, ear-rings studs , belts, the lot, having to take every single piece of metal off his person for security purposes, in order to enter the gate! The guard had that kind of smile on his face, which said he wasn’t amused at all, but was enjoying the lad’s discomfort, and the fact that he was causing him inconvenience.  

We had booked a very special trip months before our visit, called the ‘Scavi excavation’ which was a visit below the church to the Necropolis, (the tomb of St Peter.) Our passes allowed us into the vault way below the sacred altar of St Peter’s church, and also below the gallery of the tombs of past popes. Most tourists do not even know it can be accessed.

We descended into what looked like a city below ground. This was the place where an excavation had taken place in 1940’s to find St Peter’s bones. It had been top secret at the time. Eventually the archaeologists had found purple material, then ancient coins, then the bones of a tall headless skeleton. These bones were thought to have been the bones of St Peter himself, since some carvings in Latin had read: ‘Peter is here’. 

No-one was allowed to speak or ask any questions in our party of 12. It was quite awesome to be so near to those bones. Just think if these remains are genuine, how close we came to what was St Peter!

Bob had taken some olive wood ‘holding crosses’ with us on holiday, which had been carved in Israel, and he held them out as close to the bones as he could, in the bowels of this great church.

Norman, one of our relatives, was very ill with a brain tumour at the time, and he was one of the first to receive one of these crosses. Norman wasn’t healed as we’d hoped, but he died not long afterwards, with that cross in his hand; I was really touched that he’d asked his wife to play some of my music as he lay dying.

God’s final healing is death. Norman died knowing his Saviour. Now he was at peace. I’ve given quite a few of those crosses out to others, in their need, since then.

After viewing these bones, we were shown into a chapel, which was covered in gold leaf. When we emerged upstairs into the Popes’ gallery, we saw people kneeling and praying at the tombs of other popes, especially that of St John Paul; (it appeared that he was the most beloved of them all.) And yet no-one worshipped at the site where St Peter’s bones lay just below the surface of a grille. We felt so privileged to have been there right beneath that grille. Way up far above us was the main altar.

Places like the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, the Coliseum and the Palatine Hill, the Vatican with its Sistine Chapel, the famous Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain were all so impressive; they were sites we’d only ever seen before on television or video. They were so beautiful as the sun shone down on them. We also walked along part of the ancient Appian Way. This road is where St Peter, who was fleeing persecution from the emperor Nero, is said to have met with the risen Jesus in a vision, and asked him where was he going! “Quo Vadis, Domine?” Jesus answered, “I am going to Rome to be crucified,” and he disappeared. Peter turned around and returned to Rome.

The Catacombs were fascinating. These are tunnels below ground filled with tombs, where early Christians buried their dead and also met secretly for worship. It felt sacred down there, and eerie. It was incredible to be so near the inscriptions on the walls and tomb surfaces, which had been made by early Christians.

One place really surprised me, the ancient Forum, for it was so much smaller than I thought it would be; here so many temple ruins and ancient foundations of buildings were huddled together.

There was a lot of begging on the streets of Rome. One elderly lady, would kneel each day, on her face, on the Castel Sant’Angelo bridge, which we had to cross on our journey to and from St Peter’s, which was near our flat. I really felt for her in that stifling heat. We gave to her whatever we had when we passed, and took her all the groceries we no longer needed the day we left. When she saw the bags, she grabbed my hand and kissed it! I didn’t deserve such a blessing, I hadn’t given her all that much.

I used her image on a video, for this song by Pete Scott, which he called ‘Come to Calvary’, it was a call to heed the poor and underprivileged of our world. We had visited churches and museums of vast wealth in Rome, and there was such poverty on the streets. It’s the same the world over. 

Pete’s song reminds us how Jesus gave up everything, and emptied himself for our sakes. (Philippians 2. 6-8)

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God

something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

SONG: Come to Calvary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUP5REz_fKs...

There were many similar beggars around the city, women in their thirties and forties. Many of them were quite bold, and would approach passers-by demanding money, and I was amazed so many people ignored them and simply pushed past them. But one day, when we were sitting in a market place, we saw the same women handing all their takings of the day, to a band of rough looking men! Something was not right there!

Living in a self-catering apartment made for a much cheaper holiday for us, and we had just begun to master the local buses, and find a good cheap local supermarket too, when sadly it was time to return home.

There were very strong winds as we came in to Newcastle airport. When the plane landed the stewardess stepped forward with an announcement. She said,

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying with EasyJet. And I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate someone who is flying with us on their very first flight today, on their 85th birthday. . . Let’s hear it for  . .  the pilot!” 

Everyone laughed, but I think it was also their release of tension at landing safely in bad weather.