The Lateran Basilica

Today is the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilca, which gives us a convenient excuse to return to our coverage of the parish trip to Rome. Here the pilgrims arrive at the front entrance of the Basilica, which is the Cathedral Church of Rome. The Popes lived in the adjoining Lateran Palace until their exile in Avignon (1305-1378). After their return to Rome the Papacy moved to the Vatican, but the Lateran Basilica remains the Cathedral.

An inscription at the entrance of the Basilica tells us that it is the Sacred Lateran Church, "the mother and head of all the churches of the city and the world".

This - believe it or not - is just the entrance. The group take a look at the impressive sight before entering the Basilica, which is found behind the huge doors visible to the left.

Inside the Basilica contains twelve enormous statues of the Apostles, which line the nave. They are a fitting reminder that Christ founded His Church on the twelve Apostles, and each generation after them builds on that foundation.

When school groups come to Lancaster Cathedral we often ask them "what makes a cathedral?" Their answers are usually to do with the size or impressiveness of the building. Eventually, though, the real meaning of 'cathedral' is discovered: a cathedral is the bishop's church, the place where his seat ('cathedra') is to be found. At the east end of the Lateran Basilica is the cathedra of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. From here he presides over the worldwide church.

The main altar is seen here, from behind. Here is the view that the Holy Father sees when celebrating Mass in his Cathedral.

This is a closer view of the cathedra, which is a sign of the Pope's teaching authority. This is why the Pope always sits to preach and to deliver his address at the weekly general audience. It's the reason, too, why solemn pronouncements made by the Holy Father are said to be 'ex cathedra'. In each diocese the feast of the dedication of the local cathedral is kept in all parishes, but for this Cathedral, the mother church of the world, the feast is celebrated across the globe.

Remembrance Sunday

Today is Remembrance Sunday, a day of prayer for those who have died in conflict. The 10:30am Mass will be a requiem Mass for those killed in war and the Office for the Dead will be sung at Vespers at 4:40pm. At all Masses prayers will be said for the dead and for those who serve in the armed forces today, and Canon Stephen will represent the Catholic community at the city's cenotaph memorial service.

Cathedral Exhibition: two weeks to go

There's still more to come from Rome, including highlights of the Papal Audience, but today we return to matters closer to home. Our 150th anniversary exhibition, 'Curious about the Cathedral', has just two weeks left to run at Lancaster City Museum. With time moving fast, here's a closer look at some of what's on offer.

The story of the Cathedral - and Lancaster's Catholic history - is told using wall panels and related objects. Here, for example, the building committee that was put together to oversee the building of the church is presented in text and graphics, with relevant objects in the case below. Much has been done to try to show the links that exist between the Cathedral and the history of the city of Lancaster. Many of the families which helped the town to grow are also those who paid for the building of the church in the 1850s.

The exhibition actually covers a period from Medieval times until today; it is also fairly broad in scope, covering not only the Cathedral building but the people who have been part of its life. The panel on the left here, for example, covers the foundation of the convent and the role of religious women in the parish.

Here's another connection with Lancaster's history: the Gillow family, famous furniture craftsmen, were among those who contributed to the life of the parish. Two Gillow items belonging to the Cathedral - a chair and a long-case clock - are among the items on display.

There's something for everyone, with interactive exhibits including some 3D-images of the Cathedral. In this display you can smell different types of incense and examine some of the materials used to make vestments for use in church. The exhibition is free to enter and is open Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm until Saturday 21st November. It has been jointly produced by the Cathedral and the Lancashire Museums Service, and is supported by the Cathedral's 150th anniversary sponsors (see the list here) and in particular by Luzar Vestments.

Cathedral Pilgrims at the Vatican

Last Tuesday, the first morning of the parish pilgrimage to Rome, the group made their way to the Vatican City for a tour of St Peter's Basilica. Here the pilgrims get their first view onto St Peter's Square; Anthony their guide, in his usual yellow, can be seen on the left.

Here the pilgrims make their way across the square towards the security checks which everybody entering St Peter's must now go through. The Basilica can be seen to the left of the picture, and to the right - above Bernini's famous colonade - you can see the Pope's apartments.

Many of the pilgrims pause to take a photograph of the Swiss Guard who are always on duty at the 'Bronze Door' which leads into the Apostolic Palace. This lady, however, took it a step further, seemingly attempting to talk her way inside. She didn't have any luck. Fortunately, she wasn't with our group!

Inside the Basilica was extremely busy, filled with tourists coming to take a look at the world's largest church. These days you have to be there quite early in the morning if you want to see the church when it's quiet.

All our group were given headsets so that they could hear Anthony clearly. He has many years' experience of doing this work and gave a well-informed tour of the Basilica.

"We've seen that before somewhere" - the statue of St Peter naturally attracted some attention. Not only is it one of the focal points of the Basilica; it is also a link with Lancaster Cathedral, which has a replica of the statue.

Here the pilgrims survey the papal altar and the enormous baldacchino above it. The sheer scale of the building is hard to grasp, even when inside.

Also pointed out on the tour was this statue of St Angela Merici, who founded the Ursuline order in 1535. Here St Angela is seen with a young girl, a sign of her service as teacher. The Cathedral parish is blessed by the presence of three Ursuline sisters, who serve the parish from their convent at St Thomas More's church.

After the tour many of the pilgrims went to the crypt under the Basilica, to the visit the tomb of St Peter. Many of the Popes are also buried here, including Pope John Paul II; it is always possible to see people praying at his tomb. Later in the pilgrimage, on the Friday morning, the group had Mass in a side chapel within the crypt.

Rome Pilgrimage: out of the city

Today we return to the recent pilgrimage, with a look back at the day out in Subiaco which took place last Thursday. This small town is located a little over an hour's drive from Rome, and the trip provided a welcome change from the noise and activity of city life. What a contrast! The town of Subiaco can be seen in the picture above, nestled amidst the hills. Our pilgrim group travelled above the town, to the place where St Benedict founded his first monastery.

The coach journey up the hill was not for the faint-hearted, as the roads are narrow and winding and there are steep drops at the side. Safely arrived, however, our pilgrims exited the coach...

... and made their way up the hill to the monastery. It was a short walk up the hill, although - contrary to appearances in this picture - the path was fairly steep.

Here is the view at the top: the Benedictine monastery, built into the side of the hill. It is a truly spectacular location and the stunning weather allowed our pilgrims to see it at its best.

Guiding the group was an American Benedictine priest who is staying with the community for a few months. He began with a brief introduction to life of St Benedict, who lived c.480-c.550 and came to Subiaco at about the year 500. Originally living as a hermit in a cave in the hills, a community began to grow up around him. Here he remained until moving to Monte Cassino in around 529.

Now, around the cave where Benedict lived a monastery has been built. Our guide made the point that it is wonderful to be able to look from here and see what Benedict saw from his cave: the same hills and landscape, relatively unchanged in 1500 years.

The tour took the group inside the monastery, where there are many frescoes depicting the life of St Benedict, other saints and scenes from the life of Christ. Among the most interesting is an image of St Francis of Assisi, thought to be more or less contemporary. Francis visited Subiaco and the painting can be dated to close to this time, so it may present us with the closest likeness we have of this great saint. Unfortunately photographs are not allowed inside the monastery itself.

Here is the view that St Benedict would have seen each day. He could hardly have picked a finer spot! One of the highlights of this day of the pilgrimage was the opportunity to celebrate Mass in a chapel just a few feet from St Benedict's cave. It was a memorable experience.

St Charles Borromeo

It may seem very early to interrupt the blog's extended coverage of the Rome pilgrimage (more on that tomorrow), but today is the feast of St Charles Borromeo, who deserves a post not least because he's missed out on a mention for the last two years (in 2007 his feast fell on a Sunday, and last year it was usurped by the November Chapter Mass).

The Cathedral has a wonderful chapel of St Charles, and the altar here will be used for the 12:15pm Mass today. The altar was consecrated in 1860 but the reredos and other decoration date from the golden jubilee of the church in 1909. Billington's Blog will feature more on the altar and its history tomorrow.

Charles Borromeo was born on 20th October 1538; at the age of 21 he was made a Cardinal by Pope Pius IX (who also happened to be his uncle!) and later became Archbishop of Milan in 1563. His life, therefore, was set in the period of the Counter-Reformation, when the Church was responding to the growing challenge of Protestantism. Among St Charles' greatest contributions was his influence on the Council of Trent, which had been called to discuss the challenges facing the Catholic faith. Here he is seen holding a copy of the decrees of Trent.

St Charles is often depicted as a penitent, as here: he prays before a crucifix with a rope around his neck. This reminds us of his work as Archbishop of Milan, where he set about improving the morals of the clergy under his authority and promoting a more faithful way of life. In the best sense of the word, he was a reformer: someone who wanted to do away with the failings of Church members without straying from orthodox doctrine. His efforts earned him some opposition, and on one occasion he survived an assasination attempt.

By his side a cardinal's hat, a sign of his high office, can be seen on the floor.

Although both a cardinal and an archbishop, Charles did not shy away from the people of his city even in the midst of danger. In 1576 Milan was gripped by plague, and the altarpiece here shows him risking his own life by bringing Holy Communion to the sick and dying on the city streets.

The reredos of his chapel in the Cathedral depicts those who have not survived the plague being carried away in the background...

... while the city is filled with the stench of death and disease. All in all, the altar depicts a man of great vision and commitment, one who was not afraid to take on opposition or to shy away from his people.

His motto, 'humilitas' (humility), is also seen in the decoration of his altar. Despite his high office, it seems appropriate enough.

Looking back at Rome

The view over the Alps from 35,000 feet is spectacular. This image, taken on the flight to Rome last Monday, opens a series of posts giving highlights of the parish pilgrimage. Many regular blog readers were following the frequent updates during the trip; these also provided a good way for parishioners, families and friends back home to keep up with the travellers. However, the limits of the mobile technology (and the lack of zoom on the camera we were using!) restricted the quality of the posts. Now the plan is to share some of the best images and fill out the story of the pilgrimage in a series of posts; these will be interspersed with other posts over the coming week or two, so it won't be Rome every day!

Our pilgrim group stayed at the Hotel Lancelot (website here), a friendly family-run hotel close to the Colosseum. This famous landmark of Rome can be seen on this image, which was taken less than a minute's walk from the hotel's front door.

From the roof terrace of the hotel some of Rome's best sights could be seen. Here is a night shot; you can see the Colosseum clearly in the foreground, and beyond, in the top left of the picture, you can just make out the floodlight dome of St Peter's Basilica. Click on the image if you'd like to see a larger version.

Here's the daytime view, with the same landmarks clearly visible.

Our guide for the week was Anthony Coles, usually easy to spot with his yellow coat and hat. A knowledgable and entertaining guide, Anthony ensured an enjoyable week for all the pilgrims.

Alongside our visits to the famous sights of Rome we will also show some of the more quirky or unusual images. Take this, for instance: the church is that of Saints John and Paul, where the group had Mass on the first day of the pilgrimage. Look above, however: Rome's starlings are gathered in vast numbers. The image captures something of the scene, but only a fraction of the birds are actually caught on this picture.

From the roof of the Pontifical North American College there is a tremendous view of St Peter's Basilica. In the posts ahead there will be images of our tours of Rome's great churches, the day trip to Subiaco (which is truly spectacular) and other aspects of a great week.

Perhaps the highlight will be our coverage of the Papal Audience, which was for many pilgrims a once-in-a-lifetime event. Here the Pope waves to the crowds as he arrives in St Peter's Square. This image, and every picture posted on the blog's coverage of Rome, was taken by our own cameras or by a member of the group. Pilgrims who travelled and have any particularly special or unusual images are invited to share them! If you want to see your handiwork on the blog, please get in touch with us.

The Faithful Departed

From tomorrow the blog will return to Rome, to give a more considered look back at the parish 150th anniversary pilgrimage, featuring some of the best images taken during the trip. Today, however, a picture of the Cathedral cemetery reminds us that this is All Souls' Day, when we pray for all the faithful departed. Mass will be celebrated in the Cathedral at 12:15pm, with an extraordinary form Mass at 6pm; there will also be Mass at St Thomas More's this evening at 7:30pm. All are welcome.

Arrivederci Roma

Our pilgrims have now left the hotel and are on the coach heading for the airport. It's been a great week and we have some fantastic images to post over the coming days. Keep an eye on the blog during the week ahead.

November Diary

November is a month of prayer for dead, and this month's diary includes a number of requiem Masses. After today's feast of All Saints, tomorrow is All Souls' Day, when we remember all the faithful departed. There is a chapter Mass for the dead on Tuesday 10th, and on 17th the Cathedral hosts the deanery Mass for the dead. The 10:30am Mass next Sunday, Remembrance Day, will also be a time of prayer for the dead, and our annual parish requiem Mass takes place on the evening of Friday 20th. Other events this month include a Gregorian Chant workshop (14th), a piano recital (6th) and a pre-Christmas homemade craft fair (18th). The Cathedral's 150th anniversary exhibition also continues, until 21st November. There's lots more, and you can get all the details here.

In his penultimate month of posting, Canon Billington's blog features the Cathedral Chapter through the ages. There will also be reports on the foundation of the Diocese of Lancaster (November 1924), the deaths of Bishop Flynn, Bishop T. B. Pearson and Provost William Walker, the second rector of St Peter's. The consecration of the altar of St Charles Borromeo will be featured, as will the appointment of Bishop Robert Dobson, who was ordained bishop after a brief spell in charge of this parish. All this and much more - you can find Billington's Blog here.