Places tourists wouldn't Rome

We were extremely fortunate to have the company of a priest when we were in Rome. Fr Charles Serrao, whose profound contribution in one of the Catholic spiritual orders can be Google-d easily, is currently teaching and residing in Rome.

When we arrived in Rome, mom gave Father Serrao a courtesy call to inform of our arrival. What meant to be a courtesy call turned out to be a full guided tour of Rome by Father Serrao himself!

Fr Serrao and parents

When I was in Rome the first time, I saw many sisters, nuns, brothers and priests on the streets. If anyone were blindfolded and dropped into this city that person could have easily guessed that this was Rome! That said, I wouldn't blog about the tourist places anymore.

What I remembered about Rome was it was a giant open air museum of ancient ruins and that there's this massive stadium that could easily hide you amongst it cracks. I remember I blogged about the Vatican Museums too, to the point that the article was verging on exaggeration. I thought I exaggerated but Father Serrao raised the bar even higher!

To start with, Fr Serrao procured tickets for us for the Papal Audience. Yes, it means seeing the Pope!

Nearest shot taken of the Holy Father

Pope addressing the crowd

Meeting the Pope was like a dream come true. Millions of youths around the world dream of doing just that during the World Youth Day. We didn't get to shake his hands but seeing him a few metres from where we stood was so unreal! It's even better than seeing Queen Elizabeth! The moment when I saw him threw me into a biblical imagination of a chapter in the Bible when Jesus was going into Jericho and a short man (Zacchaeus) climbed a sycamore tree to get a glimpse of him. I stood on the chair!

What many didn't know about Rome is that St Peter's Basilica is not the only Basilica in Rome but one of the five.

Basilica of St John Lateran

In fact, St Peter's Basilica is neither the official church of Rome nor the official seat of the Pope. The Basilica of St John Lateran is! It ranks above all other churches in the Catholic Church, even above St. Peter's Basilica.

Fr Serrao showing the location of St Peter's Basilica

Not far from St John Lateran, Fr Serrao brought us to the Holy Stairs. It is called so because the stairs were believed to be the actual steps that Jesus climbed the day He was sentenced to death. That is why you see people climbing up the steps on their knees as an act of veneration.

Holy Stairs

If St John Lateran Basilica is ranked higher than St Peter's Basilica, then what is St Peter's Basilica actually? Well, it is the most important place that contains the work of art of the greatest artists of the 16th Century like Michelangelo.

Fr Serrao brought us to two other Basilicas - St Mary Major, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St Paul, the final resting place of St Paul, persecutor of the Christians before he repented and turned into one himself .

Statue of St Paul

St Paul's Basilica

One of the most astounding tours that Fr Serrao brought us was to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme where the relics of Jesus' crucifixion were displayed. There were:

• Three fragments from the True Cross
• One nail used in the Crucifixion.
• One third of the Title of the Cross showing the word "Nazarene" written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.
  
  Relics of the crucifixion
  

Fr Serrao also brought us to his College where he teaches theology. He invited us over for lunch. At first I thought he had some left over food which we could have until he introduced us to about 30 brothers in the College! Everyone looked so "holy" in their habits (uniform worn by the brothers). When we were introduced, I felt so weird in t-shirt and khakis.

Ferdinand, one of the brothers in the College.

Coincidentally it was one of the brother's birthday, so we sang a birthday song too. Thank God the attention was eventually diverted! Fr Serrao was speaking Italian fluently to them so I had no idea what he was saying.

In the College

Ferdinand and Gregory showing me around the College grounds. Looked like the corridor in Trinity College, Cambridge.

When the stares and smiles from the brothers were directed at us, they were actually directed at me. Fr Serrao laughed along. Then Fr Serrao looked over and explained, "I told them that you may be joining them soon."

After the trip, we felt really touched by the great hospitality by Fr Serrao and the students in the College. The brothers as I observed have this great humility in them. They didn't need to do what they did for us. Priests are not tour guides and having one of them, being so profound in their knowledge to guide us around the city is like having Princes Charles showing us around Windsor Castle.

But even if Prince Charles were to give a full tour of Windsor Castle, there is still a great disbelief that you can ever be part of the royal family. But in Fr Serrao's case, he has not only managed to make me feel confident in the God I worship, but also demonstrated that He was with us in Rome.