While Florence is a compact city with four main churches, Rome is a sprawling city with dozens and dozens of churches. So many, in fact, that you’ll see two or three of them surrounding the same piazza. On a city map posted in Rome it lists no less than 124 churches.
Here’s a trivia question for you: Vatican City is the world’s smallest independent sovereign country at only 0.9 square miles. (Cinzia and I walked around the Vatican walls one morning. When’s the last time you walked around a country?) So, how many churches do you think are within Vatican City? Everyone knows St. Peter’s Cathedral. Wouldn’t that be all they’d need? It’s large enough to fit everyone and within a short walk for everyone living within Vatican City. Of course the answer isn’t one church, it’s seven.
Churches in Florence use holy relics or impressive Renaissance frescoed ceilings to attract parishioners. Rome relies on miracles, and there seems to be no shortage of miracles; some so outlandish that you have to wonder how on earth they expected followers to believe them. Here are three we’ve come across.
#1 Santa Maria Del Popolo: Demonic Crows Rise from Nero’s Ashes
According to a medieval legend, a walnut tree infested by devils in the guise of crows rose from the ashes of Emperor Nero which were kept in the tomb of the Domitians on the slopes of the Pincio Hill in Rome. In 1099, with the aim of exorcising the area, Pope Paschal II built a chapel in honor of the Virgin Mary which was built and paid for by the people of Rome and called Santa Maria del Popolo (St. Mary of the People). The church is filled with ornate tombs, macabre crypts, and gilded ceilings. Two paintings by Caravaggio hang in one of the chapels and draws tourists by the bus load.
Churches in Florence use holy relics or impressive Renaissance frescoed ceilings to attract parishioners. Rome relies on miracles, and there seems to be no shortage of miracles; some so outlandish that you have to wonder how on earth they expected followers to believe them. Here are three we’ve come across.
#1 Santa Maria Del Popolo: Demonic Crows Rise from Nero’s Ashes
According to a medieval legend, a walnut tree infested by devils in the guise of crows rose from the ashes of Emperor Nero which were kept in the tomb of the Domitians on the slopes of the Pincio Hill in Rome. In 1099, with the aim of exorcising the area, Pope Paschal II built a chapel in honor of the Virgin Mary which was built and paid for by the people of Rome and called Santa Maria del Popolo (St. Mary of the People). The church is filled with ornate tombs, macabre crypts, and gilded ceilings. Two paintings by Caravaggio hang in one of the chapels and draws tourists by the bus load.
#2 San Pietro in Vincoli: Chains of St. Peter Fuse Together
You’re first asked to believe that early Christians knew how popular their fledgling religious cult would become and saved anything and everything that might one day be of interest. (We’ve read that one church has the wooden steps Christ descended after being sentenced to crucifixion.) San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains) was first rebuilt on older foundations in 432-440 to house the relic of the chains that bound St. Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. The Empress Eudoxia, who received them as a gift from her mother, presented the chains to Pope Leo I. According to legend, when the pope compared them to the chains of St. Peter's final imprisonment in the Mamertine Prison in Rome, the two chains miraculously fused together. The chains are kept in a reliquary under the main altar in the basilica.
In addition to their collection of scary tombs, their tourist draw is Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses. Michelangelo was commissioned to design the tomb of Pope Julius II in 1505, but it went unfinished, so the tomb, with its sculpture of Moses, now sits in the San Pietro in Vincoli. Cecil B. de Mille apparently gave Charlton Heston the role of Moses in his film The Ten Commandments because he looked like Michelangelo’s statue.
You’re first asked to believe that early Christians knew how popular their fledgling religious cult would become and saved anything and everything that might one day be of interest. (We’ve read that one church has the wooden steps Christ descended after being sentenced to crucifixion.) San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains) was first rebuilt on older foundations in 432-440 to house the relic of the chains that bound St. Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. The Empress Eudoxia, who received them as a gift from her mother, presented the chains to Pope Leo I. According to legend, when the pope compared them to the chains of St. Peter's final imprisonment in the Mamertine Prison in Rome, the two chains miraculously fused together. The chains are kept in a reliquary under the main altar in the basilica.
In addition to their collection of scary tombs, their tourist draw is Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses. Michelangelo was commissioned to design the tomb of Pope Julius II in 1505, but it went unfinished, so the tomb, with its sculpture of Moses, now sits in the San Pietro in Vincoli. Cecil B. de Mille apparently gave Charlton Heston the role of Moses in his film The Ten Commandments because he looked like Michelangelo’s statue.
#3 Santa Maria in Aracoeli: Angel Paints Statue
In the back of the Santa Maria in Aracoeli (St. Mary of the Alter of Heaven), in a small, secure room, sits the Holy Bambino of Aracoeli. Here’s what the sign alongside the room says:
“This statue, dating back to the end of the 15th century, is a wood carving made in Jerusalem from an olive tree by a pious Franciscan Friar. The Friar did not have the necessary paints to complete his work and so it was miraculously completed by an angel. During his return trip to Rome a severe storm on the sea forced him to throw overboard his small case containing the precious treasure, but the case arrived at the port of Livorno by itself in the wake of the ship.
Preceded by the fame of unusual miracles, the Holy Bambino was received with great joy in Rome and was accorded special veneration. One day during the Christmas season, while the Bambino was laying in a crib, a noble Roman matron stole the statue and hid it in her home. However, becoming gravely ill, she was obliged by her confessor to return the status. Tradition has it that the status left her house by itself during the night and returned to its place as the bells of the Basilica rang joyously announcing the miracle.
Rich gifts of gold and precious stones give witness to the gratitude of the faithful for the innumerable graces received. These gifts were always furnished abundantly whenever the statue was sacrilegiously despoiled. In 1798 a noble Roman citizen saved the statue from being burned by the troops of Napoleon by paying a huge ransom.
The Chapel of the Holy Bambino is continually visited by pilgrims from all parts of the world. Mothers, before giving birth, visit Aracoeli to receive a special blessing and also bring their children to be consecrated to the Divine Child. From time immemorial the Bambino has been carried to the sick bed of the faithful and oftentimes one could see in the piazza a long line of carriages awaiting their turn.
The ever-increasing fame of this miraculous image moved Pope Leo XIII and the Vatican Chapter to order its coronation which took place with solemn rites on May 2nd, 1897. This fame is attested to by the numerous letters of petition and thanksgiving which the Divine Infant receives daily from devout people from all corners of the globe; the little ones and the great of the world write to Him as to a dear friend. During Christmastime the children of Rome uninterruptedly come before the monumental crib to preach and to sing jubilantly to the new-born Babe. At dusk on the Feast of the Epiphany, the whole city is to be found on the Capitoline Hill to receive the blessing of its tiny Great King. Truly, the sun never sets upon His Kingdom!”
I later found that the Bambino was stolen in February of 1994 and has been replaced by a replica.
In the back of the Santa Maria in Aracoeli (St. Mary of the Alter of Heaven), in a small, secure room, sits the Holy Bambino of Aracoeli. Here’s what the sign alongside the room says:
“This statue, dating back to the end of the 15th century, is a wood carving made in Jerusalem from an olive tree by a pious Franciscan Friar. The Friar did not have the necessary paints to complete his work and so it was miraculously completed by an angel. During his return trip to Rome a severe storm on the sea forced him to throw overboard his small case containing the precious treasure, but the case arrived at the port of Livorno by itself in the wake of the ship.
Preceded by the fame of unusual miracles, the Holy Bambino was received with great joy in Rome and was accorded special veneration. One day during the Christmas season, while the Bambino was laying in a crib, a noble Roman matron stole the statue and hid it in her home. However, becoming gravely ill, she was obliged by her confessor to return the status. Tradition has it that the status left her house by itself during the night and returned to its place as the bells of the Basilica rang joyously announcing the miracle.
Rich gifts of gold and precious stones give witness to the gratitude of the faithful for the innumerable graces received. These gifts were always furnished abundantly whenever the statue was sacrilegiously despoiled. In 1798 a noble Roman citizen saved the statue from being burned by the troops of Napoleon by paying a huge ransom.
The Chapel of the Holy Bambino is continually visited by pilgrims from all parts of the world. Mothers, before giving birth, visit Aracoeli to receive a special blessing and also bring their children to be consecrated to the Divine Child. From time immemorial the Bambino has been carried to the sick bed of the faithful and oftentimes one could see in the piazza a long line of carriages awaiting their turn.
The ever-increasing fame of this miraculous image moved Pope Leo XIII and the Vatican Chapter to order its coronation which took place with solemn rites on May 2nd, 1897. This fame is attested to by the numerous letters of petition and thanksgiving which the Divine Infant receives daily from devout people from all corners of the globe; the little ones and the great of the world write to Him as to a dear friend. During Christmastime the children of Rome uninterruptedly come before the monumental crib to preach and to sing jubilantly to the new-born Babe. At dusk on the Feast of the Epiphany, the whole city is to be found on the Capitoline Hill to receive the blessing of its tiny Great King. Truly, the sun never sets upon His Kingdom!”
I later found that the Bambino was stolen in February of 1994 and has been replaced by a replica.
When we returned home today I found that our Wi-Fi is finally working and the hot water heater was serviced. Cinzia is now soaking in a hot bath. It’s a miracle!