the last day in rome...

+jmj+

It's a very good thing that I have already been to Rome because, this time around, we did not have time to do much more than wait in line and eat. Which I was ok with. Monday morning we had time for some more sight-seeing and some church-hopping. After another quick visit to the Trevi fountain, we trekked out to Santa Maria della Vittoria, home of Bernini's famous sculpture, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa.

the ecstasy of st. teresa of avila by bernini

This moving, charged statue depicts St. Teresa of Avila, a Spanish Carmelite nun responsible for many reforms of the order in the 16th century, spear-heading the Counter Reformation, as well as her spiritual writing. She, along with her contemporary and friend St. John of the Cross, was known for having mystical and vivid experiences in deep prayer, which inspired this particular sculpture. She wrote a book called "The Interior Castle", which explains that our souls have seven stages, or castles, to achieve before reaching God.

the annunciation

From there, we walked back into the center of Rome, around the Pantheon, and visited St. Ignatius of Loyola. His church in Rome is huge and beautiful, and very ornate. The ceiling is something else. We laid on the marble floor for a good 20 minutes just looking up and contemplating it. We set some trends...

a dome of st. joseph

the ceiling at St. Ignatius of Loyola

And with just a little bit more walking around in us, we got lunch, and gelato, and then walked along the river to make it back to our hostel to meet our taxi to the airport. The weekend was over quicker than I could ever imagine, but I will be back! I didn't throw a coin into the Trevi fountain over my shoulder for nothing!

some of the last views of roma...

pax christi.