Roman Sunday

 Today was Sunday.  We decided to attend worship at St. Peter's at the Vatican (i.e. the largest church in Christendom).  There was no English mass available so we attended the Latin service.  I felt like people did back in the "Dark Ages."  At that time, all Masses were said in Latin; only the learned (a very small group of people!) could understand what was being said.  So it was an enlightening experience to attend church and join so many in feeling ignorant.  I did enjoy the music, performed by a small guest choir, I think from Germany.  They were there at the invitation of the Vatican and seemed very excited about performing.  Their music was "classical," liturgical, contrapuntal, difficult and well-performed.

The afternoon was spent at a huge Roman ruin, Ostia Antica, located west of Rome out near the coast.  It's a fascinating place that's been excavated in the past 20 years.  It was Rome's port during its heyday and had a population of about 60 thousand people.  At some point (over time, actually) it became covered with mud as the harbor silted in.  As a result, the buildings were spared the ravages of weather, erosion, etc. and are remarkably well-preserved.  It was fun to get out of the city, into the country and to feel the breeze from the nearby Mediterranean.  It has been warm and humid here; you don't take off your clothes before getting in the shower, you peel them.  On the other hand, I like the predictable sunshine so I don't complain.

We took the Roman subway to Ostia Antica.  It's a very good system; trains come every 4 minutes.  It cost me 2 Euros (3 Dollars) to get to Ostia Antica and back.  On the other hand, everyone and his dog was coming home from the beach this afternoon and the trains were jammed.  Air-conditioning was in some cases non-existent, so it was hot, crowded and tiring.  By the way, my guess is that a plurality of people around here don't have cars.  They ride the trains and walk a good deal getting to and from their stops.  I think this is one reason why fewer of them are overweight compared to the U.S.  Another reason is the general absence of fast food.  There are a few McDonalds.  I've seen two Burger Kings.  But I don't see Italians going into them.  They might get a pizza for dinner and eat the whole thing, but the crust is cracker-thin and has much less cheese than a Papa Murphy's.  People are the same wherever you go, but they're different, too.

I thought a lot about my own congregation as I sat in St. Peter's this morning.  It's a long way from here to Parklane!  To be honest, I'd rather worship in Portland.  I hope you had a good Lord's day and that your summer is going well.  Tomorrow is our last day in Rome.  Tuesday we travel by train to Chambery, France to meet our niece, Rachel Penkoff, her husband, Brandon and their beautiful twin daughters.