Rome – Days 4-5: Progress and processions

Since many of you like the food photos, let’s start with that.

Catching up with friends at a meal is one of my principal delights when I return.

I’ve had several visits at Gammarelli to work out some details on projects.   Here is the ever gracious Stefano.  I arrived that morning just as they were cutting the fabric for the purple Solemn Mass set.

We have a Pontifical set, of course, but I don’t like using pieces from it lest it wear unevenly over time.   So, it is better to have a set that we can use more easily on Sundays without separating out pieces in different places, etc.

Some of the packets of cut fabric for the individual pieces.

Since that was heavy lifting, one has to be refreshed with an Aperol Spritz.  Which one is mine?

It is an odd time to see these in the market.   But… there they are.

Near to my digs there is a newish Sicilian place.   The pasta alla Norma was good (but mine is better).   They used strozza preti, which I think was a little joke.

I especially like this “no littering” sing from the Most Illustrious Lord of the Streets.   It warns that you may not leave your dead animals lying around here or you’ll be fined 25 golden scudi.  Also, people who turn you in can get a cut of the fine and everything has to be kept secret or you could be prosecuted.

In the P.za Santa Barbara there is a sweet little church.

I try to pray for the priests when I notice that I am walking on them.

They maintain a presepio, the scene being the piazza in front of the church.

Note the no littering sign (a different one).

And the real one in the piazza.

The Frida Solemn Mass at Trinità, part of the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage was well attended.

I had a couple friends over for supper after that.  I made fettucine with butter and black truffle.  The autumn truffles are in, of course.

Sorry about not having a finished photo.  The stuff disappeared pretty fast.

On Saturday we had the procession to San Pietro for the Pontifical Mass.

What it looks like inside the procession.  We were singing the Litany of Saints.

At the River before the Angel Bridge.

They actually made everyone go through the metal detectors!  I have a video of the bishop, in cope, coming through.  Ridiculous.

Going into the Basilica we sang the Creed.

My view during Mass.

After the Mass I stopped to visit the tomb of the Apostles Simon and Jude, whose feast it is at the time of this writing.   The Feast of Christ the King bumped them this year, though I doubt they mind.

After the Mass and the reception, I went to a bookstore (Ancora… BLECH.  Everything there is liberal.   Alas Leonina was closed for inventory.)

I thought this book cover was interesting.

And there was this (at another store).  Fr. Amorth stacked up near Jesuit homosexualist James Martin.

I’m surprised the shelf didn’t burst into flames.

Anyway, that was the last couple of days.

More later with Sunday.