Roma

Today we visited the Catacombe di San Callisto. This was amazing to go underground about 15 metres and see the burial sites of past popes, bishops and people. There were areas for families and some of the remains of painted and adorned walls were still evident. Although there were no remains there anymore it was still very evident of how it must have been. We then had mass in the small chapel underground. It was lovely to have mass there, although eery, it made me realise how lucky we were to have mass and not feel scared or threatened to practice our faith. I imagined how it must have felt for those over the centuries who have been persecuted for practising their faith and who were forced underground to celebrate the eucharist.

From here we then went to St Paul's Basilica. What a beautiful church to visit. The Cloister was amazing. It had the most beautiful courtyard surrounded by arches all decorated in mosaics and the garden was stunning. Around the church where tiled mosiacs all adorned in gold of every Pope we have had. Currently there have been 263 Popes. The relics in the museum dated back to the earliest of times and it was hard to believe that it housed remains of some of the apostles and saints. We then explored Rome on our own. The boys walked the Dome of St Peters Basilica and the girls shopped!!We are looking forward to coming home to our families.