From Tourist to Pilgrim

Michelangelo's Pietà requires no introduction, a masterpiece seemingly descended from heaven, which moves us and invites us to reflection. Countless eyes have met the gaze of Our Lady, and untold prayers have been offered before this image, carved by Michelangelo when he was only twenty-three years old.

In the apse mosaic of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the Cross represents Christ, who is flanked by the Blessed Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The four saints alongside Christ hold scrolls with texts attesting to His divinity. From the Cross flow streams of water, from which deer drink, an allusion to Psalm 42:1: “As the deer longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God.”

The body of St. Paul the Apostle was buried around three kilometres from the site of his martyrdom, in a burial site along the Via Ostiense that belonged to a devout Christian woman named Lucina. Shortly afterwards, the tomb would become a place of worship and veneration, as recounted by Fr. Edmund Power, OSB, Abbot Emeritus of the Abbey of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The Basilica of St. Mary Major is filled with many chapels, which range from extremely ornate to humble. Built by popes, cardinals and pious confraternities, their ancient mosaics tell the history of salvation. The Baptistry and the relic of the Holy Crib, in which Jesus was laid in swaddling clothes in Bethlehem, complete the ensemble of splendors contained within the Marian Basilica's walls. Eac...

The tomb of the first Pope, St. Peter, was at first a modest burial site, on which a small funerary aedicule was built around one hundred years after the Apostle's martyrdom. The presbyter Gaius commemorated the site at the end of the second century, according to the historian Eusebius of Caesarea (Ecclesiastical History, 2, 25, 6-7). Often referred to as the "Trophy of Gaius," the aedic...

Bernini’s goal in designing the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica was to make the pilgrim experience wonder. As we gaze with the eyes of a pilgrim, we see the choir singing at Mass and the incense rising to Heaven, as the Holy Spirit erupts into the Church and we become a special part of this mystery. "From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara...

Rome's tourist Mecca par excellence, the Colosseum has stood for almost two thousand years. The magnificent amphitheater once built for the bloodlust of the Romans later became the greatest monument commemorating the Passion of Christ and His first followers. Its lesson is not how human beings can be seduced by the mob’s love of violence, but that the message of Christ's peace retains the power to...

The Spanish Steps owe their existence to pilgrimage. When pilgrims made their way along what is known as the Via del Babuino and Piazza di Spagna, they had to make their way up a hill in order to get to the road that leads to St. Mary Major. King Louis XV offered to build a set of stairs that spread out at the bottom to gather people together, resulting in an embrace that seems to reach the Trinit...

Everyone has heard the old adage that all roads lead to Rome, but the numerous Madonnelle—images of the Blessed Virgin Mary gracing every path in the city—are a reminder that the road we are really looking for leads to her Son, Jesus. "From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and dir...

It's impossible to mistake Saint Paul's Outside the Walls for anything but a pilgrimage Church. To get there, you have to walk a mile outside of the city walls. It sits along the Via Ostiense, the road that leads out to the sea and is flanked by the Tiber River. In many ways, it seems like a fitting resting place for the super-pilgrim Saint Paul, who walked thousands of miles in order to preach Ch...

Bernini’s sculpture of the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa in the Church of Our Lady of Victory is one of the best examples of how divergent the lens of a tourist can be from that of a pilgrim. While tourists look upon the sculptures and snicker, interpreting the image as a depiction of earthly passion, Bernini's pilgrims would be shocked by this modern reaction. As Galileo had brought the telescope to Ro...

No site offers more hope than Saint John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome. The mixture of its decorative styles reminds us that over the two thousand years of its history, Christianity has seen war, disasters, and persecution. Yet the Church endures, despite all setbacks, and she becomes more beautiful as the years go on. The first Roman Christian Basilica founded by Emperor Constantine celebrates t...

The figure of the Good Shepherd has been made famous from one end of the globe to the other. Perhaps this image suggests a good way to understand the arrival of Christian art. Where did Christian art first appear? Not in galleries, not in piazzas. It was first made for the silence of the catacombs, and slowly, as the years went by, Christian art came out of the darkness and into the light. When th...

Rome is the city of Emperors and Popes, not Pharaohs. So, why are there so many Egyptian obelisks? These strange and massive needles crop up at every turn. Pope Sixtus V, in his urban planning campaign, unearthed these massive granite monuments and created a visual network to help the pilgrims coming to Rome find the most important sites of prayer. "From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast...

The very word “Pietà” means “to feel sorry for.” So, how was Michelangelo to make people feel sorry for Mary and Jesus? The prototypes he was offered from Germany and France show the Body of Christ in rigor mortis with open wounds and the crown of thorns still visible. But the 23-year-old sculptor chose to do something completely different. And in doing so, he changed the history of art. &q...

The Pantheon encapsulates the conversion of Rome. It could have gone the way of many of the other building of ancient Rome, fallen into ruin and lost to posterity. But its beauty caught the Christian imagination. Its perfect circular form, used in Roman times for triumphal architecture, became the ideal form to celebrate the Triumph of the martyrs. The Pantheon represents the incredible paradox of...

Matthew’s decision will change everything he has been up to until now and transform him into a new person. As he stands on the threshold of that decision, one hand points to himself, and the other hand still holds a coin, showing his attachment to the wealth and privilege he has earned. Caravaggio’s spectacular use of light reveals not only Matthew’s decision, but also points the path for pilgrims...

From the earliest stages of Christian art and even in the catacombs themselves, the image of Moses striking the Rock was the ubiquitous symbol of Baptism. The Moses Fountains, designed to look like a triumphal arch, celebrate not the triumph of war but the triumph of water. This element is imbibed with both the life-giving properties of purification and irrigation, as well as great spiritual power...

In the magnificent church of St. Augustine, pilgrims venerate the relics of St. Monica, for many the patron saint of mothers of problematic adolescents. Among the many works by well-known artists that embellish this church, one stands out as a truly iconic representation of the pilgrimage: Caravaggio’s Madonna of the Pilgrims. With its dramatic lighting and gritty realism, this painting is one of...

This Basilica, the oldest Marian Church in the West, is piled high with beauty and treasures. Built in 432, St. Mary Major has long been the Christmas church, Rome's Bethlehem, especially during the long years when pilgrims were unable to journey to the Holy Land. "From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound...

Over 1,500 years of papal rule in Rome allowed the Church to think about how to transform the Eternal City into a microcosm of the pilgrim’s journey. However, even though modern slogans often claim otherwise, the religious pilgrim believes that, although the journey is important, what really matters is the destination. "From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original musi...