I left the hotel to go to the Holiday Mass at San Giovanni Basilica….using a bus and a tram and got there at 5 til 10. Now, the rest of this e-mail will be about music and the churches, so may not interest you…other than to say that I ended up the day on Via Veneto..which is the high rent area with most of the upscale hotels and restaurants…kind of the place to be, filled with Mercedes, Lexus, Jags, etc….(Christy I went in the Westin Excelsior…one of their flagship hotels). In the middle of Via Veneto is the American Embassy….covers about 3 square blocks with big 20 foot spiked walls and fences….probably some of the most expensive real estate in Rome. A very impressive area, to say the least.
Well, the Mass was held in this huge cathedral…I got there to get up to the front…and there was the 12 member choir in red robes….I thought “what’s the deal”…then they started singing, and it sounded like 50 voices. All trained and excellent singers, with 3 sopranos that had to be constantly quieted by the director as they were so strong. The massive pipe organ gave them quite a background….and quite a sound. After kind of an opening number, the bells rang and out came the high Priest, or whatever he is called with his team of 4 assistants. Shortly about 50 more priests of fathers, half of them in red capes and the other just in white robes..came out on the platform…and they then had about 15 minutes of opening, with either the Priest reading with the choir echoing…or just the choir and organ. The choir was miked and they kept moving the mike up front to whomever was speaking…and my impression was that in all of this formality, they were very informal. The choir kind of talked to each other…2 of the women had their small children sitting up near the choir…and very much a family affair type of setting. When the service started, looked to be about 200 in attendance, although the cathedral holds about 8,000 when they have the Pope or a dignitary or big event there. Tourists were allowed to wander in the side areas as if nothing was going on…and, of course, many stopped to hear the wonderful music. They then had congregational singing lead by one of the tenors…and with the organ, the place was filled with music. Very impressive. They then had the lesson and more singing and talking and then ended the service with an arrangement of Alleluia for choir and organ. This was their anthem…and it was tough and they were great. Some had it memorized and the alto soloist was superb. The ages in the choir ranged from about 25 to probably 60…more young than old….which was about the same with the audience. The Basilica is extreme in décor with gold inlaid and gold leaf in abundance. The center area is huge with probably a ceiling that is about 15 stories high, judging by the height of the attendees and the height of the walls. All of these Basilica’s are huge…in fact one that I went in in Republica Plaza holds 12,000 people.
Well, I got to 3 more churches…some had mass going on …some just open..and then at 5 got to the Catholic Church for Americans, which is also in Republica Plaza (Piazza). They had their Saturday mass and it was with full organ and a soloist…organist is Chinese…studied in NYC….then got the job here. She was great and I hope to go back in the AM to hear the morning Mass…which is the big one. Big crowd..probably 500…and many were tourists.
Well, the day was full….and I did have a chance to walk through the Colosseum….it is an amazing place. Then also, went to get on my Hop On-Off bus…and the girl said you are supposed to be on another bus…another company…so gave me a 2 day pass for the other sightseeing bus….and I did get an hour ride on this new company…went over a number of different streets and into new areas…so I will continue on that for Sunday and Monday.
All for now….I am beat!
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