Pinoy in Rome: At the Door of

the Jubilee Year of Mercy

Robert Z. Cortes
The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy announced by Pope Francis around Holy Week
this year is finally starting on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception, just a couple of days from now. That this special event in the Churchs
history begins on that date is, of course, no accident. This Popes devotion to Mary,
shown publicly every time he passes by St. Mary Major before any major trip
abroad, should have made that choice almost predictable. However, aside from
human choices, one ought to consider above all the guidance of Providence, whose
will it is that the most important events in the Church happen under the mantle of
Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of Mercy.
So the idea to prepare proximately for the Jubilee Year of Mercy by making a novena
to the Immaculate Conception made a lot of sense to me. And being in Rome, the
city that arguably no place in the world can match in terms of the quality and
quantity of sacred art present, I took advantage to do the following. For nine days
including the Solemnity, hence the term novena I was going to visit an image of
Our Lady venerated in various churches around the city. But which churches,
though?
Given the multitude of beautiful and historic churches in Rome, it seemed the best
way to approach this project was simply to be led by Providence. This approach is
not to be too mystical about it, as I learned quite recently from, of all people, a
non-Catholic ethics professor in a very secular American university whom I
interviewed a couple of months ago. His defense is that there still is another
dimension in terms of a holistic being in which our reason and our spirit and our
emotions are an integrated whole So, you listen to the voice of the spirit. This
was actually good ecumenical advice to which my experience in the following days
would attest.
These experiences, culled from my journal of these novena days, are actually
Church history lessons devotional, tour-guiding tips, and philosophizing all rolled
into one. I share them seeing that they can serve some purpose, however one may
be preparing for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Day 1: Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in SantAndrea della

Valle
Yesterday, November 30, was the beginning of the novena to the Immaculate
Conception. It also happened to be the feast of St. Andrew. Now at the other end of
the street where my university is happens to be a huge, looming basilica dedicated

to Saint Andrew with the name "SantAndrea della Valle." People with very limited
time in Rome usually don't have time to visit this magnificent church, but really next
time you come, you should. This church was actually built by the very same people
involved in the building of St. Peter's and used this as their "practice" church;
people like Giacomo della Porta and Carlo Maderno. The fountain in the square
fronting the church is Maderno's.
The paintings and the frescoes inside are even more breathtaking. The dome and
the ceiling are one of the best there is in Rome - and perhaps in Christendom. Since
it was the feast of St. Andrew, precisely, I decided to do my prayer right there,
before the huge fresco of the crucifixion of St. Andrew. I did my rosary in one of the
side chapels dedicated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. And by the time I left the
church, which is just a five-minute walk from my house, what else could I say, but
thank You. Really there is nothing much else one can say.

Day 2: Our Lady and Child in San Salvatore in Onda

Funny what one sees when one changes perspectives. Going home from jogging
one day, I decided to pass by the right (instead of the left) side of Via dei Pettinari
(Combmakers' Street). I happened to look up by chance and I saw this charming
image of Our Lady I had never seen before, even if I'd already passed by here more
than ten times. Then, when I looked down, I likewise noticed what should have been
an inconspicuous door. Now I saw there was a paper posted on it hinting that inside
was actually a church called San Salvatore in Onda and the place where Saint
Vincent Pallotti's remains are venerated. I took mental note of the opening schedule
and resolved I would do the second day of my novena there.
What was behind that inconspicuous door? Actually a small but amazingly beautiful
jewel of a church. First, behind the green door commonly seen along the street, was
another set of wider doors made of beautiful, strong, old wood. It had a huge tarp
proudly claiming that St. John Paul II had visited this church. For such a small
church, I thought, it would be surprising any pope would do that.
But of course, if one knew JP II and St. Vincent Pallotti and what they each stood for,
one would understand. For JP II loved to promote the apostolate among lay people,
and St. Vincent, in his own 19th century, religious way was one of the promoters of
the lay apostolate at the time when it was so much lacking. He founded the "Pious
Union of Catholic Apostolate." Thats a union of priests, religious and laity but the
"Pallotines" as they are called, really just consists of the religious brothers and
priests, and the laity are, well... theyre there. But that was certainly a huge start.
The church is now their home base, but it wasnt so at first. Built near the end of the
11th and beginning of the 12th century, it was given to the Franciscans from which
two popes came from. Knowing this historicity of the church and that St. Vincents
body is now under the altar, one then understands this church deserved the Popes
visit. But to add to these, theres also the sheer beauty of medieval and renaissance
art that one sees on the ceiling and the simple baldachin under which Mass was
held, when I was there. The image of Our Lady and Child by Cesare Mariani in the
main altar is also arresting.

The church has the appellation "in Onda" which means "in the wave" most probably
because of the frequent flooding of the Tiber. I've seen some of these signs on
marble stone around several parts in Rome, indicating where the river was at this or
that point, and there's only one thing I can say. The worst Manila floods are as if
only two inches, compared to Rome flooding in those days! I'm not sure if this has
any connection to one image of Our Lady venerated there on a huge side altar,
"Virgin most Powerful" because one certainly needed a huge power to survive
such inundations!
But last night, I know I was inundated by only one thing - thanksgiving for being
surrounded by such beauty and holiness.
(Robert Z. Cortes is a PhD student in Social Institutional Communication at the
Pontifical University of Santa Croce, Rome. He has an M.A. in Ed. Leadership from
Columbia University, N.Y.)