July 2

 Bill, Fr. Terry, Giancarlo, and I got up early and rode through the streets of Rome before traffic crowded the streets. We rode past St. Peter's, down around the coliseum, around the Circus Maximus, and back into Saint Peter Square. That route hardly ever happens when we leave St. Pius to head through Niles or Buchanan.

After returning to the convent, we showered, celebrated Mass, ordered taxis for tomorrow, and paid the sisters for our stay.

Then we jumped on the metro and went to the Coliseum. No matter how many times I've visited this place, it always amazes me.

Then we walked to St. John Lateran.  On the way, we visited San Clemente, an ancient church with beautiful mosaics.  At Saint John Lateran, we entered the baptistery, a freestanding octagonal shaped building next to the cathedral. In our new church, we will have an octagonal shaped baptismal font in the gathering area separate from the church.

Above the font we found the same Latin words that are around the font at St. Pius. Pope St. Leo the Great wrote these words as a meditation on baptism.

St. John Lateran is the cathedral church for the Bishop of Rome. This is a picture of his cathedra, or chair.

St. John is a beautiful church which was home for the Popes for many centuries. The Lateran Council was held here.

We left the church and grabbed some lunch.

Then we jumped on the metro and went to the fourth major Basilica, Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

Although the ancient church burned down in the 19th century, Pope Pius IX  rebuilt it in the form of Constantine's version of the original St. Peter's. 

Recent archaeological excavations have located the tomb of St. Paul. The image of Pope Francis has been added to the images of all the other popes since Peter

We returned to the convent, packed up our bikes, prayed evening prayer, had one last supper, and went to bed. We were hoping that we have experienced our last disaster.