Quietly we weaved our way to the confessional chapel and prepared ourselves to be reconciled with God. Very earnestly Isabella asked if she could talk to the priest about her failings. I looked at Karl for some advice because she has not received this sacrament yet. Her class was scheduled to have their first Penance Service in February. Karl suggested I go first and ask the priest his advice for how to handle the request. This is not the first time Isabella has asked to go to confessions and I could see in her face she really thought she would feel better speaking to a priest. So, I asked. The priest responded with curiosity and bewilderment but eventually stated he could not refuse anyone who wished to speak to him about their sins, even non-Christians. Overjoyed at this information, Isabella practically skipped into the confessional and returned not more than few minutes later. When I asked her how she felt, with eyes wide and a big smile, "My heart is on fire." After we had all completed our reconciliations, we attended mass in the Crypt Chapel. The chapel was of course underground, but the ceiling had a similar structure of other Gothic style terrain level churches. We had a cave, or castle like feeling in the space as the wall and columns were made of dark gray stone but it was very open and large. It felt very secure in a comforting way.
After a little lunch, we traveled up to the main level. The Shrine was massive in typical Cathedral cross style floor plan, but along the outer walls were little alcoves for more contemplative thoughts or reflections. Each alcove contained some particular devotion or doctrinal idea to the church which caused some lingering feelings to ponder. One could easily spend a full day on just one side of the Shrine.
The details were amazing and one could be stuck in a state of awe for hours. In the very center behind the alter was a massive depiction of Jesus with outstretched arms, not nailed to the cross outstretched, but enveloping the world outstretched. The eyes seemed to be looking at you no matter where you stood in the main church; whether it be directly underneath the mosaic or at the church door about 1000 yards away you felt the powerful eyes watching over you. This attention to detail was in every piece of art. Our necks began to grow tired of the upper gazing at these magnificent works.
But if asked, my favorite piece at the time was a nearly life sized nativity on the right hand side of the church just before the cross section. I was immediately drawn the the Mary and the angel and their watchful sense of awe upon the space where the Christ Child would be placed following Christmas Eve Mass. It was like a confirmation on the purpose of Advent, to prepare ourselves for a greatness to come. The greatness of Christ who is the total embodiment of love not quite understood by all. These two depictions conveyed these thoughts in both the human and celestial bodies even though they were mere sculptures.
After our short visit at the Shrine we weaved our way through downtown DC to the Franciscan Monastery on account of the advice of a priestly monk to view the miniature Holy Lands. As luck would have it, we found ourselves tagging along with the final tour of the day. The church was in a state of repair and preparation which necessitated the use of a tour guide. Before we ascended to the lower grounds of the chapel, we passed by a life sized depiction of the crucifixion of Christ.
The first stop on our Holy Lands tour took us to Nazareth to the place of Mary's message from Gabriel. Then we were whisked into the miniaturized Catacombs under Rome, with explanations to all the children in attendance of the ordeals the early Christians had to overcome. The guide was very good at keeping the events true but not so gruesome to create nightmares for weeks to come. These catacombs contained three martyrs, two recreation in marble and one in a glass sealed box. As we passed these spots the children were able to understand how these people suffered just because they believed differently than the people in charge. My children already understood many of these ways of forcing others into certain thoughts or ways from our studies of Ancient Civilizations and the movements of the Israelites from one area to another in history. We made a stop in a small chapel the Franciscans had created amid their Catacombs. This chapel, the Chapel of All Souls, does not appear in the Roman Catacombs but gave the tour a nice teaching moment in both art and matters of faith in dealing with Purgatory. On the base of the altar was a Bass relief of an artist's depiction of souls in Purgatory. The angels were holding cups that would be the prayers of those living, when the cups were full, the angels would turn them down to alleviate the suffering of those being purified for Heaven.
