Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1905-07-18
LETTER FROM ROME

Il
them from Rome, by their daughter,
Miss Olga, leaving out matters of "a per-
sonal nature. 1t is treat that will be
appreciated by our readers
ROME, July LIST, 1905,
My DEAR ONES AT HOME.
This is still Rome-the eternal
we are going TO leave it.this afternoon
for Florence We have been here
ten days, and our one wish is that we
may return here some day again, 1t is
fascinating, and how | love it. every
| inch
From Julias letter home, you will
have learned that we had our much
coveted audience with the Pope.
through Archbishop Messmer's letter of
introduction, and it was quite the most
imposing ceremony you can well i'm
agine. We drove to the Vati-
can and were ushered up and up
through wondrously beautiful stanzas,
whose walls were covered with Gobelin
| tapestries, priceless in value The
ings, and the floor beautiful beyond
| description. There were about twenty
people in all, waiting. The Pope came
in at five, supported by cardinal and
his escort. He stopped before each one.
We kissed his ring lin doing so, took
hold of his hand and pressed it, too
He gave us the Papal benediction and
| blessed the things We had.
This Rome is too big, altogether, and
| it would take more than one book to
hold all we have already seen. | can
only say that one is full of feeling all the
| time, for every inch of it is holy ground.
| When stand, for the first time in the
presence of things, that until now have
only been to me, pictures, | cannot
tell you what strange sensations come
over one, Yesterday we went to the
| Vatican and saw the wonders of
| Raphael's master hand and Michael
Angeles. Also the powerful LAGOON
Group, the Apollo Belvedere and the
Sextine chapel with its painting of the
Last Judgment. In the presence of
these, | say, tears are not far from the
surface and one is powerless to speak.
! We have driven much, too One
afternoon, out along the Appian way
so full of historical association, and so
ancient are its tombs and baths, that
Christ seems to have lived in modern
| times. We saw the catacombs of St.
CalliXtus, where the early Christian
martyrs were found buried In this
one, st. Cecilia was found, her head
struck by three blows of the execution
| er's axe.
Then we visited the church of
| "Domine Quo Vadis," which marks the
| spot where Christ, after his crucifix-
ton, appeared to Peter, who Nas leav-
ing the eternal city because of its per-
secutiCn. The Lord asked Peter where
he was going and Peter said, away
from R)me." "Then," said Christ" |
am going back to be crucifed second
time," and Peter turned back to Rome
A little further on the Appian way is
the church of San Sebastian, where
that Saints body was found in cata-
comb. There is powerful and finely
wrought statue of the Saint, during his
death agony, by Bermin we also saw
| here the arrows that pierced his body
| and some thorns from the crown of
| Christ.
The catacombs of st. Callixtus are
cared for by the Trappist monks, an
order in which absolute silence is nee
essary. They never speak to each 9th
er and every night at sunset dig their
own graves. Along the Appian way
we had splendid view of the old
Roman aquaducts, even now carrying
water to Rome; also, the view of the
whole Campagua, from here was good,
with the Alban hills in the distance.
June 2Sth. Visited two galleries this
morning and went to the Rag Fair,
which is held on the street, in the poorer
section of the city every Wednesday.
Booths are built right out in the open
and secondhand wares displayed. An
tiques mostly, and such an array of
brass and copper.
At the Barbarini Palace we saw the
world famous picture of Beatrice
Cenci"-smaller and less impressive
than | had expected, though wonderful
it lis in its delicate harmony of color
and the expression of the eyes-just as
If they were living. Of course, the
Aurora, at the Rospigliosi Palace, was
far more glorious. 1t simply thrills
you to look at it. 1t is frescoe paint
ing, but mirrors are so arranged that
you have good view of it without hay
ing to break your neck in looking up so
steadily. You can just see Apollo driv-
ing his fiery steeds across the sky and
the Aurora reckoning him to come on.
The golden haze around the Apollo's
head is glorious. There is an upward
curl of his lip and an anxious express
sion as tho he weren't quite certain of
the outcome. 1t is a compelling pic
ture and we left it many times to 90,
but returned again and again. In this
gallery we met two priests, one Father
Ward, of Beloit, Wisconsin. He was
delighted when he found we were from
Wausau, as his sister is Mrs. Cleveland,
whose husband has charge of the cleo
trio light plant at home.
That afternoon we drove through the
Borghese gardens. In it is statue of
Goethe presented by the German En-
peror) which we all enjoyed so much
We were especially fortunate to
be in Rome on St. Peters day June 29)
The Italians took another of their many
holidays, all shops were closed and
everybody was cut in gala attire. We
went to St. Peters early, where Cardi-
nal Rampoll ofliciated at mass. Ten
bishops and about fifty priests assisted
in the ceremony, and the singing in