Back to the Papal Gardens

Vatican City, June 1989. The gardens feature several interesting buildings.

Papal-Gardens Reunion

Vatican City, June 1989. It's a place to collect your thoughts.

The View from the Other Side

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome, Italy, October 1983. My peculiar tour of Rome begins with a visit to a thirteenth-century cloister.

Our Christmas Cards: First Editions

Two years ago I posted the photo cards my Dad had sent as holiday greetings. Mr. Irene and I maintained this tradition for nearly all the years we've been married. Unlike Dad's cards, our greetings usually featured an image of our pets. I'll be posting our cards, in reverse chronological order, in the next few weeks.

During our first holiday season, Mr. Irene and I had card-writing fatigue because we had just finished penning our wedding-gift-thank-you notes. We therefore chose templates that featured little space for lengthy notes. We were ambitious in one way, however: we ordered three cards and selected the images based on the recipient's relationship to us and tastes.

Madison, Wisconsin, December 1989. We chose this snapshot for our Lithuanian friends. This Vytis guards the entry to the Lithuanian chapel housed in St. Peter's basilica.

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Madison, Wisconsin, December 1989. Dog lovers and close family friends received this image of Meškė and Žulė. Yes, it took several takes to get the pose.

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Madison, Wisconsin, December 1989. Most recipients got this snapshot from Lodi, Wisconsin.

Vatican Visit, 1983

Vatican City, October 1983. Preparations are underway in St. Peter's Square for the beatification ceremony of three Roman Catholics.

(This photo is from my first trip to Vatican City.)

ADDED: Blogger tells me this post is number 4444!

Porca Miseria

Pope Francis utters "cazzo" when he meant to say "caso."

A Visit to the Chapel

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė today visited the Lithuanian chapel that stands in the grottoes of St. Peter's Basilica.

Mr. Irene and I saw the chapel during our honeymoon.
 

Vatican City, June 1989. The "Virgine lituana" above the altar resembles the Madonna icon that hangs at the Aušros Vartai, or "Gates of Dawn," in Vilnius. I'll post a photo of the Vilnius site soon.

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Vatican City, June 1989. Mindaugas was the Lithuanian king who converted to Christianity in 1250 or 1251. Lithuania, however, remained a pagan nation until the fourteenth century. It was the last Western European country to adopt Christianity.

Habemus papam

Vatican City, June 1989. The wait is over.

Black Smoke

Vatican City, October 1983. During my "behind-the-scenes tour" of the Vatican, I enjoyed a private viewing of the Sistine Chapel. I lay on the chapel's floor when I took this photo of the ceiling.

The restoration of the ceiling occurred after my visit.

Eyes are on Vatican City.

Vatican City, May, 1984. St. Paul and the other Apostles watch over visitors.

Disconnecting the Conclave

USCCB Blog reports:

Jamming devices will be installed in the Sistine Chapel to prevent electronic eavesdropping. Staff who serve meals at the Casa Santa Marta, where the cardinals will stay during the Conclave, will be sworn to secrecy. Even who said “pass the salt” is a secret. In this electronic age, I worry some cardinals may go into iPad and Twitter withdrawal.

Hey! Conclave proceedings are meant to be secret: the selection "process is designed to prevent any of the details of the voting emerging, either during or after the conclave. The threat of excommunication hangs over anyone tempted to break this silence."

Conclave Crasher

"'Fake' bishop gatecrashes top secret meeting as cardinals prepare for pope vote."

"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier … Priest"

KGB agents infiltrated Lithuanian, Roman Catholic priesthood.

No surprise.

Vatican City: Send in the clowns.

"Pope Benedict XVI greeted thousands of clowns, acrobats, puppeteers and even a pair of lion cubs on Saturday as the circus came to town for an unusual papal performance."

More photos here and here.

The Vatican approves.

The Papal newspaper publishes a favorable review of Skyfall.

Blessings

Vatican Grottoes, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Italy, June 1989. A Vytis, the Lithuanian coat of arms, graces the gated entry to the Lithuanian Chapel of Our Lady Mater Misericordiae.

Mr. Irene and I used this image, a snapshot I took during our Italian honeymoon, as one of our Christmas cards the year we married.

Gate 1: No Smoking Beyond This Point

My Dad snapped this photograph of me as I boarded an airplane at O'Hare International Airport. I was on may way to Venice, Italy, where I'd live for the next year. This was back in the day, before 9/11, when family and friends could accompany airline passengers right up to the departure gate.

I flew from Chicago to Kennedy Airport in New York City. Mr. Irene, who then was just a close friend—not yet a romantic interest—took the train from Connecticut and sat with me during the two-hour layover before the overseas flight departed. Mr. Irene packed a charming picnic basket with bread, Lithuanian sausages, cheese, and wine; we nibbled on the goodies in the travelers' lounge. And then I was gone.

My first stop in Italy was Rome. A family friend—a Vatican priest—met me at the airport, and he gave me a remarkable, three-day tour of the city. I visited spots usually not accessible to tourists.

The only downside about my trip to Rome was the lodging the prelate arranged. I stayed in a convent. A nun knocked on my door at 6:30 the first morning I was there, asking whether she could clean the room. My Italian speaking skills still weren't very good then, and I just yelled, "No, no, no!"

I left Rome and took a second-class train to Venice. From there, I really was on my own.

O'Hare International Airport, October 16, 1983. I still knock around in that London Fog raincoat (and its zip-in lining).