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Pinoyin Rome: At the Door ofthe Jubilee Year of MercyRobert Z. Cortes

The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy announced by o!e "rancis around #oly $ee%

this year is &nally startin' on December () the *olemnity of the +mmaculate

Conce!tion) ,ust a cou!le of days from no-. That this s!ecial eent in the Church/s

history be'ins on that date is) of course) no accident. This o!e/s deotion to Mary)

sho-n !ublicly eery time he !asses by *t. Mary Ma,or before any ma,or tri!

abroad) should hae made that choice almost !redictable. #o-eer) aside from

human choices) one ou'ht to consider aboe all the 'uidance of roidence) -hose

-ill it is that the most im!ortant eents in the Church ha!!en under the mantle ofMary) Mother of the Church and Mother of Mercy.

*o the idea to !re!are !roximately for the Jubilee Year of Mercy by ma%in' a noena

to the +mmaculate Conce!tion made a lot of sense to me. And bein' in Rome) the

city that ar'uably no !lace in the -orld can match in terms of the 0uality and

0uantity of sacred art !resent) + too% adanta'e to do the follo-in'. "or nine days 1

includin' the *olemnity) hence the term 2noena3 1 + -as 'oin' to isit an ima'e of

4ur 5ady enerated in arious churches around the city. 6ut -hich churches)

thou'h7

8ien the multitude of beautiful and historic churches in Rome) it seemed the best

-ay to a!!roach this !ro,ect -as sim!ly to be led by roidence. This a!!roach isnot 2to be too mystical about it)3 as + learned 0uite recently from) of all !eo!le) a

non9Catholic ethics !rofessor in a ery secular American uniersity -hom +

interie-ed a cou!le of months a'o. #is defense is that 2there still is another

dimension in terms of a holistic bein' in -hich our reason and our s!irit and our

emotions are an inte'rated -hole *o) you listen to the oice of the s!irit.3 This

-as actually 'ood ecumenical adice to -hich my ex!erience in the follo-in' days

-ould attest.

These ex!eriences) culled from my ,ournal of these noena days) are actually

Church history lessons deotional) tour9'uidin' ti!s) and !hiloso!hi;in' all rolled

into one. + share them seein' that they can sere some !ur!ose) ho-eer one may

be !re!arin' for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Day ?) -as the be'innin' of the noena to the +mmaculate

Conce!tion. +t also ha!!ened to be the feast of *t. Andre-. =o- at the other end of

the street -here my uniersity is ha!!ens to be a hu'e) loomin' basilica dedicated

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to *aint Andre- -ith the name @SantAndrea della Valle.@ eo!le -ith ery limited

time in Rome usually dont hae time to isit this ma'ni&cent church) but really next

time you come) you should. This church -as actually built by the ery same !eo!le

inoled in the buildin' of *t. eters and used this as their @!ractice@ churchB

!eo!le li%e 8iacomo della orta and Carlo Maderno. The fountain in the s0uare

frontin' the church is Madernos.The !aintin's and the frescoes inside are een more breathta%in'. The dome and

the ceilin' are one of the best there is in Rome 9 and !erha!s in Christendom. *ince

it -as the feast of *t. Andre-) !recisely) + decided to do my !rayer ri'ht there)

before the hu'e fresco of the cruci&xion of *t. Andre-. + did my rosary in one of the

side cha!els dedicated to 4ur 5ady of the *acred #eart. And by the time + left the

church) -hich is ,ust a &e9minute -al% from my house) -hat else could + say) but

than% You. Really there is nothin' much else one can say.

Day : 4ur 5ady and Child in San Salvatore in Onda

"unny -hat one sees -hen one chan'es !ers!ecties. 8oin' home from ,o''in'one day) + decided to !ass by the ri'ht instead of the left side of Via dei Pettinari

Combma%ers *treet. + ha!!ened to loo% u! by chance and + sa- this charmin'

ima'e of 4ur 5ady + had neer seen before) een if +d already !assed by here more

than ten times. Then) -hen + loo%ed do-n) + li%e-ise noticed -hat should hae been

an incons!icuous door. =o- + sa- there -as a !a!er !osted on it hintin' that inside

-as actually a church called San Salvatore in Ondaand the !lace -here *aint

Fincent allottis remains are enerated. + too% mental note of the o!enin' schedule

and resoled + -ould do the second day of my noena there.

$hat -as behind that incons!icuous door7 Actually a small but ama;in'ly beautiful

,e-el of a church. "irst) behind the 'reen door commonly seen alon' the street) -as

another set of -ider doors made of beautiful) stron') old -ood. +t had a hu'e tar!!roudly claimin' that *t. John aul ++ had isited this church. "or such a small

church) + thou'ht) it -ould be sur!risin' any !o!e -ould do that.

6ut of course) if one %ne- J ++ and *t. Fincent allotti and -hat they each stood for)

one -ould understand. "or J ++ loed to !romote the a!ostolate amon' lay !eo!le)

and *t. Fincent) in his o-n

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The church has the a!!ellation @in Onda@ -hich means @in the -ae@ most !robably

because of the fre0uent oodin' of the Tiber. +e seen some of these si'ns on

marble stone around seeral !arts in Rome) indicatin' -here the rier -as at this or

that !oint) and theres only one thin' + can say. The -orst Manila oods are as if

only t-o inches) com!ared to Rome oodin' in those daysK +m not sure if this has

any connection to one ima'e of 4ur 5ady enerated there on a hu'e side altar)@Fir'in most o-erful@ 1 because one certainly needed a hu'e !o-er to surie

such inundationsK

6ut last ni'ht) + %no- + -as inundated by only one thin' 9 than%s'iin' for bein'

surrounded by such beauty and holiness.

Robert Z. Cortes is a hD student in *ocial +nstitutional Communication at the

onti&cal Hniersity of *anta Croce) Rome. #e has an M.A. in Ed. 5eadershi! from

Columbia Hniersity) =.Y.