I still remember my astonishment when I first saw the immense fa\u00e7ade of St. Peter's Basilica, and my disappointment when I discovered that those large Latin letters were not a Gospel quote, but the name of a Pope who wanted to leave his mark on one of the most important churches in Christendom. Over time, I have come to better understand the history of this peculiar building, which this 2026 celebrates four hundred years of its dedication after having replaced the ancient Constantinian basilica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In anticipation of this anniversary, the Vatican has organized a series of initiatives to help deepen the immense spiritual value of the church. There will be times of prayer and liturgical singing every Saturday afternoon, an app to help pilgrims better follow the liturgy in the basilica and meditations by the preacher of the Pontifical Household, among other things. Also noteworthy is the inauguration of a new Stations of the Cross commissioned to the Swiss artist Manuel D\u00fcrr. Other initiatives also highlight the artistic value of the Gregorian and Clementine domes, which can now be visited, as well as new exhibition areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This program of celebrations brings back the memory of the most impressive visit I made to this basilica. It was in May 2020, the day the confinement in Rome ended. I went with a friend walking through the empty streets. The long lines of pilgrims in the square had disappeared and only the murmur of the fountains could be heard. As we entered, we discovered the immensity of the temple immersed in absolute silence. There were barely fifteen of us in the entire enclosure. In the midst of that overwhelming solitude, my friend leaned over and whispered: \u201cTruly, this is the house of God.\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Todav\u00eda recuerdo mi estupor al ver por primera vez la inmensa fachada de la bas\u00edlica de San Pedro, y mi decepci\u00f3n al descubrir que aquellas grandes letras en lat\u00edn no eran una cita evang\u00e9lica, sino el nombre de un Papa que quiso dejar su huella sobre una de las iglesias m\u00e1s importantes de la cristiandad. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":60178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[4,2647],"class_list":["post-60176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-firmas","tag-roma","tag-vaticano"],"yoast_head":"\n