On this day, we spent the morning in Ostia Antica, an ancient port city that was abandoned and never built over - good for seeing what Roman life was life back in the day. The second photo is the ruins of what is probably the first Christian basilica church there - very possibly attended by St. Augustine and his mother, St. Monica (though by their time this was not the only church they could go to). We then went to San Paulo Fuori le Mura (St. Paul's Outside the Walls), which is the site of the tomb of St. Paul. We stopped briefly at a place called Tre Fontane (Three Fountains), which is the place where St. Paul was beheaded, and according to the legend, when they chopped off his head, it bounced three times, creating three springs. There are three springs there, but they are within a church now, and they had a Mass going on, so we couldn't really get in (but I was able to buy some of that great monk-made beer). I don't have any photos of Tre Fontane handy, but like anything else, you can find pics online. We ended the day with a pizza making class with my good friend Chef Giuseppe. It was a long day, but with a lot of great stuff packed in.
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
I hope to have another installment of THE JOURNEY up this Saturday - here's the text for the rest of the chapter - I didn't bother with the colored text since this is all from the Gospel of John.
