VATICANO - St. Peter's Basilica

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] welcome to St Peter's Basilica some hold it as the most beautiful edifice in the world since its construction it has been the heart of Catholicism in the world and focal point of papal liturgies throughout the year the Basilica dedicated to the prince of the Apostles is one of the largest churches in the world it has the largest interior space of any church ever built but the first thing that visitors see is the welcoming square that Embraces the masses I think the word welcome is the key word for understanding the whole Patza San Pedro as we call it the idea of approaching this building with so much history behind it and this site goes back 2,000 years in Christian history and yet not being welcomed by the overwhelming presence of of of of of almost a defensive building neither that or just the overwhelming wall of history but with open arms and I think the great gift of St Peter's Piaza is this colad that seems to reach out and almost welcome the pilgrims into the fold and gather them into the space first and foremost as a community centered around that that Obelisk which you see in the center and as we center around that Obelisk that Obelisk drives us back 2,000 years in history when it wasn't there in front of the church it was originally put off to the side it wasn't a feature of a Christian City it was a feature of a Roman Emperor and it was part of the horse racing Circus Built by the emperor Caligula which had been built pretty much adjacent to where the basilic is today and in that spot in the shadow of that Obelisk which today we refer to as the Silent Witness St Peter was crucified upside down so we're gathered together around that Silent Witness remembering that moment when Peter was killed in this repercussions of a great fire sent by a crazed Emperor Nero but then we see immediately behind it All That Grew From St Peter that Basilica that Dome and that glorious orb at the top the location of the basilic has somewhat unique since it is outside the ancient city walls but that is for a particular reason the original churches these these five churches that are built on Martyr tombs are built necessarily outside of the city because Roman law requires required that people be buried outside the city what happened with the tomb of St Peter is that Peter was simply buried in a hole in the ground he was executed in a horse racing circus and being a popper in a in a state of very very violent persecution the best his friends could do would be to take the body out of the horse racing circus bring it to the first quiet space dig a hole in the ground put the body in it covered it with some dirt and cover it with some pieces of brick and the amazing part of the story and everything you see flowering behind it is that this is the moment that the Romans finally made a mistake it was the moment when it seemed that they had crushed out the Christians they had rid themselves of this Christian presence but actually inadvertently throwing that body in the hole in the ground thinking they had taken out the trash the Romans planted a seed and we looked at the flowering of that seed every time we look at the Basilica because the Basilica is sitting directly on top of that tomb if you start from the orb at the very top of that Dome and drop a line down it will drop through 2,000 years of History through monuments and altars and Mak shift walls all the way down to the hole in the ground where the Romans first made the mistake of discarding that stone which is Peter in the mid-6th century the Renaissance Pope jul II known for his elaborate tastes in art began a new construction project which would span over a 100 years four styles of Art and seven Architects later to The Basilica that is seen and visited today by millions of people every year first stone was late on April 18th 1506 a major piece of art within the Basilica is the canopy or bino above the main Altar and underneath the [Music] Dome understanding the purpose and the size of the of the balino or the bronze canopy built by John Lorenzo Bernini it's part and parcel of understanding the importance of St Peter's tomb pilgrims have been coming to this site from when it was just a lonely little tomb on a hill they came to the site when it was a beautiful church built by con and they still come to this church today and every single purpose the destination of these pilgrims was Peter's tomb when the new Basilica the one we see today was begun in 1506 the idea was to build a Greek Cross Church that means all the sides are equal so it would be a natural Focus that the center of the church would be where Peter's tomb was and the Magnificent Dome completed by Michelangelo was again a feature to focus everyone's attention on Peter's tomb and then they extended the church and the church instead of being a Greek cross so you would walk in ah there's the tomb all of a sudden it grew to be 187 M long and the pilgrims walk in and walk around and go where's Peter it obscured the Dome from the from the from the facade so you couldn't even see Michael Angeles Dome to orient you so in comes 25-year-old Bernini first job ever in St Peters could you do a little something to make Peter's grave more noticeable and Bernini made a 95t tall 175,000 lb canopy in bronze couldn't make it stand up ran out of bronze it was a 4-year project he was supposed to have it done in four years it ate up 10 years of his life and the poor man unveils the the equivalent of building a three-story building in bronze inside another building what does everyone say why' you use those twisting columns because the twisting columns obviously don't fit in with the other Greco Roman Corinthian Doric Ionic type of architecture that the rest of the church has laid out in but they never did those bronze Columns of Bernini they're simply giant versions of the ancient White marble columns which are now today in the balconies of St Peter's columns given by Constantine the Baroque Masterpiece of the Basilica is the chair of St Peters on both sides surrounded by angels and clouds spilling into the Basilica I think it's interesting to start thinking about the altar of the chair the altar over the the apps in the uh in St Peter's interesting thing about it from bernini's perspective he was born 40 years after Michelangelo died he's a sculptor Michelangelo's a sculptor they're both from Florence and they both work for the Vatican so here's Bernini who's got to compete with the legacy of Michelangelo without ever really being able to meet him from face to face and if you think of what Michelangelo left between the Jesus of the p and the the the other images of the first and second person of the Trinity Bernini decided to set himself a very difficult task and the task was the third person of the Trinity how do you represent the Holy Spirit do you paint him do you sculpt him do you build him what do you do to show the Holy Spirit which after all is an experience and bernini's genius which manifested itself fully when he was about 50 years old in 1650s working on that Monument he represents the Holy Spirit through all the Arts he creates a orchestrates painting sculpture and architecture so that we feel present at Pentacost so starting with the punching of the hole in the back of the church you have that oval window with the golden glass in it and the idea of just the the wall dissolving so the Holy Spirit can enter so we get that experience of the closed Upper Room the holy spirit that enters because after all masonry means nothing to the Holy Spirit and then from that from that window the sun sets behind it so during the mass the Sun starts to set behind that window and golden light comes through like the tongues of flame of Pentecost and play off the stucco cherubim and seraphim that frame all the way around the tomb so it looks like the heavens are open the cherubs are spilling inwards and then this enormous Cloud comes down and it suspends a giant bronze Throne now the bronze Throne itself is just a reliquary but it contains Peter's chair when Peter was Bishop of Rome a simple wooden chair but a reminder of the cathedra the seat of Peter Bishop of Rome his majest tium stay tuned in a few minutes we'll continue with our tour of St Peter's [Music] Basilica welcome back you're watching vatio Browning the church is the Majestic Dome built by Michelangelo it was his final gift to the Romans and the world this was the last thing Michelangelo did amazingly enough this is a great personal story in in Michelangelo's career Michelangelo lived to be 89 years old and he had plenty of time to develop from an arrogant Hot Shot who's going to change the world with his works of art to a man who became a little bit more thoughtful a man who knew disappointment and then at the end of life a man who really was thinking about Redemption and he was thinking about meeting his creator and what did he created for his creator and he took the job of completing St Peter's Basilica for no money he did it for and I quote the glory of God the honor of St Peter the salvation of his own soul and the other thing he did is he completed the church according to the plan of brante the original architect who although he had been a personal enemy Michelangelo was was able to put all that aside and to see that as he said this was the only man who knew the truth and and and finally Michelangelo has been passed over for this job when he was young when he was vigorous would have been a great thing on his CV he had been passed over for this job and he accepted it anyway so there's a great deal of personal growth in this work and Michelangelo worked on this for 19 years and the final gift he gave to the church is the image that we see above the papal altar so the altar that you see where the pope celebrates mass is directly on top of the tomb of St Peter Michelangelo's Dome crowns that space and even though the Dome is based on the pantheon Dome Michelangelo spent 20 years changing the look from that of the pantheon to what we know today the pantheon perfect building but it's a perfect Pagan building and everything about the pantheon is meant to celebrate how men become Gods because the design was by the Pagan Romans who believe that so Michelangelo's decision to recalculate the weight of the Dome to lift it high on top of a drum and then put all those windows around the base of the Dome one of the most striking things at this time of year to go in there and see are those horizontal beams of light that come through the through the windows and separate the Dome from the altar as if the Dome floats we remember here that man doesn't fuse Heaven to Earth when and where he likes man doesn't control things it's the heavens that choose to hover over that spot of Peter's tomb as its Perpetual custodian and that in many ways the P the sis Chapel the last judgment the David all those things in many ways this was Michelangelo's greatest gift because when we see the pope celebrating Mass there standing in the footsteps of Peter the fisherman with this Dome of Heaven hovering above his head we know why we call him ponteix Maximus as it's written in the front of the church here the great bridge between Heaven and Earth the pope is in tight connection to this church not only does he celebrate mass for important events inside and outside of the Basilica but perhaps the most emblematic moment of Pope in Basilica is when the pontiff comes out for the first time right after his election to greet the UR at Orbee the city and the world that Central balcony where the pope comes out for the Orbee at Orbee blessing at Christmas and Easter but that's also where we see our Holy Father for the first time after that period of feeling bereft of the S V that expectation of the conclave and then finally the white smoke and then a new Holy Father the family gathered below looking up to see who will guide the family next and he stands directly in line with the statues along the along the top of the church directly in line with Jesus flanked by the apostles except for Peter because Peter and Paul stand among the crowd you see them closer to us in the Piaza itself surrounding Us close to us part of us our patron saints of Rome really in the city with us and then all the way around the colon you have the great Saints of all time you have uh men and women Africa Asia America Europe you have Martyrs and confessors you have lay people and religious there is no one who can't look up into that colonade and find someone who in some way can share their own real time experience and so it's a magnificent sense of community and you could describe it as a giant Catholic pep rally but it's really so much more all these people brought together that that that that Christ at the very top this great community of saints and the Holy Father the the 265th successor of St Peter there to guide us all really a a a truly amazing experience and a truly amazing design [Music]

Channel: EWTN

Views: 741,262

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television, St. Peter's Basilica (Place Of Worship), Saint Peter (Religious Leader), Vatican City (Country), Basilica (Type Of Place Of Worship), Religion (TV Genre)

Id: BguJhRML108

Length: 14min 23sec (863 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 10 2015