“We are about to go inside the church,” the guide started, “The current Cardinal priest in charge of the church is Miloslav Vlk from Bohemia. He has been in charge since 1994. He has very kindly given us permission to access certain areas to the church which are currently off limits to other visitors and tourists. So once inside we need to be very respectful and so please do not,anyone, take photographs. There are a very limited number of leaflets and booklets, one of which is in English, on the church and its history. If anyone would like one after the tour they do accept a small donation for them.”
Hutchinson reached into his back pocket and took his wallet out.
“I’ll take one. Does anyone else want one?”
Alberto put his hand on Hutchinson’s arm.
“At the end sir. For now you don’t need one. You have something much better. You have me.”
This brought a chuckle from the group in front of him.
“The church is one of the seven pilgrim churches of Rome. These are visited by pilgrims in order to gain indulgences. Four of the churches have basilicas. They are St Peter’s of course, San Giovanni in Laterano, San Paolo Fuori Le Mura and Santa Maria Maggiore. The other three churches are San Lorenzo Fuori Le Mura, Satuario Della Madonna Del Divino Amore and this one. Satuario Della Madonna Del Divino Amore was added by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. It replaced the church of San Sebastiano Fuori Le Mura.”
“What do you mean by indulgences?” Dennis asked.
“Indulgences are in catholic theology. They are remissions for sins commited. They are granted by the catholic church only after a sinner has confessed and been given absolution.”
“Oh I see. Well there’s hope for me yet.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“Oh nothing. Sorry. Just an English joke.”
Alberto’s face split into a huge grin.
“You English are very good at humour. Yes?”
“Very,” Dennis replied.
“The church was built surrounding part of the imperial palace of St Helena which she converted to a place of worship around the year 320AD. She was the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine who became the great. In 325AD the church was converted to a basilica and the floor was covered with soil from Jeruslaem. This is why the church has the name Holy cross in Jerusalem even though we are standing in Rome. From the outside the church doesn’t appear to be old. The bell tower was added in the twelfth century when the church was renovated by pope Lucius II. He also added a nave, a porch and gave the church two aisles. Santa Croce was again renovated in the sixteenth century and its appearance today comes from the Cardinal priest Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini who was the head of the church before becoming pope Benedict XIV. He connected Santa Croce to two others with new roads. The current façade was designed by Domenico Gregorini and Pietro Passalacqua. For 500 years there has been a monastery adjoining the church. Then earlier this year, in May 2011 an internal inspection, an inquiry, discovered that years of….how do you say?… problems….”
Some of the group nodded.
“After years of problems both financial irregularities and also behaviour unbefitting of a monk pope Benedict closed the monastery down. Now shall we go in?” he said turning and climbing the steps quickly. He used his umbrella as a walking stick and its metal tip click — clacked as he set off at a fast pace. At the entrance to the church he stopped for them.
Natalie and Dennis were the first to join him at the top of the steps.
“What behaviour?” Natalie asked.
“Excuse me?”
“What behaviour was unbefitting of a monk?” Dennis asked.
“There were reports of a nun who was pole dancing to entertain the monks.”
“No!” Natalie was shocked.
“What was her name?” Dennis asked.
“I’m not going to say. I’m sorry,” Alberto answered. He turned his attention to the others ascending the steps. Clearly not wanting to talk about it.
“Oh go on. What was her name?”
“Mr Dennis I am a deeply religious man. This is of immense embarrassment to the church, to the Roman catholic church. I do not wish to discuss it. If you are that interested and I suppose you journalists always like to get your story google the monastery and her name will be there along with the scandal.”
Dennis was going to reach into his jeans pocket for his phone but decided to leave it until later.
“No. It’s um! It’s not that important. I hope I have not offended you.”
“Not at all.”
The others got to the top of the steps.
“I would ask you to all put your cell phones on silent or turn them off. It will be quiet inside. Despite the importance of the church it gets very few visitors.”
“Has it always received few visitors?”
“No doubt Mr Hutchinson that in history its visitor numbers were many more. Helena had this holy place built for pilgrims who were unable to travel to Jerusalem. It is important to remember that the church did not take the name ’Holy cross’ until the middle ages. Now if we are all ready.”
He turned and stepped inside.
The church was brightly lit and they all stood and marvelled at the nave in front of the altar at the far end of the church.
“The style of building over the altar is eighteenth century baroque. The eight granite coloumns supporting the roof are the original ones from the fourth century. The flooring and frescoes are twelfth century. Underneath the altar is an urn which contains the relics of the saints Anastasius and Caesarius.”
Alberto gave them a minute to absorb the sights and sounds. Priests were going about their business in silence. One was lighting candles. Another was tidying a table containing leaflets and postcards. A few people were seated and praying. There were a few foreign tourists, English speaking, who were talking and giggling. One girl of the group was receiving text messages on her phone while two other girls crowded around her. Alberto frowned at them and was tempted to say something but it was Hutchinson who went over to them and said.
“Show a little respect.”
The girl quickly put her phone away and the three looked at each other and giggled again. Hutchinson rejoined his group.
“Bloody kids.”
“If we make our way downstairs to the right of the high altar,” Alberto said leading the way. At the bottom of the steps he stopped once again to let them catch up.
“This is the chapel to St Helena. This and the two rooms off to the side are part of the original palace owned and used by Saint Helena herself. We are two metres below the current building. This Roman statue is of Saint Helena holding the true cross of Christ. This glass covering on the floor is protecting the soil brought from Jerusalem. The papers and envelopes that you can see underneath the glass are prayers from pilgrims. The mosaics on the ceiling were originally done in the fifth century during the reign of the Roman emperor Valentinian II. They were re-done in the fifteenth century. In the second room of the chapel there is a fourth century statue with the inscription to St Helena on it. The room opposite this one is the Gregorian chapel which was built between 1495 and 1520. It is an exact copy, a mirror image of the St Helena chapel.”
Alberto led them through to it.
“In the silver frame there are over two hundred relics.”
Knowing that they would want time to examine the artefacts Alberto continued.
“I will wait for you upstairs.”
It wasn’t long before they rejoined him.
“I must say,” Hutchinson was very impressed, “You give one hell of a tour.”
“We have saved the best for last,” Alberto replied, “In a moment I’d like you to all follow me upstairs but before we do this shrine at the bottom of the stairs is for a young girl aged seven called Antonietta Meo, also known as Nennolina.”