St Maria in Trastevare

Last night was wonderful. We went to Vespers with the Community of Sant’ Egidio at the glorious church of St Maria Trastevere. Most of this church only dates from the 11C. The mosaic on the front of the church has Our Lady breastfeeding Jesus, flanked on either side by women holding lamps – representing virgins and widows. Inside, the apse mosaic is of Christ and Mary seated on thrones, with Christ having his arm tenderly around Mary. Flanked below are a series of mosaics of the life of Mary by Cavallinni. All very lovely and well worth seeing but last night’s delight came unexpectedly.
This year, for the first time, we got into the chapel of the left of the altar which contains the picture of Our Lady of Clemency and frescoes of the Council of Trent. While we were trying to ‘read’ the frescos, a more than kind and even more that knowledgeable man – Joseph – took over and explained, in quaint English, the symbolism, then told us about how the Our Lady of Clemency was painted. An Egyptian technique, beeswax is spread across boards and the image is painted into that. This painting dates from around the 6th century and is the largest of its kind.
Then he drew our attention to the frescoes on the ceiling done by a disciple of Michelangelo. He made me stand on the black diamond on the floor closest to the altar and from there I could see on the ceiling, in best perspective, scenes from the Life of Mary, then he moved me to the other diamond on the floor and there I could see lower down again, in best perspective scenes, from the Life of Christ. He also showed us some other features of the church that one would never discover just with a guide book. But we never did find the ancient mosaic of ducks feeding on snails that is somewhere in that church.
This type of kindness to strangers does so much for the people receiving it. As a traveller, a pilgrim, one does feel alienated. We feel like strangers looking in, because we are. But when someone takes the time to show what is special, what is beautiful in ‘their home’ you feel welcomed and are made able to appreciate the place far more than if you found that information from a guide book. For us in Australia this is something worth remembering as we too are a tourist destination. Those few moments given to a stranger can have a glowing effect for the rest of their day….and the information we might give away costs us so little yet can mean so much. This man transformed that night for us. It was the best visit to this church that I had had.
Vespers was lovely. I think the music must be distinctive of this particular group. It has a very attractive lilt that continues inside you for some time afterwards. Vespers is each evening, and they provide books and translation facilities so that visitors can follow the homily in their own language The community are a group of lay people who began meeting in the late 1960’s for prayer and service to the poor. They have now grown to a world wide community of over 50,000. Their commitment to the poor is expressed in different ways in Rome. Food to the homeless, language classes for migrants, solidarity with the Roma people (gypsies). They have also been involved in peace making, ie brokering peace between waring factions in different parts of the world.
Afterwards we wandered through the Trastevere district for a little while – always good for people watching and for good cheap food. If you even get there go to the café just outside the church that had oranges outside in its windows. It is supposed to serve superb fresh orange juice. But I had a gelato that was huge and he gave me a discount…and to others in our group he gave away oranges. (After being ripped off near the Trevi fountain on Sunday night I feel even more well disposed to good traders.)
Therese reckoned that Marcia and I could get jobs herding cats when this programme is over.
Then our happy group travelled and laughed all the way home and some gave a Country Music concert on the train, very good fun. They were amazed at my lack of knowledge of Johnny Cash songs!