What’s in a name?

"We are going to St. Peters-burg today," I commented. 

My friends gently corrected me. We were going to St. Peter's Basilica.  St. Petersburg... is in Russia.

We arrived at the great church early in the morning. I was most amazed by the color of the interior. I had visited some cathedrals in England and was expecting, based on my experience, the hard grey of ancient stones. Instead I was greeted by marble in hues of light red and black, and painted ceilings lined with golden gilding. It far surpassed my expectations.

A dome... not the big one...

I saw a copy of this in Dallas!

A mass was held for the UD students in one of the corners. The priest spoke mostly on  Isaiah 62, and the new name God's people would receive. A name is very important. The priest talked about how now that we have come to study abroad we could receive new names and titles, such as 'Rome-er', 'traveler', and 'cosmopolitan.' He said that now, at the beginning of the semester, we could try on new nicknames. And most importantly, he concluded by speaking of the new identity we have in Christ.

It reminded me of the passage in Revelation which tell us that everyone will receive a white stone with a name that will be known only to them and God. There is a massive tree on the campus, and sprinkled around it are the stones of the purest white, shining and made glistening by the recent rain. I think of that passage when I see this.

After we left St. Peter's, we were given tours of Rome by the professors and RA's. I was in Sister Catherine’s group. She is our theology professor, and, as her title implies, a nun.

She had originally planned on walking us through some quiet streets of Rome, but plans changed due to the rain. It wasn't raining hard, in fact, I found it rather pleasant and refreshing. At any rate, We spent most of our time in churches and buildings. Sister Catherine knows a lot about the different churches, and of the saints whose bones are kept there (nearly every church has a relic of some sort).

Perhaps one of my favorite churches was St. Andrew's church. We were passing by and our guide pointed it out. On account of the name, my friend Andrew and I decided to quickly enter and see the interior. It had a beautiful painting of the martyrdom of Andrew at the back end. I liked this painting so much that I think this was my favorite church, even more so than St. Peter's, though I could be biased.

(They say he preached for days up there before he died.) 

As St. Peter is associated with the Roman Catholic Church, St. Andrew is said to be the founder of the Eastern churches.

His bones are probably in Russia.