Notes from a Roman Pilgrimage (Part 1)

Holy Roman Emperor Carolus Magnus,
Charlemagne (748-814), Vatican

Prologue: Gathering My Thoughts

See Part 2, Part 3

Gathering my thoughts on the flight home from Rome, I jotted a few additional notes in my travel journal while the memories were still fresh. The hum of the engines and the faint scent of espresso we’d had at Caffè Kimbo in Fiumicino Airport before boarding made it feel less like departure and more like savoring—a quiet recollection of all that I had seen, tasted, and experienced over the past four days.

After business in Milan, I met friends in Rome for a Papal audience with Pope Leo XIV, walked through the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s Basilica for the Jubilee Year—a physical act of repentance and renewal that symbolizes the passage from sin to grace for those who enter in a state of pilgrimage—and joined my confratelli for the Constantinian Pilgrimage at the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano.

At San Giovanni in Laterano, hundreds of cavalieri e dame of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George and the Royal Order of Francis I processed through the Porta Santa and celebrated Mass with our Grand Master, His Royal Highness Prince Carlo di Borbone, Duke of Castro; the Royal Family; and honored dignitaries. Passing through the bronze Doors of Mercy with my confratelli—after navigating a loud union protest outside the church—I felt that rare sense of being both tiny and eternal, a pilgrim embraced by the living memory of the Church.

In the days that followed, we visited many of the Eternal City’s sanctuaries. In addition to St. Peter’s and St. John Lateran, we prayed at Chiesa Sant’Agnese in Agone, dear to me for my familial devotion to San Sebastián, patron of my ancestors from Gaggi, Sicily; for my love of St. Agnes; and, in memory of my father the hunter, at St. Eustace.

We then went to the Chiesa di San Salvatore in Lauro to venerate the relic of Blessed Maria Cristina di Savoia, Queen of the Two Sicilies—although sadly, it was not on display. Instead, we prayed before the relics of San Pio and St. Charbel.

At Chiesa Santa Maria in Traspontina, we venerated Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Santa Barbara; there, I also made my confession—a quiet renewal amid the bustle of pilgrims and incense.

We then visited Chiesa Santa Lucia del Gonfalone to venerate St. Lucy, to whom I have a special devotion for the graces received, and the Madonna del Gonfalone. Lastly, we visited Parrocchia S. Maria del Rosario to honor Our Lady of the Rosary.

(Above & below) We followed a serpentine path through a series of
Vatican courtyards, halls, and chambers to reach the Pope.

Belvedere courtyard

(Above & below) We first waited in a quiet room, its modest throne
and timeworn tapestries lending an air of restrained grandeur

We offered the Holy Father a white zucchetto,
among other modest gifts of devotion and gratitude

(L) Christ in Prayer by El Greco, in our second waiting room.
(R) Detail of the Madonna and Child tapestry

Polychromed ceramics from Andrea della Robbia and Luca della Robbia 

The view of St. Peter's Square from the first waiting room

Stately corridor watched over by the Swiss Guard

(L) Marble statue of St. Annibale Maria di Francia located in an external niche of St. Peter's Basilica, near the Arch of the Bells (Arco delle Campane). (R) Equestrian statue of Charlemagne, a marble sculpture by Agostino Cornacchini (1725), located in the left portico of St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City

(L) After passing through the Holy Doors, we entered an empty St. Peter’s Basilica, its vast nave by Maderno and Bernini’s towering Baldacchino illuminated in stillness. (R) Departing the Vatican, we caught a glimpse of the crowds gathering to see the Holy Father

A Constantinian Pilgrimage

Rome demands surrender. There is no casual way to approach a city that has outlived empires and ideologies. Standing beneath the statue of St. Andrew by Camillo Rusconi (1658–1728) during the national anthem of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, I thought of how faith and monarchy, prayer and pageantry, all coexisted here as naturally as marble and incense.

The Mass was presided over by His Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, a Grand Cross of Justice decorated with the Collar of the Grand Prior—a fitting reminder that the Constantinian Order remains inseparable from the living tradition of the Church.

After Mass, about five hundred of us gathered at the Circolo Della Caccia—a prestigious noble hunting club in the stately Palazzo Borghese (one of the “four marvels of Rome”). We drank champagne and Greco di Tufo (Mastroberardino), followed by Etna Rosso (Scammacca), a delightful wine that tasted of volcanic minerals. Dinner began with bordura di ricco in salsa fiorita, continued with brasato di manzo al vino rosso con verdure stufate, and ended with semifreddo al cioccolato fondente salsa arancini Amara.

Pilgrimage medals were awarded by the Prince—polished tokens of chivalric continuity. It felt like a feast, both medieval in spirit and traditional in form—a celebration of faith, order, and continuity.

After the Constantinian dinner, we took an evening walk through the drizzle to the Spanish Steps. We visited the Column of the Immaculate Conception and the birthplace of the great Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680)—a fitting homage to the artist whose spirit still seems to shape the very air of the Eternal City. Continue reading

(Above & below) Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano

Cavalieri keeping their eyes on the Red Menace

(Above & below) Inside San Giovanni in Laterano

(L) Lateran Obelisk. (R) Statue of Mary, Mother of the Church

(L) Around 500 nights and dames attended Mass during the
Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George. (R) Members
of the U.S. Delegation take a commemorative photo

(L) Bronze statue of Henry IV of France (R) Marble
statue of Constantius II by Nicolas Cordier in the narthex 

(Above & below) Pilgrimage medals from the Order,
and blessed Rosary Beads from the Pope 

The Spanish Steps

(L) Plaque commemorating Bernini's house near the Church of Saint Andrew delle Fratte (R) Column of the Immaculate Conception near the Spanish Steps