As my calendar says today commemorates the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome I thought I would post some photos I took when I was there in May 2008.  For those who dont know the church of St John Lateran is the cathedral of Rome not St Peter`s.   wikipedia article

Yes the exterior looks a bit like St Peter`s.

A Papal throne.

At the end of mass.

The very ornate ceiling.

One of the many side chapels.

Sorry for the poor photo quality however it does give a sense of the church`s size.

A 5 min video I found.  Neither my photos nor the video do this beautiful church justice.

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Looks like an ordinary group photo right? Look closer at the crucifix.

Why do we mock ourselves? Im wondering if in the past 2000 years the average Catholic church would have ever had such a thing since it looks like a mockery. Oddly enough it looks like they have the tabernacle right in the middle under the cross not off to the side as is the norm these days. Photo from this website

I should also mention you never see a modern art Buddha or Shinto deity here.  If anyone knows of such a thing let me know because right now Im convinced only us Catholics in particular have distorted our religion so much.

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There are secluded monasteries and convents in Japan.  None of which have I ever been to due to the fact that they are in the middle of nowhere.  I have however seen the products they produce in religious shops and even the grocery store where I have found Trappist butter.

Here

is a link to Our Lady of Imari Abbey in Saga prefecture.  The site is in Japanese but easy to explore and the photos are self explanatory.

Since my religious calendar says that August 5 th is a feast day of the dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major I thought I would post a video I found on you tube and a couple of photos I took when I was there in May. The photos and video dont do the church justice though and you should just go and see for yourself

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_di_Santa_Maria_Maggiore

One morning in Rome walking in the area just south west of the Vatican I couldn’t help but notice this church Santo Spirito in Sassia wikipeida article with a huge poster of St. Faustina on it.  Seeing her picture I knew I had to go in.   Click on the photos to enlarge although some don’t for reasons I’m not sure of.

On the right hand side of the aisle there was this popular chapel. It was a special treat for me as someone who has been saying the chaplet for almost one year. After having visited many churches in Paris and Rome on this trip and having looked at many side chapels it was sort of like seeing a good friend in an unexpected place to come across this one. It was a beautiful moment for me to light a candle and pray a litle here. I felt hugged.

On the left side of the church was this chapel with two very familiar faces; Pope John Paul II and Our Lady of Fatima.

Back outside the church looking left.

My raw unedited photo of the Pieta in St Peters.  How did I feel to see it in person?   I was completely awestruck by St Peter`s basilica on many levels such as spiritual, art, and architecture, and to see the Pieta just added to that. 

For those that are visitng or living in Tokyo`s Edogawaku near Nishi Kasai station on the Tozai line you have an English mass at 4pm on Sundays. http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~kasaicc/

Home page of the church

http://www.xavier.jp/english/e-index.html

The church meant to honour St Francis Xavier is now described on their website, on the main page look for the link on the right that says tent of light, as follows “The church is almost triangular in shape and symbolizes God’s tent among us, as portrayed in Holy Scripture.” Um oook where does it say that in scripture? Also where in scripture does it say to have a bell tower of ugliness and an interior of sterility?

I attended mass and confession on a weekday evening at St Ignatius in Tokyo and took two blurry photos. The sacrament of reconciliation is available between 5-7pm Mon-Fri in the main church. There was a line when I was there so in all it took about one hour, after which I stayed for the 6pm mass in Japanese. The mass is only 30 minutes long.

I found it very similar to Kobe Chuo church I visited before in several ways. It has the same round shape, the same stations of the cross hidden in offset stained glass windows, and the same flying Jesus on the wall instead of Christ crucified on a cross. On the other hand the confession was good.  Also you will notice in one photo a woman has her head covered something I had never witnessed until I came to Japan. The church holds 800 and for a weekday evening I was surprised there were quite a few people there. The photos were taken after mass had ended and people had started to leave.

Here is the church website

http://www.ignatius.gr.jp/eng/index.html