Rome at Easter
 

We will be in Rome during Easter week. Does anyone have any advice about what to see, where to go, etc. to experience any special Easter-related events. How about St. Peter's on Easter Sunday? Any Good Friday ceremonies we should see? We know it will be crowded (we live in Tokyo; crowds are a way of life).

Tickets are needed for the Mass in St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday. Apply to the Church of Santa Susanna in Rome or the North American College of Bishops in Rome for the tickets, which are free. The Pope does Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday. Tickets are needed for seats in the Colosseum or you can stand outside it with the crowds on Via Fori Imperiali and see the final stations at the Forum. Due to the Pope's declining health, he has not walked the stations himself in a few years. He used to hear confessions of a few ordinary people (even tourists!) on Holy Thursday at St. Peter's but he may not do this anymore. I think you can still attend the Mass on Thursday where he washes the feet of 12 pre-selected individuals. Many of the churches have especially lovely Easter Vigil services on Saturday night. Try Santa Maria Maggiore and Santa Maria in Trastevere and Santa Cecilia in Trastevere for those.

Shepherd, here is the Pope's schedule for Holy Week:
1.Palm Sunday, April 4, Papal Mass @ 10:00am in St. Peter's Square
2. Wednesday, Papal Audience-St.Peter's Square @ 10:30am
3. Holy Thursday, Chrism Mass @ St. Peter's Basilica (9:30am) and Mass of Last Supper- St. Peter's Basilica @ 5:30pm
4. Good Friday, Celebration of the Passion of Our Lord- St. Peter's Basilica @ 5:30pm and the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum @ 9:15pm (no tickets necessary)
5. Saturday Easter Vigil Mass - St. Peter's Basilica @ 8:00pm
6. Easter Sunday Mass- St. Peter's Square @ 10:30pm and the Pope's General Blessing at noon
Tickets are required for the above mentioned events except the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum and the general Blessing at noon on Easter Sunday. Once again, these are the special religious events during Holy Week. Have a great trip. Mike

The Easter Sunday Mass is at 10:30am not pm as listed in my earlier reply. Mike

The day after Easter is a holiday as well. Many people go to the country for picnics/dining at restaurants, etc. As I remember, everything in Rome pretty much closes down.

Send an email to [email protected] to request tickets to Easter morning mass at St. Peter's. They have just started replying and granting tickets.

Parker, I had forgotten the address to give to Shepherd. I have already reserved tickets to every appearance by the Pope during Easter Week. Let's hope and pray his health holds up. Mike

barbmike

Where did you find the Pope's schedule for the Holy week? Is it somewhere on the web?

List of Papal celebrations at the main Vatican website at:
http://tinyurl.com/yvy6a

The Vatican website is www.vatican.va
Things may have changed since I was there Easter Sunday in 1999 but you didn't have to have tickets for the Easter Mass unless you wanted seats. The Mass is in St. Peter's Square and was about 1/4 occupied by seats that were roped off and the rest of the square was standing room which anyone could access.

Last Easter, about 3/4 of the Piazza was barricaded off for seating, leaving a relatively small area at the back of the Piazza for standing room. If anyone plans to stand, be aware that the Easter Mass lasts almost two hours and the standing room section is a favorite haunt of pickpockets.

I had a ticket to the Easter Mass as far back as 1973, and it was for a roped off controlled entry section of standing room just behind the seats. So, there is a history, at least, of requiring tickets for controlled entry areas where you still must stand.

In 1997 we attended the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday Evening. We stood outside with the crowd and actually got pretty close to the Pope, closer than we would have at St. Peter's on Sunday morning. It was a much smaller crowd, about 20,000-25,000. The Pope was still walking pretty good then, and walked from the Colosseum to the Forum, where he climbed the stairs to the top of the Forum. Nuns were everywhere. We were impressed, and very moved, and we're not Catholic. The Swiss Boy Scouts circulated in the crowd and handed out programs, which I've kept and cherish. Peace.

Robyn

Grinisa is right about the pickpockets. We saw several working the crowd acting like they were begging. A very old lady with a bowl attached to a board and she would shove the board against the persons side while her other hand was going underneath to go into their pocket. You feel the pressure of the board instead of her hand.