Would You Crawl Up These Stairs On Your Knees

[Budge]

Knee surgeons have got to love Rome...


[img]http://i12.tinypic.com/4kx2efk.jpg[/img]

[quote]
Steps Jesus walked to trial restored to glory

By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 2:18am BST 14/06/2007

One of the Roman Catholic Church's holiest relics, which contains the steps believed to have been climbed by Jesus on his way to trial before Pontius Pilate, has been restored to its former glory.

Worshippers at The Santa Scala in Rome; one of the Roman Catholic Church's holiest relics has been restored to its former glory
Worshippers climb the steps on their knees. Charles Dickens called the practice ‘unpleasant’

The Santa Scala, or Holy Stairs, were brought to Rome from Jerusalem in the fourth century AD and placed in the former papal palace opposite the basilica of St John Lateran.

However, restorers found that the sanctity of the staircase had not had an effect on the behaviour of some tourists. "We found chewing gum stuck to the wood of the stairs," said Alessandra Scerrato, the secretary of the Friends of the Holy Stairs association.

The 28 white marble steps, which are encased in wood for their protection, are so holy that pilgrims are only allowed to ascend on their knees.

The kneeling position also allows them to gaze through holes in the wood which allegedly reveal spots of Christ's blood on the marble beneath. Pilgrims who ascend the staircase are given a full indulgence of their sins.
[b]Charles Dickens, who visited the staircase in 1845, was unimpressed by the Catholic ritual, calling it a "dangerous reliance on outward observances" and added: "I never, in my life, saw anything at once so ridiculous and so unpleasant as this sight."[/b]

In 1589, Pope Sixtus V commissioned 17,000 sq ft of frescoes to surround the stairs. The painted walls and ceiling had been darkened by centuries of smoke from the candles of visitors.

"The hardest part was to remove the soot," said Francesco China, one of the restorers. A number of noted 16th century artists, including Baldassare Croce, who assisted in the painting of the Sistine Chapel, contributed to the frescoes.
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They were restored millimetre by millimetre, using digital cameras to discern the original image.

Francesco Buranelli, the director of the Vatican Museum, said: "These are some of the most important, but least well known, frescoes in Rome, and they open a new page for 16th century art.

"The restoration has shown the very high quality of the work." The centre fresco depicts Sixtus himself, dressed as St Sylvester.

The lion's share of the funding of the restoration came from the American Getty Foundation. The foundation has contributed more than £300,000, even though it is locked in an acrimonious tussle with the Italian government over the ownership of several antiquities.


{like Vatican doesnt have enough money to restore this stuff themselves}

Deborah Marrow, the director of the Getty Foundation, said: "This is a landmark project of restoration and can serve as an example to all others." She added that Getty was delighted to work with the Holy See.

The restoration project will now move to the private chapel at the top of the stairs, which houses relics which have not been seen by anyone outside the Church since the 16th century.

#

The Holy Stairs originally led to the praetorium, or judgment hall, of Pontius Pilate's palace in Jerusalem. Worshippers believe that they were sanctified by Jesus's footsteps.

They were brought from Jerusalem to Rome in 326AD by St Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, and placed near their current site. The church and palace of St John Lateran were given by Constantine to the Holy See.

Several popes have undergone the ritual of ascending the 28 marble steps on their knees.

MI5[/quote]

I'm with Charles Dickens on this one...

[chelsea]

I would so do it. When I went to Steuby East they had a similar thing, where you climbed up the stairs on your knees and prayed on each step. it was PAINFUL because it was rough and broken concrete and rocks, but it was such a beautiful form of prayer. And can you imagine, seeing the Precious Blood of Our Lord? I think its beautiful.

[Sojourner]

[quote name='Budge' post='1296541' date='Jun 16 2007, 08:52 AM']Knee surgeons have got to love Rome...
I'm with Charles Dickens on this one...[/quote]
What does it matter to you?

Your statement here reminds me of Judas' criticism of the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her hair.

[Gandalf]

hmm...idk...I will not say anything good or bad about it...

[SJP]

Should I ever have the opportuntiy to visit Rome again, I'm going to make a point of doing this!

Oh, and what's the debate??

[Gandalf]

Maybe debating whether or not to go up the stairs or not...or whats your stand on the stairs...

Edited June 16, 2007 by Gandalf

[Maggyie]

This sounds like a very profound way to pray! Probably not for me, though, unless I get in better shape

[SJP]

[quote name='Gandalf' post='1296626' date='Jun 16 2007, 12:54 PM']Maybe debating whether or not to go up the stairs or not...or whats your stand on the stairs...[/quote]

Both of those could be debated but seeing as neither statements were mentioned in the original post, we can't really be sure, can we?

[Maggyie]

I am anti-stairs, and pro-escalator

[Didymus]

i did do it. and it was awesome. It's kinda a good retreat in Rome just to go there and slowly meditate on the Passion of Our Lord.

[Didymus]

[quote name='Budge' post='1296541' date='Jun 16 2007, 09:52 AM']Knee surgeons have got to love Rome...[/quote]

all the walking in Rome does more to the knees than climbing up these steps. The wood was worn and as comfortable as most padded kneelers, but maybe you haven't tried those either...

[Groo the Wanderer]

Let me ask you , Budge...what would you NOT do to become more holy? Would you also tell God 'no' if He asks you to march around a building 7 times and then yell yer head off?

[Mercy me]

[i][b]Yes!!![/b][/i] I would and I did. It was truly an amazing experience to have the opportunity to go up those strains and meditate on the passion and cruxification of the Lord. I would recommend it to anyone.

You don't have to believe in the authenticity of the steps to go up them and meditate. What is of value is the prayer.

[Lil Red]

where's the debate? unless there is a debate point ([url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=67979"]please see here[/url]), this gets moved.

p.s. Budge, we've asked you to start threads that actually have a debate point.

[catholicinsd]

Just curious- how did they get these stairs from Jerusalem to Rome?