In a side chapel in the Vatican you would expect the All-Seeing One to be keeping tabs on you.
And when she texts me to give out about how much I’ve been spending on roaming charges on my Via Francigena… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/small-roads-lead-to-rome/. https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/08/04/see-rome-on-e50/. http://www.viafrancigena.com.
Well, the silent worshippers turn round and give me the evils.
The Vatican may be the smallest state in the world but it is the richest both in denarii, art and spirit.
We all know the statues of the Apostles, St Paul’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.
Even if we have never made the pilgrimage to the Vatican.
But that is just scratching the surface of the Vatican.
In the vaults there is even more art, wealth and history.
Although I won’t be allowed to visit on this occasion regardless of how lost I get.
I will though get to confess both the sins I have committed and those that I am about to transgress.
Confession boxes are positioned around the Vatican with flags on top denoting which language you can say sorry in.
I receive a good hearing and I think a rather less lenient penance than the ones I’m used to in Scotland and Ireland.
No sooner had I completed the second of my Hail Marys, got up from my kneeler and genuflected than I was off.
Holy Water of life
And sinning again.
Scooping holy water from the fount and into my plastic bottle.
And, yes, if I’m going to sin I shouldn’t use plastic.
And so begins a devilish obsession that has taken hold of me: going to confession abroad and then going off to take some holy water.
Visit https://www.vaticancityguide.org. And http://www.vaticantickets.org
Here’s another confessional in the Cathedral in La Laguna in Tenerife… but this pastor didn’t have English. https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/09/04/a-walk-in-the-park-tenerife/.
And I had to ask what the Spanish for adultery, murder and fraud was.
