From Tourist to Pilgrim

Bernini’s goal in designing the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica was to make the pilgrim experience wonder.

As we gaze with the eyes of a pilgrim, we see the choir singing at Mass and the incense rising to Heaven, as the Holy Spirit erupts into the Church and we become a special part of this mystery.

"From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and directed by Johana Bronkova.

Rome's tourist Mecca par excellence, the Colosseum has stood for almost two thousand years.

The magnificent amphitheater once built for the bloodlust of the Romans later became the greatest monument commemorating the Passion of Christ and His first followers.

Its lesson is not how human beings can be seduced by the mob’s love of violence, but that the message of Christ's peace retains the power to persuade and transform, despite the passing of centuries.

"From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and directed by Johana Bronkova.

The Spanish Steps owe their existence to pilgrimage. When pilgrims made their way along what is known as the Via del Babuino and Piazza di Spagna, they had to make their way up a hill in order to get to the road that leads to St. Mary Major.

King Louis XV offered to build a set of stairs that spread out at the bottom to gather people together, resulting in an embrace that seems to reach the Trinity at the very top.

"From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and directed by Johana Bronkova.

Everyone has heard the old adage that all roads lead to Rome, but the numerous Madonnelle—images of the Blessed Virgin Mary gracing every path in the city—are a reminder that the road we are really looking for leads to her Son, Jesus.

"From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and directed by Johana Bronkova.

It's impossible to mistake Saint Paul's Outside the Walls for anything but a pilgrimage Church. To get there, you have to walk a mile outside of the city walls. It sits along the Via Ostiense, the road that leads out to the sea and is flanked by the Tiber River.

In many ways, it seems like a fitting resting place for the super-pilgrim Saint Paul, who walked thousands of miles in order to preach Christ Crucified to the Gentiles.

"From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and directed by Johana Bronkova.

Bernini’s sculpture of the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa in the Church of Our Lady of Victory is one of the best examples of how divergent the lens of a tourist can be from that of a pilgrim. While tourists look upon the sculptures and snicker, interpreting the image as a depiction of earthly passion, Bernini's pilgrims would be shocked by this modern reaction.

As Galileo had brought the telescope to Rome to allow the human eye to see hidden celestial bodies, so Bernini became a kind of telescope to the supernatural, allowing us to see what this remarkable saint had witnessed.

"From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and directed by Johana Bronkova.

No site offers more hope than Saint John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome. The mixture of its decorative styles reminds us that over the two thousand years of its history, Christianity has seen war, disasters, and persecution.

Yet the Church endures, despite all setbacks, and she becomes more beautiful as the years go on. The first Roman Christian Basilica founded by Emperor Constantine celebrates those who died under persecution and the hard-won gift of being able to share and proclaim our faith.

"From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and directed by Johana Bronkova.

The figure of the Good Shepherd has been made famous from one end of the globe to the other. Perhaps this image suggests a good way to understand the arrival of Christian art. Where did Christian art first appear? Not in galleries, not in piazzas. It was first made for the silence of the catacombs, and slowly, as the years went by, Christian art came out of the darkness and into the light. When the early Christians were ready to proclaim their story, they chose the Good Shepherd, the image of a Savior who comes into the world to bring the beautiful truth of the Good News.

"From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and directed by Johana Bronkova.

Rome is the city of Emperors and Popes, not Pharaohs. So, why are there so many Egyptian obelisks? These strange and massive needles crop up at every turn.

Pope Sixtus V, in his urban planning campaign, unearthed these massive granite monuments and created a visual network to help the pilgrims coming to Rome find the most important sites of prayer.

"From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and directed by Johana Bronkova.

The very word “Pietà” means “to feel sorry for.” So, how was Michelangelo to make people feel sorry for Mary and Jesus? The prototypes he was offered from Germany and France show the Body of Christ in rigor mortis with open wounds and the crown of thorns still visible. But the 23-year-old sculptor chose to do something completely different. And in doing so, he changed the history of art.

"From Tourist to Pilgrim" is a podcast by Liz Lev, with original music by Mara Miceli and Umberto D'Auria, editing and sound design by Mara Miceli, and directed by Johana Bronkova.