TravelswithCharie

Scoglio di Santa Rita Roccaporena or Rocca Porrena is a tiny mountain village in Umbria. It sits at the foot of Mount Rucino and was isolated from most of the world until after the Second World War when a road was built connecting it to Cascia . It took ten minutes for us to reach this serene community from Cascia.  There is a trail that leads up the mountaintop where it is believed that St. Rita spent time to pray and meditate. The chapel on the mountaintop is the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie di Roccaporena. Marital House of St. Rita Saint Rita of Cascia was born in Roccaporena. She was a widowed woman with two sons. After her husband was assasinated around 1406, she worried that her sons might resort to violence against the family that murdered her husband. She prayed that they would not avenge his death. Her sons died not long after from natural  causes.  Saint Rita joined the Monastery of St. Mary Magdalene in 1407 where she remained until her death in 1457. In ...

View of the domes and belltower of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore  from the  terrace of Suore di Santa Elisabetta  Rome in August is hot and crowded. This is even more so now since 2025 has been designated a Jubilee year by the Vatican which means the Eternal City will receive a deluge of tourists and pilgrims. By some estimates, between 30 to 35 million visitors will descend on Rome in 2025. Imagine trying to find a hotel at the last minute. We were lucky enough to secure a reservation at Santa Elisabetta on the same day we needed a room for a few days at a place where I had wanted to stay in the first place. Several days before it was fully booked when I was doing my search. But thankfully we got a room! Moral of the story: never give up.  This convent is well located, practically next door to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of five designated churches for the Jubilee Year 2025. It’s also a short walk from Termini Sation where we got off after our t...

  Symbolic Keys of St. Peter The Jubilee Year happens every twenty five years except in 2015-2016 which was designated an Extraordinary Jubilee by Pope Francis. The declaration of a Jubilee year comes from Leviticus 25:8-55 which commands the Israelites to count 7 sabbatical years (7 x 7 = 49) and on the 50th year, celebrate a year of Jubilee.  Leviticus 25:10 sums it clearly: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land and to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you.” The central theme of the Jubilee Year is freedom, mercy and reconciliation. Pope Francis knocked on the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on December 24, 2024. The door was opened and he passed through in his wheelchair to celebrate Christmas Eve mass. The Jubilee Year celebration continues until January 6, 2026, the feast of the Epiphany. There are five designated Holy Doors: St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls. A fifth doo...