St. Mary Major

Yesterday, Kelsey, her mom Kim, my mom, and myself went to St. Mary Major's church. This is the only one of the four basilicas that the class is not seeing, so we decided to see it on our own.

This church is absolutely huge! In relation to the other four basilicas it is about average. However, since the US and especially Minnesota, doesn't have many large churches, everything looks big! When you walk into the church you are just overcome with beauty. Everything is covered in gold and looks so ornate.

There is a baptisimal area off to the right of the main area. This to me was really interesting since it is so different than what we see for baptism today. People used to be submerged in water for their baptism and they didn't get baptised until later in thier lives as adults. The baptisms used to happen in large, ornately decorated pools that were in the churches. Now, most of the baptism areas have a smaller tub placed in the center to represent where baptisms used to be done.

The alter dedicated to Mary is absolutly breathtaking. There is a lot of gold around, making everything look very ornate and delicate. There were also lots of red and gold poinsettas around, decorating the alter area. This church had so much detail that talking does no justice. I'm very glad that we visited St. Mary Major to see to last of the 4 basilicas.

Kelsey M