Having prayed the pilgrims prayer at my open window this morning - a special and profound moment as these words have become so precious to me in these past days - I then proceeded to completely ignore my app today and do my own thing. The app suggested walking for 12km then riding on a bus for an hour which wouldn't even have got me to the Basilica, so instead I walked first to the station Monterotondo and caught a train to Roma Nomentana.
I had to dice with yet another scary road on the way - what is it about Italians and lack of pavements?!
Once at Roma Nomentana I then walked across the city - stopping to get my final hotel stamp.
And then carrying on to arrive at St Peter's Basilica where my Credenziale was checked and completed and my Testamonium issued!
I made it!!!
Assisi to Rome (St Peter's Basilica - Vatican City)
265.63km / 160.05 miles
387421 steps
14th April - 29th April 2025
Sono un pellegrino - I am a pilgrim!
- - - - -
Thankfully the left foot held out until I was in possession of my testamonium, but then it began to complain in earnest.
The Basilica was extremely busy with people which felt quite overwhelming considering how isolated I've been in past days. The church was also extremely ornate and it was hard to get my head round what I'd just done whilst everyone else felt like they were in tourist mode.
I was able to take a moment to pause and pray in a designated silent chapel. It was a special moment as I prayed the pilgrims prayer in the past tense as a mark of the completion of my pilgrimage and then made my way back to my hotel - rather slowly and in a lot of discomfort! Praying for healing so I can enjoy the next few days I have planned in Rome.
A quote from Papa Francesco:
Jesus is with us on the journey
“Life is a journey, along different roads, different paths, which leave their mark on us. We know in faith that Jesus seeks us out. He wants to heal our wounds, to soothe our feet which hurt from traveling alone, to wash each of us clean of the dust from our journey.” (2015)
The journey I've been on over the past two weeks, that today reached its conclusion as I arrived in Rome, has definitely left its mark on me.
The paths I've travelled, the people I've met, the places I've seen have shaped the person I was, before I'd taken a single step, to the person I have become today.
Yes, my wounds need healing and my feet need soothing and I need the dust of the journey washed away. But the marks of this pilgrimage will remain, indelibly etched deep in my very being, in my heart and in my soul.
Jesus has sought me out and I, too, have sought Him, and as we have journeyed together this has wrought irrevocable change in me. I do not leave this precious time unaltered by this journeying with Him. It has been a privilege and a pleasure, a challenge and a joy. I am blessed indeed to have had this opportunity. And here is the reflection I mentioned earlier that I actually wrote on the train!
Pilgrim wanderer
I take the first step
And then, step by step by step I wander the pathways, the highways and the low ways
The distance passes, my feet carrying me onward
By myself and yet not alone
For God journeys with me
And I am buoyed along by those who travel with me in spirit
Moving onward on this journey
Lost, and found, in thoughts
A cherished sacred time
Of high mountain and valley low
Of forest trails and dusty roads
Every path leading me onward
I treasure the people met along the way
Holy encounters - ordained and precious
Forever etched upon my heart
As I've been on this hallowed way
But now my destination beckons
Where my final step on this pilgrim journey will be taken
---
And now, this journey is complete
No longer weighed down by that which I have carried with me
Instead this now swapped for the memories I shall forever hold
Rich and deep and profound
These are a burden I will be privileged to carry with me
As I continue on my way
Step, by step, by step
