Italy Photo of the Week

From my last day in Rome. Click to see in detail.

This is a fragment of a Christian funeral monument. I didn't get the whole inscription (not that it would have helped much!); the really interesting thing to me is the "orans,"the person praying with outstretched hands--like Moses in last Sunday's first reading. (You do remember that, don't you?) Go to Mass on any given Sunday and you are sure to see the orans: When the priest says, "Let us pray," up go the arms, just like in old times.

This little sample of early Christian life (and death) is one of many fragments installed in the outdoor portico area of Santa Maria in Trastervere, the splendid Church where the lights went off moments after our arrival.