I walked across Rome to St. Peter’s. The sun was setting and a small crowd was gathered around the enormous life-size crib in the square. It was late afternoon and the queues were gone. I hurried into the great empty space and as is the way in St. Peter’s immediately found a Mass and it was being taken by a cardinal.

I struggled with the Italian a bit – which I am trying to learn – but it didn’t matter. Latin is so close to Italian that if you give your responses in Latin while the rest of the congregation give theirs in Italian the words don’t jar and scrape as in English or even French, they just merge into each other.

Pater noster qui es in coelis / Padre nostro che sei nei cieli

After Communion, I stood at the side of the nave and looked up and down this soaring space. It is a stunning experience to walk past the high altar and look into the grave of Peter who started and completed his life so modestly and ended up under all this. I thought of the previous day’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

Peter sent them all out of the room and knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to the dead woman and said ‘Tabitha, stand up!’ She opened her eyes, looked at Peter, and sat up, and Peter helped her to her feet.

(Acts of the Apostles 9:31-42)