This morning at 9 am the main body of pilgrims met in the Basilica of St Mary Maggoire. 

From here the brave travellers were raised perpendicularly for ten minutes 1,300 ft up the mountain side.  They were in two carriages; each carriage contained ten people at a time.  The lava of 1872 still smokes and the travellers followed a narrow pathway to the very mouth of the crater.  

Fortunately it was a clear day but sometimes a curl of the wind caused them to stuff their handkerchiefs up to their faces to avoid the sulphur vapours.  They soon retraced our steps, and were seated once more in the railway carriage to descend.  Many of the more nervous were afraid to look down but all made it safely.  Dinner was served and they climbed once more into horse-drawn carriages and descended the mountain at a rapid pace.  The sight of the long cavalcade of carriages circling its way along the serpentine road was memorable.  Some said the view of Naples by night from the mountain road was one of the grandest sights ever witnessed.  As it grew darker vivid flashes of light could be seen bursting occasionally from the burning mountain.  Although the carriages had lamps, it was difficult to see on the dangerous, winding road.  Then the strains of ‘God Save Ireland’, led by a genial Dublin priest, were heard and the entire party joined in until they reached Portici.

On returning to Naples the travellers visited the church of St Januarius.   The blood of that saint is preserved in a phial, and liquefies on the saint’s feast day.  A short drive was taken through the principal part of the city and the travellers were back at the railway station in time to catch the train for Rome.  They did not go all the way to Rome by this train, as the far-famed shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel lay close by and they decided to pay it a visit.  They alighted at a place called Valmontene, obtained a carriage and proceeded to Genazzano, some five mile distance along a picturesque and interesting road. 

They were fortunate in meeting a very courteous priest belonging to the Order, Father O’Driscoll, who lived in Boston for many years, and who gave them all the information in his power about the Miraculous Picture contained in the church.

They returned to Segni Paliano and were able to catch the train for Rome.  They reached Rome at 1 30 and after lunch, proceeded to the Church of St Peter ‘In Vinculo’ where the chains which bound St Peter in prison are preserved and were, by special privilege, exposed for our veneration.  

        
They then went to the Church of St Praxedes close to St Mary Maggoire.  Here is preserved a large portion of the column to which our Lord was bound during his scourging.  The body of St Praxedes lies in the crypt beneath with those of many other saints and martyrs. 

From here they made their way to the Church of St Pudentiana, in the Via Urbana.  It is said to be the most ancient of all the churches in Rome.  The mosaics are regarded as the finest of the kind in Rome, and the pavement is said to be the same on which St Peter walked in the house of Pudens.  Here is preserved the altar stone on which St Peter celebrated Mass, and a well into which were thrown the bodies of three thousand martyrs during the ages of persecution.  The travellers then went to the Mamertime Prison,

in which St Peter was confined, saw the imprint of his head made in the solid rock when his jailors knocked him against it, the well which sprang up to afford the saint water to baptise the custodians whom he converted, and the very pillar to which the Prince of the Apostles was chained.    From the Mamertine Prison St Peter was taken to the Janiculum Hill to be crucified, and St Paul to the spot outside the walls where he was beheaded, and where now stands the Church of the Three Fountains.  Above the prison there rises now a beautiful little church, which is a favourite spot for pious Christians to pray for those who may have died a violent death. 

Next the group went to the little church outside the walls, which marks the spot where Our Lord met St Peter, who was flying from the city, and left the imprint of his feet on the marble slab.  A copy of this slab is still preserved in the church, but the real one is in the Church of St Sebastian, further out along the Appian Way. 

Next they paid a visit to the Catacombs of St Calixtus, which are sixteen miles long, and in which one hundred and seventy thousand Christians and martyrs were interred during the early ages.  We then went to the Basilica of St Sebastian and to the famous Catacombs which bear the name of that saint.  These Catacombs are five storeys deep, more ancient than the others, and in many respects are the most interesting of all.  On either side of the narrow passages are the tombs of the martyrs, and at intervals little churches.  In one of these, we noticed a beautiful little altar, with a marble tabernacle for the Blessed Sacrament, ascribed to the second century.  
 
The grave of St Cecilia was pointed out to us, and many others of special interest.  On our return to the Basilica we were shown the real stone on which Our Lord left the imprint of His Feet, and many other remarkable relics.