View Article: Scala Santa--Visited

	Scala Santa--Visited
	written by Paul Lang / 07.12.2004

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Location

After almost a month in Rome we have finally been able to visit Scala Santa.

Connection to Research

The Sacred Steps were not as sacred as I would have hoped. Contrasted with San Giovanni across the street, Scala Santa appears to be a small and dark church. Much of my vision for the church was based on the picture that I posted on the research portion, now it appears to be a misleading picture. There are not very steps. I would think that the penitent would find a few more stairs to crawl up. Even the nuns who were competing for the slowest stair climber finished their journey during the time that we were at the church.

Element of Interest

The main chapel at the top of stairs seems to be a great reward for those with the will to walk on their knees. One wonders how they feel seeing others who took the regular stairs standing next to themselves. It turns out that this is not easy to tell. The reward at the top of the stairs is walled off; the entrance to the chapel is not directly ahead of the end of the stairs. Instead of being next to an altar, the reward for your climb is a glimpse through dirty glass and iron bars to the impressively painted chapel. I find it strange to arrive at a hall which is the only corridor connecting the other sets of steps up to the chapel. The tourists are the only things waiting there.

Questions

"Is walking up stairs on your knees an adequate test of one's faith? (It is a lot of hard wooden stairs)"

Walking up the stairs does not provide an adequate test. If stairs equate to righteousness, the steps leading up to Santa Maria in Aracoeli are a much better test. The real test is trying to ignore the tourists who stare with cameras from both above and below you. This stretch of steps may be the only sanctuary in all of Rome; tourists are not brave enough to walk on it for a picture.This site is quite famous; to escape and commune with God in private is there another set of steps in Rome? Although it may not be a relic such as this, at least

Image Analysis

Scala Santa

The picture of Scala Santa from my research

Scala Santa with poor lighting

The bright sun and an overexposed photograph combine to give a more representation of the site than the picture above

My original and misleading picture gives the stairs an impressive height, something that is accentuated by the single pilgrim. With only one taking up the challenge, a stair crawl appears to have much more meaning. In actuality, it is a relative quick trip for most people. Something the tourists, such as in the lower photograph can stand and watch, taking notes on the rapid progress of women, nuns, and a few men. The walls are difficult to see in the somber darkness inside.

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