So we have arrived in the courtyard of Basilica di San Clemente in Rome. We have traveled so far, and our trip is drawing to a close. It is appropriate, though, that the trip ends here. We are in a pilgrimage city and this is a pilgrimage church, similar in design, scale, and feel to the old Saint Peter’s (long since lost to the Counter-Reformation). This space is one for calm reflection after an arduous but fulfilling journey.

“Nobis post hoc exsilium,” says the medieval Salve Regina, “All will be resolved after this exile.” It was sung in the monasteries at the end of compline, the last hymn of the day. It is sung by the architecture of this place, by the doves that tumble through shadow and sun, by the aqueduct-fed fountain.

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