Worship while in Rome

Saint Paul's Outside the Walls, Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, Sant'Ivo Della Sapienza, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Santa Prassede, San Giovanni in Laterano, San Clemente, Santo Stefano Rotondo, will give you a variety of experiences in terms of architecture, size, historical periods.

Susan, Zoe has given you some excellent suggestions; all different and very interesting churches. You may find this page helpful as well as it lists the 4 basilicas with links to each:

http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/index_en.html#

Unfortunately, information for some of the mass schedules appear only in Italian, or do on my laptop, anyway, but simply copy/paste the text into an online translator, such as google or bing translate, and you'll have your information. For instance, Santa Maria Maggiore?

Click on the icon for that church
Click the tab for Italian
Click "Informazioni" under "Vita Liturgica (Liturgical life), copy/paste the text into a translator and here's what you get.

• Weekdays: 7:00 am - 8.00 to 9.00 (in the Sforza Chapel) - from 10.00 to 11.00 - 12.00 to 18.00.

• Festive: hours from 7.00 to 8.00 - 9,00 (in the Pauline Chapel)
  10.00 (in Latin) - from 12.00 to 18.00 (Papal Altar).

• Sundays and holidays:
  9.00: Liturgy of the Hours
  10:00 am: Holy Mass Chapter (Latin)
  16.40 hours: Holy Rosary
  17.15 hours: Liturgy of Vespers.

Eucharistic Adoration: every day (except Saturday and Sunday) from 9:00 am to 16:15 am in the Chapel Sforza. Vespers and Benediction at 16.15 hours.

Rosary 17.25 hours every weekday.

Sacrament of Penance:
from 7.00 to 12.30 hours; and from 15.30 to 18.45 hours.

Others of the churches have their own websites which can often be found on their google pages, Trip Advisor, or even their Facebook pages! I found the website with mass listing for Santa Maria in Trastevere on the TA review pages for this church:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187791-d243029-Reviews-Santa_Maria_in_Trastevere-Rome_Lazio.html

Click the tiny "website" icon in the box on the right side and you'll get this (you want the times under the 2 "Orario Messe" listings)

http://www.tesoridiroma.net/chiese_medioevo/santa_maria_trastevere.html

Does this help?

Yes, this is helpful. It took forever for me to realize find that the Pantheon was actually "St. Mary and the Martyrs" (Latin: Santa Maria ad Martyres) but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda". Goodness! Thank you.

LOL, Susan! Yes, that one is sort of confusing. I think only the people who go there for services know it as Santa Maria ad Martyres.

The Great Synagogue of Roma had tours in several languages, there is also a good museum.

I saw a queue in St. Peter's Basilica, and I wandered over. I watched people be let through by whispering a word to the guard, They would say the word, and he would say something in return. Finally, I realized they were saying, 'Mass" and they were saying, 'come through, no pictures.' I motioned to my family to hurry over, and I repeated the word 'Mass', and we were let through. On of my favorite memories of my life is of taking Mass and Communion in St. Peter's in Italian on a hot summer's night. Enjoy!!!

jennylatham, I am glad that you had the eorship experience at Saint Peter's, it is one of my favorite experiences as well.

Note to others: Mass is for participation in worship, it is not a password for tourists.

Jenny - thank you for your response. I am not Catholic so don't routinely participate in matins, evensong, etc. but I did recognize the call to Noon mass at Notre Dame. Such a meaningful time for me - an incredible soprano gifted me with the version of Ave Maria that I will always remember.

Thank you, Zoe, for pointing out that "Mass" is not a password. It's OK to be a tourist, but it's not ok for tourists to disrupt worship services.

Please remember that Catholic rites are open to everybody, but taking Communion is reserved to Catholics that understand the meaning of the gesture and share the faith. In Florence Cathedral a few Japanese tourists were observed while trying to take away the host as a souvenir. You could not do a more offensive action in a Catholic church - throwing a can of paint over a 15th century Madonna would not be as offensive.

Lachera, thanks especially for your post. I was trying to figure out how to get the message across without being offensive. You're post explains it precisely and I wish it could be immediately under the OP so everyone would see It. Thank you!

Good advice above.
In some cases- particularly at very large churches - smaller masses can occur in side chapels, which allows exploration of other areas but should still be done respectfully.

We've stumbled into any number of services both in main parts and side chapels and have quietly enjoyed them from the back even though we're not Catholic. We've also been lucky enough, sometimes, to wander in when an organist is practicing; always nice!

Lachera - thank you so much. I am a person of faith, just not Catholic. I definitely want to respect the practices of other religions and hope others will too. We have an "open" communion - anyone wishing to partake may - so I'm afraid I probably wouldn't have thought twice about taking communion. I'm learning!

Yes, Lachera, thanks for the clarification. All are welcome to the liturgies; my point, not stated very well, was that time reserved for Mass should not be visitor-walking-around time, although as Kathy said, many churches have Mass in a chapel or other clearly marked area.

@Zoe, I am very aware that mass is not a 'password' for tourists. I am catholic, and didn't understand how to be able to attend mass there. I was lucky I was in the right place at the right time and observed the right way to gain entrance without disrupting the flow and being obnoxious. My point was to let English speakers who weren't familiar with the process know how to be able to enjoy services.