It's sad, really.

Rome has got to be the most religious city in the world! It always has been religious; the dieties are the only things that have really changed in 2,000 plus years. Many of the ancient pagan temples are still standing, and the alcoves, built into the corners of most buildings, still house asundry shrines. Yes, the pictures have changed. What was once Zeus, is now St. Peter. What was once Artemeis, is now the virgin Mary. So, the icons and forms of worship are different, but the superstitious nature of Rome remains.

In one of the many art-filled rooms of the Vatican Museum, there was a painting on the ceiling (shown above) depicting one of Rome's many marble gods, knocked down, broken, and replaced by a golden crucifix. This painting seemed to me very sybolic of what has happened in that great city. One religion was traded for another - marble for gold, but both are still merely statues, and neither glorify the One who created and sustains all things.