The Vatican Finally Removed Walnut Wood Covering The Original Holy Stairs
VATICAN REVEALS – After 300 years, the original marble stairs where Jesus is believed to have walked up to be judged by Pontius Pilate right before his crucifixion.
The Holy Stairs or ‘Scala Sancta‘ in Latin, was unveiled recently to undergo intense restoration. For the next two months, the Holy Stairs will be left open.
There are drops of blood on some steps marked with medieval crosses that is believed to have come from Jesus himself. These steps are so meaningful to Catholic and Christian tourists that they often stop and kiss it when they’re on their way climbing the 28 steps marble stairway.
This is according to an article from CNN. Based on the article,
Rector of the Holy Stairs himself, Father Francesco Guerra claimed that these steps were mentioned in the Gospel of John in his statement:
“The Gospel of John recounts that Jesus went up these stairs several times.”
It is believed that Emperor Constantine’s mother, Helen, used to collect relics belonging to Jesus back in the 4th century. It is believed that she had the stairs delivered to the Vatican from Jerusalem.
Father Guerra also claimed that St. Helen brought a portion of cross where Jesus was crucified and the nails used to crucify him to a nearby church.
Meanwhile, the restoration project also paved way to new discovery. It was found that the stairs had deep indentations caused by the knees and feet of pilgrims going up there for hundreds of years.
According to Father Guerra, it wasn’t visible before because it was covered with planks.
Many people had experiences going up the Holy Stairs which comes with different stories and lessons. US Soldier Frank Scherra climbed the stairs with his 6 children.
He described the experience “priceless”.
At the end of the steps is a room called “Holy of Holies”. It used to be a private worshipping site of Popes and contains relics belonging to saints.
It also housed one of the oldest icons of Jesus discovered in Rome from the 5th Century.
That is all there is to it. We’ll post updates as soon as we got them.
