d by Michael Angelo; the interior is very rich in sculpture, and
there are some fine paintings and the chapels are most beautiful, one of
them containing a tabernacle comprised wholly of precious stones. Above
the altar of the Holy Sacrament the table upon which Christ celebrated
the Last Supper with the disciples is preserved. It is wonderful to look
upon this most sacred and significant relic.

It is in this church that the tomb of Leo XIII has been constructed by
the eminent Italian sculptor, Tadolini, opposite the tomb of Innocent
III. The work was completed in the spring of 1907, the design being a
life-size portrait statue of the Pope with two figures, one on either
side, representing the church and the workman-pilgrim, forming part of
the group. This is one of the most memorable monuments of all Rome, and
the tomb of the great Leo XIII will form a new shrine for Christian
pilgrimage.

Included in the group of structures that form the great Basilica of San
Giovanni is the Scala Santa, which offers a strange picture whenever one
approaches it. These twenty-eight marble steps that belonged to Pilate's
house in Jerusalem are said to have been once trodden by Jesus and may
be ascended only on one's knees. At no hour of the day can one visit the
Scala Santa without finding the most motley and incongruous throng thus
ascending, pausing on each step for meditation and prayer. These stairs
were transported from Jerusalem to Rome under the auspices of St.
Helena, the Empress, about 326 A.D., and in 1589 they were placed by
Pope Sixtus V in this portico built for them with a chapel at the top of
the stairs called the "Sancta Sanctorum," formerly the private chapel of
the Popes. In this sanctuary is preserved a wonderful portrait of the
Saviour, painted on wood, which is said to have been partly the work of
St. Luke but finished by unseen hands. The legend runs that St. Luke
prepared to undertake the work by three days' fasting and prayer, and
that, having drawn it in outline, the painting was done by angelic
ministry, the colors being filled in by invisible hands. In ancient
times--the custom being abolished by Pius V in 1566--this picture was
borne through Rome on the Feast of the Assumption and the bearer halted
with it in the Forum, when the "Kyrie Eleison" would be chanted by
hundreds of voices.

Myth and legend invest every turn and footfall of the Eternal City, and
there are few that are not founded on what the chur