Elizabeth Lev’s regular ZENIT column has some interesting tidbits – she saw the film Into  Great Silence (the surprise hit film about Carthusians – the website indicates that the only US showings have been at film festivals so far), and brings an art historian’s eye to the experience. She also discusses the "Via Paradisi" – a 14-mile circuit of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome:

In 1552, St. Philip Neri, always alert to how to cajole the populace into dedicating more time for the soul, proposed a sort of spiritual carnival with processions and picnics. Singing and strolling through the historical testimonies of Rome’s ancient Christian origins, he brought the Romans on the "Via Paradisi," the Road to Paradise.

The churches they visited reminded the pilgrims of the earliest Christian community, buried in the catacombs under St. Sebastian. They remembered the blood of the martyrs spilled in emulation of Christ in a time when Christianity didn’t mean parties and festivals but persecution and death.

They saw the tombs of St. Peter and Paul and recognized Rome’s great honor and responsibility as the headquarters of the church. And they prayed in the first Western church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, a reminder of Rome’s leadership in Marian devotion.

The initiative was wildly successful and eventually the Pope conceded an indulgence to the practice. From 1575 to 1950 (when the tradition stopped) many a celebrated visitor to Rome walked the Road to Paradise.