No, but the trip was great... and I will share some pictures with you so you can get a sense of what it is like to cross Italy from West to East. You remember from geography class, like I do, the lesson about Italy being shaped like a boot? So, crossing from one side of Italy on the Atlantic, to the other side of Italy on the Adriatic, is only as wide as your mid-calf ... so to speak. It takes three hours. I can't even get to Windsor from Barrie in three hours. But I can tell you that the geography of those three hours sure beats the trip from my house to my Mom's!
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| Departing from Rome by bus |
Although there are multiple pics I could post of the mountainous region in the middle of Italy, I will just post these two:
I loved the way they perch these little villages and towns on the top of the high hills, and, if you look closely at the first pic you will see another little village dangling precariously on the side of the mountain. They all have a church often with a spire / steeple as the highest point in the town. Dozens of these little towns and villages dot the tops of the landscape all the way from Rome to Lanciano, where we were headed.
There are actually snow capped mountains resembling the Rockies as well. Best pic possible from a bus window...
Once in Lanciano we found our way to the Sanctuary of the Eucharistic miracle, but it was not open until 1500 (3 pm). So, we looked into two other churches that were within steps, yes a few steps of the first one. The first one was St. Lucy's or Santa Lucia.
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| Looking to get into the church of Santa Lucia |
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| Outside the door to Santa Lucia |
The sun was streaming in from one of the upper windows right into the 'choir', (you recall that the choir stalls were monastic and were set across from each other so that the monks could sing stanzas of the Psalms back and forth to each other as they chanted their daily prayers) So I went as sat there, just to soak it in and to be quiet... and pray of course. I didn't chant... though I was tempted to try.
My friend happened to take my picture at the time and sent it to me:
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| Sunshine in the Choir stall |
The other was the Basilica in Lanciano (below) which was really quite beautiful for a town of about 35,000. We don't have anything like it, and what we do have by way of Cathedral churches serves a city of millions and a whole diocese. The marble work was what caught my attention, and although I don't have a picture of it, it was something I hadn't seen before. The intricate patterns in the marble altar rail, for example was all inlaid... in the same way the you have sometimes seen wood perfectly shaped into a pattern that fits together and then set into a larger piece of wood... only here it was with marble. It was amazing craftsmanship. This is the long view of the Basilica from the back:
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| Basilica in Lanciano |
To be honest, I don't know how to write about our visit to the third church, which was the main reason for our trip. Catholics have this willingness to believe in miracles and live close to the supernatural order of things... and do so un-apologetically, though often ridiculed.
In any case, here is a YouTube link explaining the miracle which happened about 1,300 years ago in this town, in the original church which still exists below the one built on top. The fact that the miracle continues to this day... well, is a miracle in itself. The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano.
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| A combined picture of the 3 pictures we took of the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano |
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| Remnants of a ancient wall fresco in the original church below |
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