As I mentioned in my last blog post, we enjoyed the small towns in Italy much more than the larger ones. Lucky for us the next several days were filled with seeing the sights in those lovely small towns as we made our way towards Rome.
Our first stop was in Assisi where we toured both the upper and lower churches in the Basilica of St. Francis. The upper church was much more brilliant than I remembered from my previous trip as the frescoes had all been recently refurbished.
Next we toured the Basilica of St. Clare and then enjoyed a nice lunch with Father Jamie where I had the best meal of the entire trip. Since it was a Friday in Lent and I was traveling with an entire group of Catholics, I felt obligated to also order a meatless meal. As a result the options on the menu were a bit limited. So I ordered risotto and spinach ravioli with pears and almonds and I was not disappointed!
After touring the convent house and the Church of San Damiano we had just a bit of time to shop. We had decided before we left on our trip that we would bring home a nativity scene as a souvenir. When we discovered that St. Francis was the originator of the nativity scene, we knew we needed to find one in Assisi. I had spotted a shop with many nativity scenes as we were walking between churches that morning and luckily we were able to find it again.
Finally we visited the church of Santa Maria Maggiore where the body of Blessed Carlo Acutis lies. His story is fascinating as he documented the Eucharistic Miracles on a website that he designed before becoming sick with leukemia and passing at the age of 15 in 2006. His body was exhumed in 2019 after several miracles were attributed to his intercession. His body was found to be incorrupt and can be viewed just as he looked on the day he died. His canonization was approved by the Pope in July of this year.
The next day we traveled to Cascia which was the home of St. Rita. Her church was very colorful and much more modern than most we had seen.
Next we made our way to Loreto where we saw the Sanctuary of the Holy House. This church was built around the Holy House where Mary was born and Jesus was raised. But you thought Jesus was raised in Nazareth. Well he was. Legend has it that the house was moved to Loreto by seven angels because Nazareth was under attack and it was feared that the house would be destroyed. Hard to believe and yet there is scientific evidence that suggests that is exactly what happened.
After we viewed the inside of the house we had some time to spend in the church. The organist was practicing alongside the cantor and I found a spot nearby where I could watch and listen. A little slice of heaven for me!
We traveled to Lanciano the next day to view the first Eucharistic Miracle where the wine turned to blood and the host turned to flesh when a Basilian monk questioned the presence of Christ in the Eucharist in the 8th century.
Our next stop was San Giovanni Rotondo, the home of Saint Padre Pio. There we saw several churches dedicated to this saint. The oldest was the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie - built in 1629 - where Padre Pio celebrated Mass for many years and received the stigmata in 1918. This church has room for only 80 worshippers.
A newer church was built in 1959 to accommodate all of the people who wanted a blessing from Padre Pio. There were many beautiful mosaics along the side walls including those of Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II. The incorruptible body of Saint Padre Pio can be viewed in a crypt in the lower level of this church.
Another even larger and very modern church was built in 2004 and can seat 6,500 people.
Our final stops before arriving in Rome were two very small towns - Mont San Angelo and Manoppello. Mont San Angelo was a medieval town where we had Mass in the Grotto of Michael the Archangel. Luckily we are not claustrophobic as it was very much like a cave.
In Manoppello we visited the church that houses the veil of St Veronica which covered Christ’s face.
Our travels to Rome included seeing the Adriatic Sea, vineyards, olive tree groves, hillside towns, and mountains - quite a variety! We reached Rome just as the sun was setting - a very beautiful sight - where more adventures awaited us. Stay tuned!
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