A Sunny Saturday in Siena

Yesterday, Father Carola and the rest of the chaplaincy group at Bernardi took the whole house (all 34 students) to the beautiful city of Siena for a great day of prayer, fun, and fraternity, three of my favorite things!  We left on a bus at 7 AM and we arrived in Siena around 10:30.  The first thing that we did was to go to the church of San Domenico, a church that St. Catherine actually used to pray at.  Now, the church is actually the place that houses St. Catherine's head, which was proudly on display for veneration.  And you may be asking yourself Her head?  Where is the rest of her body?  And the answer is that it is here in Rome, about 30 minutes walking from Bernardi.  Why her body is here and her head is not is a question that I don't have the answer to, but now there are 2 churches that you can pray at if you have a devotion to St. Catherine.  (I am hoping to do a piece on relics in the near future, talking about some of my favorite relics I've found in Rome and explaining the theology behind them, so check back later if you're super confused by this.)  But I really enjoyed praying there because earlier this week, I received my first letter here in Rome from Brother John Dominic, a good friend of mine who is in formation with the Dominicans in Cincinnati.  And he asked me to pray for him through the intercession of Dominican saints as he prepares to make his first vows in August.  But it just so happens that Catherine of Siena is a Dominican saint, so it was a great opportunity to pray there, especially for Brother John Dominic.

After San Domenico, we made our way to San Francesco, a church that is home to a Eucharistic miracle.  In 1730, some hoodlums decided to steal some consecrated hosts, which, as I am sure you know, is stealing Jesus.  And last time I checked, it isn't a good idea to steal anything, let alone God.  So after a couple of days, some priests found the hosts hidden in donation box in another Church in Siena.  The hosts were all counted and brought back to San Francesco with great solemnity, but were never consumed.  I am not sure why, but nobody ever ate them.  Usually, bread will deteriorate over time when it is just left sitting out, even if it is in a ciborium in a tabernacle.  But the thing is, the hosts never deteriorated.  All of them look as fresh as ever, even though they are 283 years old.  In my house, bread that is a couple of weeks old is usually thrown out.  But a couple of centuries?  That is another story.  That is clearly not bread.  That HAS to be Jesus Christ.  As it says in Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."  And if this Eucharistic miracle doesn't prove that, I am not sure what does.  So being able to pray just inches away from these hosts was a great blessing for the whole community.

Greg Billion, Angela Deeney, Max Behna, and RYAN!

After that, we had a lunch in the historic Campo, a plaza where the city hosts a world famous horse race every summer.  After lunch, we had some free time, so I climbed up to the top of a tower attached to the cathedral in Siena.  While it was a bit windy up there, the views were gorgeous.  Ryan even came up with us!  Then we were able to go into the cathedral, which, as with almost every church in Italy, was enormous and beautiful.  The stripes are interesting, but they seem to be a fairly common theme in Italy.  I wish I knew why.   Then we went to have Mass at the church next to the home of St. Catherine.  And all I am going to say about that is that Mass is great.  It is the source of summit of our Catholic faith.  Go to Mass.  

Interior of the Cathedral

Pope Pius II Chapel  

After Mass, we loaded up the bus and drove an hour out into the Tuscan hills to the absolutely beautiful Sant Antimo monastery.  And let me tell you, the Tuscan hills are some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  It was just awesome to ride through them.  At the monastery, we prayed Evening Prayer with the Norbertine monks there, which was incredible.  While the church is very, very simple (and very cold), it was awesome to be able to pray with these men who have dedicated their whole life to praying the Liturgy of the Hours, the official prayer of the Church.  For those of you who don't know, the Liturgy of the Hours is a set of prayers, based upon the psalms, that is prayed by all priests, deacons and religious five times a day.  It is meant to sanctify the day and the prayer is for the good of the whole Church.  So that means that if you are a member of the Church (which, assuming you've read this far, you probably are) people are praying for you all throughout the day, which is something pretty cool to think about.  The monks chanted beautifully in Latin and it was just a great joy to pray with them.  After Evening Prayer, because we were in the middle of nowhere, we saw about 7 million stars in the sky.  It was ridiculous.  Super beautiful.

Sant Antimo

Well that's all I've got for today.  Things here have been great.  Time is flying by, being here already for a month.  So hopefully I can continue to enter into all that the Lord has in store for me.  God bless!
Sts. Peter and Paul - Pray for us!                         

Me with Catherine Huss, rocking our shades