LANCIANO and SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO

Thursday 10 October 2013

LANCIANO

Italy is a land of deep faith. Besides Rome, there is Assisi, legendary hometown of Saint Francis. The country is literally dotted with communities where miracles gave witness to God’s presence at work in the lives of people whose faith was strengthened by unexplained phenomena. Today we left Rome to explore two such communities.

Lanciano is a good 4-hour drive through the scenic Italian countryside. It was a leisurely road trip through rural greenery, hillside villas, deep mountainous tunnels, and occasional glimpses of the Adriatic Sea. Lanciano is a town of 36,000 in the province of Chieti which is part of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. A quaint villa with a decidedly old-world layout of narrow streets, shops and cafes, the people of Lanciano would have been content to live in relative obscurity if not for a miraculous event that would forever put the town on the map.

From the brochure of the Sanctuario del Miracolo Eucaristico:

This wondrous event took place in the 8^th century in the little church of St. Legontian, as a divine response to a Basilian monk’s doubt about Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist. During Holy Mass, after the two-fold consecration, the host was changed into live Flesh and the wine was changed into live Blood which coagulated into five globules, irregular and differing in shape and size.

The host-Flesh, as can be distinctly observed today, has the same dimensions as the large host used today in the Latin church. It is light brown and appears rose-colored when lighted from the back. The Blood is coagulated and has an earthly color resembling the yellow of ochre…

Various ecclesiastical investigations were conducted since 1574. In 1970 and again in 1981, there took place a scientific investigation by the most illustrious scientist Prof. Odoardo Linoli, eminent Professor in Anatomy and Pathological Histology and in Chemistry and Clinical Microcopy. These analyses sustained the following conclusions:

The Flesh is real flesh. The Blood is real blood.

The Flesh and Blood belong to the human species…

The preservation of the Flesh and of the Blood, which were left in their natural state for twelve centuries and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remains an extraordinary phenomenon.

In summary, when an 8^th century priest doubted the Catholic Church’s core teaching that the bread and wine at Mass become the Body and Blood of Christ, the bread and wine he consecrated at his liturgy actually became human flesh and blood.

Is it true? You saw the account of scientific investigations above. The Flesh and Blood remain miraculously preserved 12 centuries after the miracle took place. It is a private devotion and the Church has apparently not ruled against it. Whether one believes this miracle or not, what is real is the tangible faith that has been invested in this sacred space since the 8^th century.

We celebrated Mass with Father Paul in the sanctuary and, afterward, we each took turns approaching the monstrance and chalice where the Flesh and Blood are preserved. I cannot deny that there was definitely a divine presence there that penetrated my heart and soul like nothing before.

Our Lanciano pilgrimage completed, we boarded our buses and headed south toward San Giovanni Rotondo, home of Padre Pio.

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Friday 11 October 2013

SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO

San Giovanni Rotondo, a picturesque hillside community of 26,400 in the province of Foggia, is the home of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, known popularly as “Padre Pio.”

From a brochure of the San Pio Shrine:

Francesco Forgione, the future Padre Pio, one of five children, was born of simple, hardworking farming people on 25 May 1887 in Pietrelcina, southern Italy. Frencesco had a normal, happy childhood with adequate clothing and good, simple food. At the age of 5 he had already decided to dedicate his life entirely to God in the priesthood. At this tender age, he was also the object of the devil’s attacks but, on the other hand, this was compensated for with heavenly visions…

He entered the Capuchin novitiate at Morcone and, with the help of grace, completed the required studies and was ordained to the priesthood in 1910 at the age of 23. Padre Pio’s health was quite precarious so that, with the required permission, he was obliged to live outside the friary, retaining the Capuchin habit.

As a priest, Padre Pio was considered a master of spiritual direction and a compassionate confessor. He preached holiness and perfection in spirit, following the example of the Good Shepherd. There are reported miracles that served as witness to his ministry, including bilocation, and levitation during moments of deep prayer. Most notably, he received the blessing of the stigmata, the bloody Five Wounds of Christ, on his hands, feet and side. His entire life was a witness to redemptive suffering. In San Giovanni Rotondo, he founded a hospital and medical research center, the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza (Home for the Relief of the Suffering). Padre Pio was canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

At the Pilgrimage Church, Father Paul blessed each of us with a Padre Pio relic: the fingerless glove that covered his wounded hand. We then celebrated Mass in the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace. At the end of our liturgy, in honor of the saint’s Capuchin order, we sang “Prayer of St. Francis” by Sebastian Temple. As we sang the classic folk hymn, a Capuchin monk was standing near us with the biggest grin on his face. He told me after Mass that he didn’t speak much English but he certainly understood the hymn and enjoyed that we sang about St. Francis in Padre Pio’s church.

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Whether or not one believes in the miracles of Lanciano or Padre Pio, there is no denying the miracle of souls brought closer to God because of the faith that is so real and so evident in these two sacred locales. I close with a famous quote from St. Thomas Aquinas that is deeply associated with the miracle of Our Lady of Lourdes in France:

"For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation is possible."

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, pray for us.

(Thanks again to Mike Strassmaier for generously sharing his photos.)

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