11/22/2009: at 7am, a group of us boarded a van to travel north from Rome. At 8:30am, we arrived a the beautiful, small town of ORVIETO, ITALY. This is a city of about 25,000 people with a huge, amazingly decorated cathedral. Why is there such a large church in such a small town? Because in 1240, a Catholic priest was celebrating Mass. When he broke the host at Mass, blood came out of the host. In order to honor this miracle, the people of that area built a huge, very fascinating church.The church was built in 1253. In that church, the people keep the corporal(altar cloth) with the blood remains, of that miracle. The entire front of the cathedral carved into stone is the entire teaching of the Bible.
We walked through the town, then had a special tour of one of the 1,200 caves in the town. We learned a lot about the history of the area going back to 1,000 BEFORE Jesus.From there, we traveled another hour to Assisi.. We stopped for lunch at a unique food/wine store.This area of Umbria/Orvieto is famous for olive oil(excellent) and its white wines. The meal was very special, and at the end everyone surprised me with a very Italian birthday cake! Then, a short drive to the mountain town of Assisi. This is so hard to describe. Assisi is a place of great peace and holiness. We visited and prayed at the church of St. Clare, the woman who became a devoted follower of St. Francis.(She founded the religious order known as The Poor Clares.) We walked through this very old town with its little shops and coffee houses(and incredible desserts!!!!!). Then, we were all able to visit, tour the church where St. Francis of Assisi is buried. This was a very humbling experience. Finally, back on the bus to Rome(2 hours.)
11/23: we fly back to Chicago. In about a week, I will publish the notes from the Deaf Conference I participated in at the Vatican. The notes will be on the website of the Catholic Office of the Deaf. Many people to thanks:
1 COLLEEN CURRY at the Catholic Office of the Deaf. She kept everything running smoothly while I and our Religious Education Coordinator were gone.
2 FR. TONY SCHUERGER from Cleveland. He and I worked together at the Conference to gather notes and information. He is a good source of wisdom and humor!
3 JIM SMITH who did a terrific job keeping my computer and Fr. Tony's running.
4 JIM DUNNE who inspired us all, at age 80+, by his desire to learn about the Faith, history, and the deaf world.
5 MS SARAH ROSANI, our tour leader for this trip, who did an outstanding job coordinating all our trips, van rides to meetings, etc.
Time to go home!