November 10, 2024
Dear St. Rita Families,
Ciao from Italy! As you may know, this week has been the last major event to celebrate our 100th anniversary – the parish pilgrimage. Pilgrimages are a wonderful opportunity not just to visit holy places, but to be drawn more deeply into the Mystery of God-Become-Man. It is precisely in the saints we visit that Christ’s saving victory shines forth more visibly, and not only do their lives inspire us and spur us on, but their intercession assists us greatly to be ever more faithful to the mission that God has given to each of us.
I have emphasized several times to our group that we are not tourists on this trip. We do not want to be like the Pharisees and scholars of the law accused by Our Lord: “Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them, and you do the building” (Lk 11:47-48). In other words, visiting these places is an act of faith, an expression of our desire to be close to God and to give ourselves more fully to Him, to come to know Him more fully through the lives and intercession of these holy people.
On Monday, we visited Orvieto, the location of the corporal from a 13th century Eucharistic Miracle. In this incident, the doubt of a priest celebrating Mass in nearby Bolsena became the occasion for God to cause the Precious Blood in the priest’s chalice to take on the physical properties of blood and to overflow the chalice and stain the corporal below. The corporal is kept in a large reliquary behind one of the altars in the upper church of the Orvieto Cathedral and is only opened 3 times during the year. During our Mass in the lower chapel of the cathedral, I preached about how these Eucharistic Miracles come about because of some mistake, error, or doubt of the priest involved, and that I don’t want those kinds of miracles because I don’t want to doubt. Then, during the preparation of the gifts on the altar (before the Consecration), I inadvertently knocked over the ciborium containing the hosts for the Mass! Chuckling interiorly, I thought God was trying to keep me humble. So, you can imagine my surprise and joy when after Mass, we were told that the reliquary containing the Blood-stained corporal was opened, so some work could be done! Our own little Eucharistic Miracle, which God connected to my little mistake!
Later that evening, we arrived in Santa Maria degli Angeli, where the small Portiuncula Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi is housed in the larger Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. We prayed there in the chapel where St. Francis spent much time, and we also were able to see the garden where he died.
On Tuesday, we left first thing and drove to Loreto, to see the Holy House of Our Lady which legend says was transported miraculously by angels from Nazareth to Loreto in the 14th century. There is a document specifying that it was brought by “Angeli” – meaning “angels” – but of course, Angeli is also a common enough Italian surname. So, was it angels or the Angeli family? Regardless, this is 3 walls of the house where Mary lived, and where the Angel Gabriel appeared to her at the Annunciation. Within those walls, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us! We were able to celebrate Mass in the crypt chapel there, and to pray the Angelus at noon.
After Loreto, we made our way back toward our hotel in Santa Maria degli Angeli by stopping in nearby Assisi. That evening in Assisi, we visited two saints: St. Clare and Bl. Carlo Acutis. St. Clare is buried on one end of the small town in a Basilica bearing her name, and Bl. Carlo (incorrupt!) is buried in the Church of the Spoliation. The Basilica of Santa Chiara also houses the famous San Damiano crucifix which spoke to St. Francis and told him three times to “rebuild my Church.” The Church of the Spoliation is the location of the famous scene when St. Francis renounced all his goods and gave them back to his father – including the clothes he was wearing! Bl. Carlo – the saint with sneakers – had a great devotion to St. Francis and so is buried in Assisi. He is expected to be canonized sometime during the Jubilee Year which begins in December. He was also a devotee of Eucharistic Miracles and created a website listing and promoting them all!
The next day, we managed to pack in quite a few visits! We visited the tomb of St. Francis, and then were off to Cascia to visit St. Rita herself! After a brief introduction in the courtyard of the convent where she lived out her days as a nun, we celebrated Mass in the crypt Church of the basilica there. In that crypt is the tomb of Bl. Maria Teresa Fasce, Augustinian nun who died in the mid-20th century, and that of Bl. Simon (Fidati) of Cascia, 14th century Augustinian priest. Also, there is the relic of another Eucharistic Miracle, the Blood-stained page of a priest’s breviary. The priest, going to bring the Eucharist to a sick person at home near Siena, placed a Consecrated Host in the pages of his breviary (rather than a pyx as should have been done). The Host began to bleed and stained the pages of the prayer book. The priest brought the pages to Bl. Simon Fidati who was in Siena at the time. Hence, the bones of St. Simon and the relic of this miracle are adjacent to each other.
After Cascia, we went to Roccaporena, St. Rita’s hometown and birthplace, which is not far from Cascia. We visited the house where she was born, the church where she was married, the house she lived in after marriage, and the miraculous garden where her cousin found a rose and two figs growing in January (at St. Rita’s request). Finally, that evening we made our way to Norcia, birthplace of the twins St. Benedict and St. Scholastica. We prayed Vespers with the monks at the Benedictine abbey there. Many of these monks at this very traditional monastery are American, and they make great beer, available online!
On Thursday, we left Santa Maria degli Angeli and made our way to San Giovanni Rotondo, where Padre Pio spent most of his life and where we will have Mass on Friday. On the way, we stopped in Lanciano, the site of one of the earliest Eucharistic Miracles. We were very blessed to celebrate Mass in a chapel directly behind the Eucharistic miracle, which, though it took place in the 8th century, was tested in the 1970s and shown still to have the properties of flesh and blood. The flesh is from the heart of a male, and the blood is Type AB+, and other Eucharistic Miracles have been shown to have the same blood type as well!
At each of these places, I have been praying for St. Rita Parish, for all of our parishioners, for conversion of all those who live in our parish boundaries, and for the intentions that you have entrusted to me. At each of these places, I have had particular intentions as well: At Lanciano, for increased Eucharistic belief and devotion; at the church where St. Rita was married, for all marriages; at St. Rita’s birthplace, for couples having trouble conceiving (hers was a miraculous conception); at the house where she lived with her husband and sons, for all St. Rita families; at Loreto, for fidelity to the mission God has given us; etc. I am looking forward to the second half of our pilgrimage also! We will be visiting the St. Michael Sanctuary, Monte Cassino, and lastly a few days in Rome. I will be praying for all of you at these other holy sites as well!
Please join me in thanking God for the wonderful gifts He has given to our parish. Please join me as well in striving to be faithful to those gifts, so that God would be known, loved, and praised always, daily, and forever more!
In Christ,
Fr. Christensen