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Contents1 Prototypes and moulds2 Casting, moulding and grinding3 Galvanic treatment4 Decoration and colouring with the enamel5 Other products Religious jewellery? Yes, but only high quality, made with artisan methods by Italian companies of proven excellence. Because beauty, professionalism and faith can go together. We at…
Saint Monica of Tagaste was a woman endowed with extraordinary strength of mind and unwavering faith. Let’s find out why she’s become a symbol for all mothers. Saint Monica is the patron saint of married women, mothers and widows. In an era when the woman…
In an article of some time ago we had already spoken extensively about the Assumption of Mary into heaven, about how it is not the only dogma of faith but before this a belief very rooted and widespread in our country, to the point of having inspired over the centuries countless forms of popular devotion.
Ferragosto, the feast of the Madonna
In addition to representing the heart of summer, Christians consider Ferragosto to be the feast of the Madonna.
The reasons for the emotion aroused by the Assumption of Mary Most Holy are easily understood if we think of how Mary has imposed herself since ancient times as a receptacle of the dedication, affection and prayers of men and women of every background and social class.
It is probably her dimension as a merciful Mother, which she guarantees for men by interceding for them with God the Father Almighty, that deserves so much sympathy and solicitude.
But how is Mary assumed into heaven? Why?
All the souls of the saints have ascended to Paradise, according to the Christian religion, often escorted by hosts of angels. Countless artistic representations show this event.
But for the Virgin Mary, it was something completely different. She has ascended to Heaven not only as a soul but also with her own body.
Just as it happened for Jesus, his son, who with the Ascension reached his Heavenly Father with his own body and spirit, so too Mary assumed the privilege, unique among women and men, of ascending to Heaven without leaving her mortal remains. And this is how this sweetest Mother awaits us in the Kingdom of Heaven, with her soul and body extended to her children, to embrace, console and envelop them as only a mother knows how to do.
The reasons for the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in body and soul are easy to understand. Not only was she the mother of God incarnate, chosen among all women to carry the Savior in her womb and heart. But long before the Annunciation, God had already chosen her and predestined her to his destiny, making her born without sin, according to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and later making sure that she conceived Jesus remaining a virgin, as the dogma of Mary’s perpetual virginity reminds us.
The Assumption is a prize that God wanted to grant to Mary for her sacrifice and devotion. But it is also a promise of salvation for all men since Mary was the first to enjoy the resurrection of the flesh, promised to all men when the end of time comes.
But now we see together the main traditions and celebrations related to the commemoration of the Assumption of Mary.
The Assumption of Mary is a feast of precept, or a day when the faithful are required to suspend all usual activities, work and business, and to attend Mass.
In Italy, a land of magnificent patron saint festivals, whose traditions have been handed down for centuries, many celebrations are dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption.
Every year in Tivoli, between the evening of 14 August and the following day, the Procession of the Bowing takes place, in honour of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is a very ancient festival, already celebrated in the High Middle Ages, and which refers to the pagan processions during which the Romans carried around the city the images of their gods (theophoria). The Procession of the Bowing probably dates back to the thirteenth century and is linked to the presence in the city of a community of Franciscans who lived near Santa Maria Maggiore and who on 14 and 15 August paid homage to the icon of the Blessed Madonna delle Grazie kept here.
On the occasion of the Procession of the Bowing, the image of Saint Salvatore preserved in the Cathedral is carried in procession through the streets of the city. Arriving at the Gregorian Bridge, a priest blesses the river Aniene and throws into its waters a light that represents faith in God.
Another stage involves the prior of the Brotherhood of the Saviour stopping to kiss the threshold of the hospital. When the image of the Saviour reaches Piazza Trento it joins that of the Madonna delle Grazie.
Both images are brought with solemnity inside the church of Santa Maria Maggiore and placed in front of each other so that they can ‘talk’ to each other throughout the night.
The next morning, the day of the Assumption, the two images are brought out again and separated. The Saviour is brought back to the Cathedral with a new procession where all the town Brotherhoods and representatives of the Arts and crafts take part.
In Randazzo, a small town in the province of Syracuse, the celebrations for the Assumption of Mary begin at midnight on August 15, when the Procession of the Vara (Rod) begins. The Vara is an ancient and large votive allegorical chariot dating back to the sixteenth century. It is about 15 metres high, composed of several superimposed planes that rotate around a central axis.
Each floor corresponds to a Marian mystery, that is, to the death, Assumption and coronation of Mary, represented on a panel made in 1548 by Giovanni Caniglia and kept in the Chapel of the Most Holy Crucified in the church of Santa Maria.
About thirty children are brought up on the Vara, symbolising the different mysteries, and sing hymns dedicated to the Virgin, while the faithful carry the great chariot in procession through the city. The Procession of the Vara was born in the sixteenth century when King John of Aragon introduced the Fair Franca, which was held for nine days on 15 August and also included a large palio.
Also in Messina, a 13 m high Vara is carried through the streets of the city by 1,500 barefoot men dressed in white.
In Siniscola, Sardinia, the Procession for the Assumption of Mary takes place on the sea. While all the parishes celebrate Maria Assunta, the statue of the Madonna is taken from the main church to the beach called La Caletta and loaded on a boat that is at the helm of a maritime procession. To the procession at sea is added one through the streets of the town. A statue of the Virgin is carried around and then placed in a majestic wooden structure, where it is honoured by the faithful with flowers and offerings.
The celebrations for Maria Santissima Assunta are celebrated in Sassari on 14 August. This festival was declared an Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2013 and responds to the evocative name of Faradda di li candareri or Faradda, Descent of the candlesticks.
On the evening of August 14, representatives of the various professions carried candlesticks on their shoulders around the city or large wooden columns that symbolise candlesticks. The festival attracts thousands of people from all over the world and is one of the most important of the large shoulder machines. The movement of the conveyors spins the candles, as in a dance, also involving all the other participants in the procession, who grasp the long ribbons hanging from the structures.
Also in Sora, in Lazio, there are about sixty Carriers, who wear a blue and white uniform and walk through the city carrying a metal column about 16 metres high, at the top of which is placed the statue of the Virgin. The base of the structure is adorned with blessed blue roses for the occasion.
In the church of San Domenico Abate, there are various rituals, including an evening procession of the statue of the Sleeping Virgin, lying on a porter. The celebrations continue until the feast of San Domenico (21 and 22 August).
In Santa Maria di Leuca, in the province of Lecce, a solemn procession takes place on 15 August through the city streets. The statue of Maria Assunta is carried in a procession to the port, where it is embarked on parity of fishermen, drawn by lot and decorated for the occasion. The procession continues at sea with all fishing vessels and boats of all kinds.
Once you reach the marina of San Gregorio, you return to Leuca to reposition the statue in its place. It is celebrated late in the evening, and at midnight the sky is brightened by the glow of fireworks.
Also in Silvi, in the province of Teramo, the Assumption is celebrated with a procession of boats on the sea. Our Lady of the Sea is taken from the church of the Assumption, loaded on a Coast Guard patrol boat and then on a fishing boat. The procession of boats winds along the coast from the Cerrano Tower to the mouth of the Piomba River. At midnight the fireworks over the sea attract thousands of people.
In the province of Livorno, in Marina di Cecina, the statue of the Madonna and Child, kept in the Church of Sant’Andrea in Marina di Cecina, is taken to the sea in the presence of the Bishop of Volterra with a procession from the ground that then becomes a procession on the sea.
Contents1 The history of the saint2 The delivery of the Rosary by the Virgin Mary3 The origins of the Dominican order Saint Dominic of Guzman, the saint in love with Christ, lived his life dividing himself between preaching and prayer. A proud opponent of heresy,…
Contents1 Jacob2 Joseph and his brothers3 Samson and Delilah4 Queen Esther5 Bile Stories for children The stories of the Bible are so many, and so compelling that over the centuries they have inspired countless artists and writers, up to modern directors who have made films…
On the occasion of the World Day of Friendship we wanted to verify what is the exact definition of this form of interaction, which characterizes the history of humanity since its origins.
The dictionary provides a rather dry and austere description, which does not entirely do justice to the infinite range of feelings and emotions that characterize this bond:
FRIENDSHIP: Mutual affection, constant and active, between person and person, born of a choice that takes into account the conformity of the wishes or characters and a prolonged custom
The definition is not wrong, because friendship really involves mutual and lasting affection, combined with the desire to help others with words and actions. As for the conformity of wills and characters, the mysterious alchemy that triggers a bond between two people does not depend solely on the similarity or the communion of tastes and thoughts. Just as in love relationships, there is often a kind of desire for complementarity, as if in the friend we were looking for someone able to complete us, to fit in with all its differences, not only with the similarities.
“Without friends no one would choose to live even if he owned all the other goods.” This is what Aristotle wrote in the fourth century B.C. The same famous philosopher defined man as a social animal, which precisely in friendship finds the most satisfactory and complete form of cohabitation. Of course, Aristotle could not have known that the human brain really needs social interaction in order to develop, enjoy good health and, above all, remain vigilant. Recent studies by prestigious universities have shown beyond doubt that friendship is an indispensable element for a good quality of life, no less than health or work.
Aristotle also catalogued three possible types of friendship among human beings, one of which deserves to be considered truly valid. This is the ideal friendship, one that disregards the usefulness that a man can draw from another man, the one that goes beyond the lightheartedness of youth and the sharing of pleasure and happy moments, but that also resists against the adversities and pains of life. This is the most solid, lasting and true friendship, the one that comes from the authentic love and appreciation of the other for how it is done intimately.
Once again we find a strong resemblance between friendship and loving relationship. After all, the English poet Lord Byron said: “Friendship is Love without its wings.” And he knew love!
For the great Cicero, friendship is a very important part of the great harmony that connects all things human and divine. Human beings are born to be part of this harmony, and friendship is one of the ways they have to participate in it. For Cicero, friends should be sought for their virtue, because only those with virtue deserve to be considered as friends. Woe to those who seek friends to linger together in vices, and woe also to those who justify the mistakes of friends, the lack of virtue. Again, sincerity is the fundamental pillar of friendship for Cicero. Better to hate someone openly than to pretend to be his friend.
Returning to World Friendship Day, it was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2011. The basic idea is that the basis of civil life, the basis of peace and cooperation among peoples, countries, cultures and individuals, must be precisely this bond, this sentiment so precious and important that it has been debated over the millennia by philosophers and thinkers sung by poets, celebrated by artists.
In the era of Social Networks, in which the term ‘friend’ is abused, misused in every possible way, it becomes of fundamental importance to remember the true and deep sense of friendship, especially to the youngest, who will have to build the world of tomorrow. Especially to their involvement are finalized the many events and initiatives organized around the world on the occasion of this special day, which also becomes an opportunity to promote solidarity, mercy, and the ideals of civilizations too often forgotten in our world.
Pope Francis, always full of beautiful phrases on every aspect of the life of Christians, young and not, said: “Friendship is among the greatest gifts that a person, a young person, can and can offer“.
We talked about the vision of friendship by Aristotle, Cicero and Lord Byron. But also within the Catholic Church we have deep reflections on friendship, and also splendid examples of this sentiment between great figures of the past. Indeed, we can say that the whole history of Catholicism is based on the friendship that has bound men and women.
Moreover, already in the Old Testament we read the famous saying He who finds a friend finds a treasure, which derives from the quote: “A faithful friend is a sure refuge: he who finds him finds a treasure” (Sirach 6:14). Always in Sirach we also read that “The faithful friend is a balm in life” (Sirach 6:14) and that “For a faithful friend there is no price, there is no measure for his value” (Sirach 6:15).
And if any doubt still remained about the importance of the friendship that God fosters among human beings, Jesus affirmed that: “No one has a love greater than this: to give his life for his friends.” (John 15:13).
On the occasion of the World Day of Friendship we wanted to recall some great stories of friendship between Fathers of the Church and saints. Relationships exquisitely human, but in front of which one cannot but think of God’s will to bring together beautiful and precious souls, who could draw from the sharing of thoughts and emotions mutual pleasure and a greater love, which is just another form of glorification of His name.
Certainly blessed and inspired by God must have been the tender and deep friendship between Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi.
What bound these two boys, united by an immense fraternal love, was the will to please God. When we talk about the friendship between man and woman it is always easy to run into the doubt that it transcends itself, in favor of a different feeling. Given that there is nothing that prevents two individuals linked by a marital relationship to be also and still friends, in the case of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Clare we can speak rather of an elective affinity, meaning that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe gave this term in his novel of the same name. For the great German writer and poet, while love is an illusion triggered by the mind to create relationships and relationships, the elective affinity arises from the exceptional encounter between two subjects that are immediately in total harmony, as two notes that vibrate in unison, in a melody that is born and dies with them, unique, perfect, inimitable.
This was the friendship between Francis and Clare, a spiritual friendship, comparable to that which perhaps unites the saints in heaven, the blessed souls, free from reasons and why, relieved of any burden inflicted by the flesh.
Clare finds in Francis a teacher in the faith, an example to be inspired by, when she decides to leave her comfortable and easy life, to give up everything and embrace with her friends absolute poverty. And in that poverty Francis stands beside her, like a caring brother. Their help in each other, supporting and sharing as much the privations as the immense joy given by devotion, seals the friendship between these two young and beautiful souls, united by love for Christ, by the desire to be as close as possible to Him, in life before death.
Support in difficulties, therefore, inspiration and mutual consolation, in a common path to improve themselves, to bring out the best of themselves, one with the other. We find the poetry of Aristotle, and we find the warning to the virtue of Cicero, and much more. The friendship between Saint Francis and Saint Clare makes God smile, and the warmth of that blessing and blessed smile reaches us, who remember the story of these two fantastic and unique young people.
The Canticle of the Creatures of St. Francis
St. Francis of Assisi is one of the most loved and venerated saints by the Catholic Church.
Thinking of Francis and Clare we like to think of two young lovers, whose love, however, is not turned to each other, not only at least, but rises to God, amplified and magnified by the bond that unites them.
Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus were also great friends. Both were bishops and theologians, Doctors of the Church and belonging to the group of Cappadocian fathers, Hellenistic Christian philosophers who in the fourth century formed a kind of monastic family within which Christianity and philosophy found their conjugation.
Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus therefore shared their knowledge, their great theological knowledge, to define immense concepts, such as the divinity of the Holy Spirit and that of the Son of God. “We understood that the love of wisdom was what we were both looking for” affirms Saint Gregory Nazianzus in his speeches.
But before the sharing of study and knowledge, between the two men there was a relationship of great admiration and mutual esteem, which meant that both enjoyed the successes of the other, the recognition that was given to the friend, as if they were their own.
As in the case of Francis and Clare, also for Basil and Gregory we can speak of elective affinity, and of God’s will to bring together two souls destined to unite in such an indissoluble and precious way. Gregory also writes: “We were in Athens, departing from the same homeland, divided, like the course of a river, in different regions for the sake of learning, and again together, as per an agreement, but in reality by divine disposition.”
It is precisely the words left by Saint Gregory that make us understand the spiritual and intellectual depth of this bond, able to enrich and elevate two men already exceptional individually, to make them even greater. “The only occupation and longing for both was virtue, and to live tense to future hopes and to behave as if we were exiles from this world, even before we had left the present life. Such was our dream. That is why we directed our life and conduct on the way of the divine commandments and animated each other to the love of virtue.”
And he concludes, with a sentence that summarizes in an exemplary way not only the friendship between him and Basil, but the friendship between all the saints and, who likes to think, on this occasion, of all the men who profess to be friends: “It seemed that we had a single soul in two bodies.”
Saint Augustine will repeat the same thing: “He said very well who defined the friend as half of his soul. I actually felt that our two souls were one in two bodies.”
“Love each other with fraternal affection, compete in esteeming each other.”
Saint Paul, Romans 12:10
“He said very well who defined the friend as half of his soul. I actually felt that our two souls were one in two bodies”
Saint Augustin
“Friendship is the truest realization of the person”
Saint Theresa of Avila
“The friendship that has its source in God is never extinguished”
Saint Catherine of Siena
“It does us so much good, when we suffer, to have friendly hearts, whose echo responds to our pain”
Saint Theresa of Lisieux
“True friendship cannot last if it is not based on virtue.”
St. John Bosco
“Find the time to be a friend: it’s the way to happiness”
Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Contents1 History of Sant’Anna2 The meaning of the name Anna3 4 Gifts for the grandparents On July 26, St. Anne and St. Joachim, the parents of the Virgin Mary, are celebrated. Let’s find out why. Although the Day of the Grandparents was established as a…
Contents1 The cross-medal of Saint Benedict2 Material and workmanship3 The lines Saint Benedict of Norcia, Patron Saint of Europe, throughout his life he fought against the devil he cast out in the name of the Cross. This is how the Saint Benedict medal inspired an…
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Devotion to Saint Maria Goretti began immediately after her tragic death on 6 July 1902. To understand the reasons for this cult born so quickly, and addressed to a little girl daughter of peasants, who died in tragic circumstances, but also frequent, for the time, we must understand the very context in which Mary lived and died. It was precisely among the humblest strata of the population that devotion to this holy child developed, in the hearts and souls of men, women and children accustomed to suffering and hardship, belonging to the rural world, the same in which she had lived her short life.
Maria Goretti was proclaimed a saint for having forgiven her murderer and for having caused his conversion.
She is the patron saint of Latina, of Agro-Pontine, of the Daughters of Mary, and of youth, with Saint Luigi Gonzaga. She is not the only holy victim of rape, and for this reason she has been associated in recent times by Pope Benedict XVI and then by Pope Francis, to Saint Dinfna, Irish martyr who died in Belgium in the seventh century, protector of the victims of rape.
The story of Saint Maria Goretti brings us back to the many young saints in the history of Christianity. We talked about some of them in the article dedicated to Saint Luigi Gonzaga, the patron saint of the young, or in that on Joan of Arc, The young Santa Guerriera symbol of faith and courage, also just a humble peasant, who was still able to save his country. These young and very young saints and martyrs who died too early, just like Santa Maria Goretti, have an important lesson to pass on to all of us, and it is that you do not have to live a long life and mature a vast experience to bring out the best of yourself. Goodness, mercy, the spirit of sacrifice have no age, and it is these virtues that make the difference, to make us immortal in the memory of those who loved us, of those who knew us. In the same way, holiness has no age, and these special children prove it to us, they who have remained in the memory of the centuries as examples to follow and venerate.
But who was Saint Maria Goretti, and how was the devotion that was addressed to her born?
Maria Goretti was born in Corinaldo, in the province of Ancona, in the Marche, on 16 October 1890. Precarious economic conditions and lack of work forced his family to move to the countryside of Agro Pontino, 10 km from Neptune, along with the Serenelli family. Alessandro, one of the sons of the Serenelli, soon showed interest in Maria, an interest that led to increasingly insistent physical approaches. After the death of the girl’s father due to malaria, the two families get even closer, dividing the same house. It is here that Alessandro, twenty, one day attacks Maria, who is eleven years old. The child is denied, tries to escape, pleads with him, and the boy, blinded by violence, hits her fourteen times with an awl. Mary is taken to the hospital of Neptune, where she dies the following day, but her last words are of forgiveness and reconciliation for her murderer: “For Jesus’ sake I forgive him, I want him to come with me to Heaven.”
Thus Maria Goretti dies, while Alessandro Serenelli, deeply touched by the girl’s forgiveness, is locked in prison, where in the twenty-seven years that followed he will undertake a personal journey of repentance and approach to the Catholic religion. His conversion is considered the first of the miracles of the little saint. Released from prison, the man will go to implore the forgiveness of Mary’s family, obtaining that of her mother, Assunta.
The Passionist fathers of Neptune and the Roman Catholic Action immediately spread the story of Mary, who became, even in the fascist era, a symbol of virtue and courage for the local rural population.
Even after the Second World War, in the fifties, the story of the girl aroused much emotion, not only among Catholics. His example of courage and resistance became a model even for young communist militants, to the point of becoming, at the proposal of Palmiro Togliatti, a model of life for the girls of the FGCI, Italian Communist Youth Federation.
Over the years, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints examined various healings attributed to Maria Goretti. It will be in the presence of Mother of the Assumption that Mary, on June 24, 1950, will be proclaimed Saint by Pope Pius XII, in a ceremony that will take place outdoors, in St Peter’s Square, for the first time in the history of the Church. The Pope on that occasion kissed the hand of the girl’s mother, as a sign of respect for the sacrifice of her daughter, but also for her pain. Alessandro Santarelli also attended the canonization. He had told that he had seen Mary in a dream, in a beautiful garden, surrounded by flowers. He then spent the rest of his long life in a convent.
Every year there are two pilgrimages to the places of the life of Santa Maria Goretti: the last Saturday in June, and the first Saturday in July. They take place in Neptune, where his remains are kept, but also in his birthplace.
The place where Santa Maria Goretti was born is located in the district of Pregiagna, near Corinaldo. The farmhouse has remained about as then, a small building built on two floors, as you can see many in this rural area. The ground floor still shows what’s left of the barn. Where once there was the cellar was set up a small chapel dedicated to Santa Maria Goretti. On the second floor there are the rooms where the Goretti family lived, the kitchen with the fireplace, the rooms still furnished with the furniture of the time.
In 2015 the artist from Senigallia Andrea Ippoliti created for the park around the house an installation of 12 panels dedicated to the theme of love.
The house of Santa Maria Goretti is a destination for pilgrimages and visits by the faithful not only from Italy. It is about 1 km from the historic center of Corinaldo and a bus is easily reached. There is also a large car park with space for both buses and cars. In front of the house of Maria Goretti there is a Reception Centre for pilgrims, a small votive shrine dedicated to the Holy Child, a “Via Crucis”, a playground for children. A Mariana newsstand is dedicated to Assunta Goretti, Maria’s mother.
Also in Corinaldo, in the parish church of San Francesco, in the Baptistery of which Santa Maria Goretti was baptized, was placed a small monument dedicated to her, in white Carrara marble.
At the top of the historic center of Corinaldo is the Diocesan Sanctuary of Santa Maria Goretti. Here lie Mamma Assunta, who died in 1954, and Alessandro Serenelli, who died in 1970. A wooden sculpture depicting the little Saint is placed near the central altar where there is also a silver urn containing the bone of her arm.
The Canticle of the Creatures of St. Francis
St. Francis of Assisi is one of the most loved and venerated saints by the Catholic Church. Close to the poor, brother of the least…
IThe body and relics of Santa Maria Goretti are kept in Neptune, in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace and Santa Maria Goretti. According to the legend, in 1532 three statues were transported by a vessel bound for Naples, among them a statue of the Madonna coming from England where, because of the Anglican schism, the statues of the saints were destroyed. A violent storm fell on the ship, and the sailors begged Our Lady, who saved them. According to legend, the statue of the Madonna ended up on the shores of Neptune, or in another version it was donated by the sailors themselves to the inhabitants of the place.
Thus was born the cult of the Virgin of Graces, who watches over the population of Neptune protecting it from every calamity and tragedy. A sanctuary was dedicated to her, located at the end of the Giacomo Matteotti promenade, near the mouth of the Loricina river. It still houses the wooden statue of Our Lady of Grace that has come to these shores in such an adventurous way.
When Maria Goretti was beatified in 1950 her name was added to the title of Our Lady of Grace to call the sanctuary. In the crypt an altar made by Arnaldo Brandizzi contains the urn of Maria Goretti, buried here in 1929. In 1947 her remains were reassembled in a wax statue, placed in a case and exposed in the chapel dedicated to her.
Contents1 The Story of Saint Peter, the men’s fisherman2 History of Saint Paul, apostle of the Gentiles3 Why are Peter and Paul celebrated together?4 The depiction of the embrace of Saints Peter and Paul On June 29, Saint Peter and Paul are celebrated. Two apostles,…
Contents1 The Precursor: Why John the Baptist Is Called That2 The baptism of Jesus3 The Madonna del Cardellino: explanation of the work4 Our Lady, Jesus and John the Baptist5 What the name John means On 24 June we celebrate the birth of Saint John the…
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The reasons for the success and devotional importance of the feast of Corpus Christi are easy to understand if we stop to think about what it celebrates. The Corpus Christi, or the Body of the Lord, more properly called Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, recalls precisely the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. As we know, the Eucharist is for Catholics the ritual moment in which the bread and wine offered by the priest who celebrates the Mass become in all and for all the Body and Blood of Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit. In this miracle, which returns to being real at every celebration, the sacrifice of Jesus is renewed, his offering himself entirely to the apostles at the Last Supper and in general to those who followed him.
So we can say that the feast of Corpus Christi celebrates Jesus’ closeness to man, the highest and most significant moment of His human experience. For this reason, the celebrations that accompany this festival often have a popular character, and take place with processions, processions in costume, sacred representations and other events that involve many people gathered.
Corpus Christi is one of the main celebrations of the liturgical year. It is a mobile feast linked to Pentecost. In fact, the Corpus Christi falls on the Thursday of the second week after Pentecost, i.e. the Thursday after the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. For reasons related to the festive calendar, even if the festival remains on Thursdays, the celebrations are moved to the following Sunday.
The host in the Eucharistic celebration
The host is the unleavened bread that symbolizes the body of Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist, the celebration which started…
We have to go back to Liège, Belgium, in the 13th century. Here the mystic Giuliana of Retìne, prioress in the Monastery of Monte Cornelio, had a prophetic vision: the moon, full and white, showed a dark shadow on one side. The woman interpreted that vision as a sign that the church was missing something and in this case, a feast dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. Supported by his spiritual director, the canon John of Lausanne, he submitted to the bishop the proposal to institute a feast that would celebrate the Body of Christ outside of Easter. The proposal was examined by several theologians and in 1246 the feast was fixed by Pope Urban IV for Thursday after the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, with the Transiturus bull. To convince the Pontiff of the need to institute this feast was, in addition to the proposal of Giuliana de Retine, the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena. In 1245, Peter of Prague, a Bohemian priest returning from a pilgrimage to Rome, stopped at the church of Santa Cristina in Bolsena to celebrate Mass. While he was breaking the consecrated Host he was seized by the doubt of the actual presence of Christ in that holy bread. But the moment this doubt touched him, a few drops of blood poured from the Host that fell on his linen body and the altar’s stones. Later the Pope sent the bishop of Orvieto to verify the incident and recover the body and stones, which were placed in the shrine of the cathedral of Santa Maria and Orvieto, and later in the Cathedral, built specifically to accommodate them.
The fundamental characteristic of the feast of Corpus Christi is obviously Eucharistic adoration. The Eucharist is exposed so that everyone can give proof of their faith and veneration towards the Body of Christ. Jesus offered His flesh and blood as nourishment for all men, as an instrument of salvation and a promise of eternity. On the occasion of Corpus Christi, the consecrated hosts are placed inside the monstrance, the sacred furnishings used precisely to contain the host during Eucharistic adoration. The priest uses the monstrance itself to bless the faithful. Eucharistic adoration may or may not be accompanied by a solemn procession, as we shall see in many Italian cities. These processions symbolise Jesus walking among men, through their streets, to emphasize how His Blood and His flesh make us even closer to Him, and He to us.
On the orders of Pope Urban IV, the Dominican theologian Thomas Aquinas was the first to compose the office of solemnity and Mass of the Corpus et Sanguis Domini. Saint Thomas lived in the convent of San Domenico in Orvieto and it is said that the wooden Crucifix that is still preserved there today had turned directly to the theologian to show his approval for the work he carried out. According to tradition, the Crucifix said to Thomas: “Well scribes, Thoma, de me quam ergo mercedem accipies?” (You spoke well of me, Thomas. What will be your reward?) And Thomas answered: “Not aliam nisi you, Domine!” (Nothing but You, Lord!).
Even the hymn sung during the procession of Corpus Christi and in Vespers, the Pange lingua, the eucharistic hymn par excellence of the Catholic Church, was written and thought by Thomas Aquinas. Let’s just quote the first verse:
Sing, O tongue,
the mystery of the glorious Body
and of the Precious Blood
that the King of the nations, the
fruit of a generous womb,
scattered for the ransom of the world.
As we have already written, during the solemnity of Corpus Christi a consecrated host is exposed to public adoration inside a monstrance, and possibly carried in procession. Each city then has its own customs to celebrate this precious anniversary.
In Campobasso, the feast of Corpus Christi is associated with the Mysteries. These are spectacular Sacred Representations in motion, among the most solemn and majestic in Italy, in which all the inhabitants of the city and many master craftsmen and artists participate. It is a form of popular devotion strongly imbued with folklore that has been set up for hundreds of years and does not fail to attract thousands of faithful visitors every year.
From the sixteenth century, Campobasso was known for its Sacred Representations, and from the following century, the lay brotherhoods implemented their preparation, especially in conjunction with the feast of Corpus Christi. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the local sculptor Paolo Saverio Di Zinno began to design on behalf of the confraternities of the real machines for the representations, to the realisation of which many expert blacksmiths took part. These machines, carried on the shoulders of carriers, were animated by various figures in costume who staged various religious representations, from the Body of Christ, represented by a large chalice, the so-called Chalice, to the Most Holy Trinity, to Santa Maria della Croce, to the Madonna del Rosario. Then there are Mysteries dedicated to the various saints, Saint Stephen, Saint Lawrence, Saint Isidore, Saint Crispino, Saint Gennaro and so on. To the ancient Mysteries, which were twelve, was added a thirteenth in more recent times (1959): the Most Holy Heart of Jesus. The procession of the Mysteries is now organised by a special association sponsored by the Municipality. On the day of Corpus Christi, the archbishop celebrates the Mass in the courtyard of the Association of Mysteries, in the presence of the city authorities, volunteers, figures and bearers. Then the imposing structures are set in motion, the figures take their place, the carriers load them on their shoulders and the procession starts for the joy of the festive crowd.
The Feast of the Corpus Christi of Orvieto is instead characterised by the procession of the ladies, a historical re-enactment that takes place the day before the festival and that proposes scenes of medieval life accompanied by shows of falconry and flag-wavers.
On the day of the actual feast, the historical procession merges with the religious procession giving life to the Historical and Religious Procession of the Corpus Christi, one of the most beautiful in Italy, with over 400 figures in armour and precious costumes made by seamstresses and masters of Orvieto.
During the transport of Peter’s relics from Prague from Bolsena to Orvieto, it is said that the inhabitants of the villages where the procession passed threw flower petals on the streets as a tribute to Corpus Christi. Hence the Infiorate of Corpus Christi.
In Spello in Umbria, for example, the feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated with flowers. The entire historic centre is covered with carpets and floral paintings that are the scenery to the passage of the monstrance brought by the Bishop and containing the Body of Christ along with a path of about 1.5 km.
The Infiorata of Spello is witnessed since 1602, but over the centuries, instead of just sprinkling the path of the procession of flowers, real groups of flowerers were born that also take a whole year to make their floral carpets, built according to geometric patterns and with the central part that represents figures and symbols linked to the Corpus Domini or other religious subjects. Today the floral rugs are proper colourful paintings that depict religious-social themes made with petals and corollas, and are known all over the world.
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Let us start from the assumption that, like all acts of love, even the sacrifice to Our Lady, or to Jesus, will surely be appreciated by those who will receive them. Kind of like when we were kids, we used to give Mom a flower, or a job prepared at school, right on the occasion of her party. Maybe it wasn’t much, but it took so much love to prepare it, so much commitment, and it was that love and commitment that made it valuable.
This is when we make a sacrifice to Our Lady, especially during certain times of the liturgical year, when meditation and prayer should occupy a little of our time every day. We think of Advent, Lent, or certain months in particular, such as May, the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary, June, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and October, the month dedicated to the Holy Rosary.
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A sign of love is a sacrifice, a renunciation of something we hold dearly, but bestowed with the same lightness with which a flower is given. Like something that doesn’t matter, something that we can support with courage and grace.
As we said, it is a sacrifice. A waiver. But what matters is the spirit in which we choose to do without something we like, or care about. If from the beginning our thought is only to make an exchange with Our Lady or Jesus, we are not on the right track. The Sacrifice is not a quid pro quo, a doing something expecting something else in return. It’s not a bargaining chip.
The only thing that must move us in making a Sacrifice is Love.
It is we who choose what to give up, searching our hearts for something we truly care about. It will not be an infinite renunciation, usually, the Sacrifices have a duration, but this is also up to us to establish it. No imposition, no obligation. Only, once we have decided, we must be firm, constant, otherwise, our Sacrifice loses value.
A spontaneous gesture, not moved by a purpose, otherwise, it would be blackmail, not a gesture of love! The vehicle with which we must address it is prayer, and of prayer, the Sacrifice must have solemnity, full awareness of what we are saying. As prayer is not only made up of words lined up one after the other but what matters is the feeling that we instil in it, the attitude of our spirit.
What do we have to give up? From our favourite dessert to Facebook, from a date with friends to an object we care about very much. No need to overdo it. Also, do small services in the house, take out the garbage, clear the table, dedicate time to someone we usually take for granted, such as an old man, a neighbour a bit boring, but so lonely. Or take a little more time to pray, every day, to speak directly with Jesus, or with Our Lady. These are the appreciated Sacrifices, the ones that put altogether create a precious flowerbed, a kind of garden of Eden in miniature. The more the sacrifice costs, the more it will be pleasing in the eyes of God.
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In May, our most beautiful thoughts and prayers turn in particular to Our Lady, the Mother of Jesus. The one who transmitted everything to Him, who cared for Him and raised Him as the most loving of mothers. It is no coincidence that in May we also celebrate Mother’s Day. As the Child Jesus entrusted himself completely to his mother, Mary, so we can do, in this month more than ever. To entrust oneself to Mary means to accept in one’s heart and one’s life her goodness, her mercy, and above all her faith in the will of God. By becoming children of Mary we thus become brothers and sisters of Jesus, we draw closer to Him, we become a little more similar.
The mother is therefore a fundamental presence in the life of a child. Don Bosco, a famous Italian priest and pedagogue, founder of the congregations of the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, reiterated throughout his life how important his mother, Margaret, had been for his vocation. But also Mary, the heavenly mother of the good saint, but also each one of us, was fundamental. Since he was a child, he greeted Our Lady three times a day, in the morning, at noon and in the evening, with the prayer of the Angelus. This is because Don Bosco felt Our Lady as a mother at every moment, while praying, while working, in all the good times and all the bad, in the joys as in the sorrows. A family dimension of love, not unlike that felt for the natural mother, and precisely to this type of love, he will also invite his boys, towards Mary.
The practice of Sacrifices to the Madonna was also very dear to Don Bosco. His memoirs are full of references to sacrifices.
“In May in the chapel of the Oratory every day some practice of piety was done in his honour, and especially on Saturdays with a reading of his glories, or a sermon. But as of this year (1852) that the habit of offering her, in the month of the physical flowers, spiritual sacrifices began regularly every night in the dormitories. Every evening Don Bosco announced the sacrifice and the short prayer for the following day.”(from Bibliographic Memories IV, p.405)
The Flower to the Madonna is a sacrifice to be offered, this is what the good Saint asked of his boys. And it is interesting to see how sometimes the Sacrifices he requested were special prayers, or listening to the Mass with particular devotion, or even praying for the souls of Purgatory, other times things were much more related to everyday life. Here is an example:
“For everyone, this is the sacrifice; to always speak Italian and to warn us to do so if someone does not remember.”
But how do we explain Sacrifices to children? Often, especially because of Christmas or Easter, even the little ones are asked to make a sacrifice to Our Lady, for the good of their mother, father and the whole family. Understanding what it is all about is essential. Explain to them that making a Sacrifice is like giving away a flower is perhaps the simplest way, and also the truest way.
If you give Mom a flower, Mom’s happy because she knows you love her. Likewise, if you offer a sacrifice to Our Lady or Jesus, they will also know that you love them and care so much for them. But the sacrifices that are given in Heaven are not like those that bloom in the meadows. They have no petals, no leaves, but they are made of good deeds.
So if you help set up and clear the table, you’re giving Our Lady a sacrifice.
If you don’t fancy watching television, give Jesus a sacrifice. When you tidy up your room or help do something at home, new flowers grow in the Garden of Paradise, and you make them bloom.
It is also important to associate these good deeds and small renunciations with a prayer because in this way the child will understand that this is the correct way to be heard by Jesus.
Above all, make the Sacrifice a joyful act, which makes happy those who do it before those who receive it. So it should be, and children perhaps, by their very nature, are inclined to understand it better than many adults.
Saint Francis of Assisi was also a great supporter of the practice of sacrifices, although, in his case, the term embraces a much wider range of gestures, words and acts. By the Sacrifices of San Francis, we mean a collection of miracles and devout examples taken from the life of the Saint of Assisi and his disciples. It is probably a translation of the Latin Actus beati Francisci et sociorum eius attributed to Friar Ugolino of Monte Santa Maria.
We cannot speak of Sacrifices in the sense we have considered so far, more than anything else the text tells the story of the birth of the Franciscan Order and the life of Francis and his confreres. But the general tone of the work, almost fairy-tale, seems to have been made specially to emphasize what were the virtues of the Saint of Assisi, his modesty, humility, sense of justice and charity, fraternal love for all men, but also animals and all creation. In this sense, we can almost read every single gesture, every act of the life of Saint Francis as a Flower, an act of pure, sincere and disinterested love addressed to God.
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In the period of the pandemic, we rediscovered the importance of places. Both of the places we are in and of those we would like to reach. In this article, we propose five pilgrimage destinations to visit at least once in a lifetime.
The role of pilgrimage in the Faith has always been of great importance. The pilgrimage of Faith is not a simple pleasure holiday but a way to give shape and concreteness to the spiritual journey of each one. Faith is nourished – also – by extraordinary events, and the places marked by God’s action bear the memory of those events. The pilgrimage is also a symbol of our life, of our passage on this Earth: “man cannot think of his life except as a pilgrimage. Homo viator. Pilgrim of the Absolute” (John Paul II).
Here are the five pilgrimages to make at least once in a lifetime:
Who would have thought that this town in Bosnia and Herzegovina would become one of the best-known pilgrimage destinations? Since Mary’s first apparition in 1981, Medjugorje has become a place of pilgrimage for many faithful and non-believers, in search of answers. Although the Church has never definitively pronounced itself on the apparitions of Our Lady to the six visionaries of Medjugorje, there are many faithful who have experienced a real conversion in the Bosnian city. The apparitions of the virgin continue even today for the visionaries, with different frequencies. A very active community has developed around this pilgrimage site, where many volunteers look after pilgrims and people in difficulty. The stones of the mountain on which the Madonna first appeared and for several years, the Podbrdo, are often kept as a sign, sometimes in the form of a rosary.
Medjugorje is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations for Italian pilgrims, also due to its geographical proximity. However, due to the pandemic, it is difficult to reach even close destinations. Even if you cannot be physically there, you can receive a little piece of Medjugorje in your home or your parish! Here is a selection of products made right in Medjugorje by local artisans. These are statues of Our Lady of Medjugorje in marble powder, available in different sizes. From 30 cm upwards they are treated with a patination for the outside, to preserve the colours. And don’t worry about the size: even the largest ones are easily handled because they are hollow and therefore lighter than full marble statues.
Lourdes is one of the best-known places for the power of the miracles that took place there. Here, in February 1858, the Madonna appeared to the young Bernadette Soubirous for the first time. In the following months, the apparitions continued, sometimes accompanied by miracles. It is estimated that around six million pilgrims visit Lourdes every year. Among these there are numerous sick people, who ask for the grace of healing: many are granted thanks to the mysterious action of divine grace and the intercession of Mary. The Madonna of Lourdes is one of the most recognisable depictions of Mary, characterised by a white dress and veil, blue belt and a yellow rose at the feet. In 1862 the Church officially recognized the reality of the apparitions of Lourdes and Bernadette Soubirous was proclaimed a saint in 1933 by Pope Pius XI.
Speaking of pilgrimages of faith, how can we not think about the story of the three little shepherds of Fatima? The apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima are among the most remembered in Europe and throughout the world. The place of the apparitions, which took place every 13th of the month from May to October 1917, is the Cova da Iria locality, where Lúcia Dos Santo, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, at the time of the first apparition, were looking after the pasture. One of the events that made this place so well known in the memory of the faithful is the ” miracle of the sun”, a supernatural event that took place during the last apparition. The crowd gathered was very large – from 30,000 to 100,000 people – and during the apparition, it was bathed in heavy rain. At noon, the sun shone again and inexplicably the light changed, the sun appeared to move in the sky and some testimonies say that the clothes of those present, wet from the rain, were miraculously dried during the event. In Fatima, the presence of Mary left a strong mark. The three little shepherds, now saints, are found buried in the Sanctuary of Fatima.
The Sanctuary of the Holy House of Loreto is famous all over the world. The Holy House preserved in Loreto would be part of the house where the Holy Family lived in Nazareth. In the sanctuary, there is the statue of the Madonna of Loreto. Tradition has it that the angels miraculously transported the House, in one night, from the Holy Land to Italy. Another possible explanation is that a Byzantine family named Angeli took care of the transport of some materials of the House to save them from Muslim devastation. The faithful are attracted to this place, linked to the most human and hidden part of the life of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. The idea of a pilgrimage from Macerata to Loreto came to Don Giancarlo Vecerrica in 1978. Since that day the pilgrimage from Macerata to Loreto has involved a huge number of people from near and far places. Along the way of about 28 kilometres the mysteries of the rosary are recited, in joyful, painful, glorious order and finally the Angelus.
The last pilgrimage – but perhaps the first in importance – is the one to the places of the public life of Jesus: the Holy Land. The pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and Jerusalem in particular, has always been a journey dear to Christians. From the earliest times, the faithful felt the need to see and touch the reality of what is told in the Gospel. The Holy Land has a great significance for Christianity and has also been the background for the development of the three great monotheistic religions. Today in the Holy Land we can retrace the whole life of Christ: from Bethlehem to Cana, from Capernaum to Bethany, from the Sea of Galilee to the Jordan, from Gethsemane to Tabor. The pilgrimage to the Holy Land makes it possible to give the geographical indications of the Gospel a reference, in reality, to be kept in memory and the heart. After the places of the life of Jesus, we enter those even more charged with the meaning of his passion, death and resurrection: in Jerusalem, along the Via Dolorosa and in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. Each of these places bears the sign of events: these are not always striking and majestic physical signs but of immense spiritual value.
