Well I apologize every time I post on this because it has been so long. So again, I'm Sorry! But 
enough of the excuses. Here goes.Back in June, the 6th to be exact, about 30 of the seminarians at the NAC woke at 6AM to get on the bus for Orvieto- the birth place of the Feast of Corpus Christi. I was among the sleep deprived pilgrims that day and with my coffee in hand I got on the bus and we were off.
A bit of history to set the stage: In 1263 a priest in Bolsena Italy (about 15 km from Orvieto and about ~2 hours north of Rome) had lost his faith. He no longer believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Yet, one day he was celebrating mass and as he elevated the host- out of habit rather than devotion- an incredible thing occured. The host- the simple
wafer of bread- was bleeding! And a few of the drops of blood fell onto the corporal (th
e square white cloth the priest puts out on the alter and upon which rest the chalice and host during mass). It was a miracle! With his doubt destroyed by this supernal occurence- the priest informed the congregation of the favor God had shown him. The faithful- full of devotion- decided that this news must be spread. But to whom? Well of course to the Pope! Fortunately the Pope Urban IV was living at the time in Orvieto. So they processed with the priest and corporal through the 
Umbrian hills from Bolsena to Orvieto to 
present the Holy Father with this new relic. When the Pope heard the story and saw the evidence he was just as convicted as well of the truly miraculous nature of the event and decided that it was a sign that the Lord Jesus was trying to tell the Church something. He was trying to enflame our love and devotion for Him, 
truly present, body, blood, soul and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine! So the Pope decided to make a new feast for the universal church- the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ- Corpus Christi in latin! And so it was. And so it is. On the 2 sunday after Pentacost we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi everywhere in the world! All because of the great events of Orvieto and Bolsena in 1263. But enough with the history.We arrived in the town and got ready for the 9 AM mass at the Cathedral of Orvieto in which the famed Corporal of the Mircale has been housed since the 13th century. It was indeed a beautiful mass with a full choir and even more beautifully a full congregation singing the praises of and adoring Jesus in the Eucharist. After the mass we got ready for the procession. As we were getting ready I was able to go up- not more than 2 feet away from the corporal and look closely to see- are there really blood spots? Yes. Indeed, even after nearly 750 years there are. But anyway we were now all ready
and the procession began. A two hour march through the hilltopped city of of Orvieto taking the King of All Creation out of the Church into his kingdom with his beloved Children there to greet him. It was spectacular. It was beautiful. It was so Catholic. The entire city was wired with speakers so that the choir in the Church could lead us in song, and many of the Words of Life
- the Gospels, especially John 6- were proclaimed. I was able to be the thurifer or the"incense guy" if you would, in the procession and so was fortunate to be close to both the Coporal and the Blessed Sacrament all the way through. Truly amazing- to see old italian women, young tourists, and everyone in between lining the streets to greet the Lord or just to see the beauty of Catholic liturgy was so cool. I felt so blest to be able to be a part of it. I look forward to bringing some part of this devotion back to Saint Louis and having our very own parochial processions for the feast!However, one mass and one procession are not enough. For after a nice pranzo in orvieto we
boarded the bus to head to Bolsena t
o do it all again! And it was again- amazing. The really cool thing about Bolsena is that the towns people cover (as you can see in the photos) the streets with flowers so that Our King and Savior has a proper "red carpet" to walk on!After the second procession and a quick dinner we boarded the bus one final time to make the trek back to Rome. As I got into bed that night around midnight I was exhausted, but grateful. For the gift of the chance to be a part of it all. But more than even that for the gift of the Eucharist which gives meaning to it all. And not just to the procession in Orvieto, but to the whole life of the Church, in Rome, in Africa, and indeed in Saint Louis, at Holy Spirit Parish.
Okay one more awesome story. So Divine Providence just so happened to arrange things that at the time the miracle happened in 1263 there was also living in Orvieto a humble Domincan friar by the name of Thomas Aquinas. And fortunate for us the pope asked him to write the hymns for this new feast day- and oh did he write them. They are now some of the most famous and beloved lyrics in all of the world- words that almost all catholics know- even in latin! "Tantum ergo sacramentum!" Indeed those words which are the final verses of the longer hymn "Pange Lingua" are sung everyday across the world as adores kneel before the blessed sacrament. may Each time you sing them now have a little deeper meaning as you have heard the whole story behind them! May you know ever more the Lord Jesus, who hides his glory under the form of Bread and Wine, and may you be drawn always nearer to him until that day when every veil is stripped away and we, please God, will see him face to face. Amen.
