Siena!

Il Campo

 (3/2)  At 7 am, 45 of us piled onto a large bus parked on the skinny street outside Bernardi.  The bus was filled with anxious chatter about who was going to be the first one to get sick on the winding roads leading up to and from Siena.  Knowing I usually experience motion sickness, I was not a happy camper.  But luckily, the conversation changed when the bus started and we began our adventure praying the office of prayers, morning prayer, and heard a brief biography about St. Catherine of Siena who I was excited to learn more about.  3 hours later and after a rest stop at a place conveniently structured literally as a bridge over the highway, we arrived at an Assisi-like peaceful city.   We headed over to a huge brick church called the Church of San Domenico.  Inside held the head of Catherine of Siena.  To be honest, it looked kind of creepy.  Seeing a skull with a habit on inside some bared cells was not really the saint-like portrayal I was expecting.  Afterwards, we headed up and down some steep streets with amazing views of the town over to the Basilica of St. Catherine of Siena.  Inside was an absolutely huge square room with huge stained glass windows.  It felt like I was walking a mile in this big open space before our group slipped into a small side chapel.  We were told of the Eucharistic Miracle that happened in August of 1730:

Tuscan view

   During the devotions for the Vigil of the feast of the Assumption of Mary, thieves snuck in the Church of St. Francis and stole the silver Ciborium that held the hosts. When discovered, this forced the cancellation of the traditional festivities for the feast of Our Lady's Assumption. Two days later, a priest's attention was directed to something white protruding from the offering box attached to his prie dieu. When the offering box was opened, a large number of Hosts were found, some of them suspended by cobwebs. The Hosts were compared with some unconsecrated ones used in the Church of St. Francis, and proved to be exactly the same size and to have the same mark of the irons upon which they were baked. The number of Hosts corresponded exactly to the number the Franciscan friars had estimated were in the ciborium. To the amazement of the clergy, the Hosts did not deteriorate, but remained fresh and even retained a pleasant scent. With the passage of time the Conventual Franciscans became convinced that they were witnessing a continuing miracle of preservation. It was concluded that the stolen Hosts had been both prepared without scientific precautions and kept under ordinary conditions which should have caused their decay more than a century before. The commission concluded that the preservation was extraordinary. By this miracle the Hosts have remained whole and shiny, and have maintained the characteristic scent of unleavened bread. Since they are in such a perfect state of conservation, maintaining the appearances of bread, the Catholic Church assures us that although they were consecrated in the year 1730, these Eucharistic Hosts are still really and truly the Body of Christ. The miraculous Hosts have been cherished and venerated in the Basilica of St. Francis in Siena for over 250 years.
   To our amazement, we were able to each privately go before the hosts of the eucharistic miracle and pray.  It was an incredible and intimate experience.

Duomo

Piccolomini Library

   We stopped and had a picnic lunch in the middle of "Il Campo", considered the best square in Italy.   After that we had some free time so a few of us went to the big Duomo Museum and climbed up to the tower to see the amazing Tuscan view.  All of the buildings here looked uniform: log roofs and brown brick exterior, but surrounded by green landscape and the protruding mountains in the distance, it was an amazing site.  Our second to last destination in Siena led us to the Duomo Cathedral which is the most amazing church I've been to yet! Covered in zebra stripes on the outside, the inside is filled with sites to behold, taking at least 30 minutes to walk around.  The ceilings were covered in stars and surrounded by sculptures of all of the Pope's heads, the floors were covered in famous mosaics, there were statues by Michelangelo and Bernini, we got to see the famous pulpit that we learned about in Dr. Lev's class, our lady of vows chapel, and probably most amazing: The piccolomini library.  The library was brilliantly frescoed on every inch and held intricately decorated music scores and a statue of the Three Graces.   Finally, we left and headed to the home of St. Catherine of Siena.  It is a lovely open place with flowers, a courtyard, kitchen, and crucifix upon which Catherine was meditating when she received the stigmata.  Before mass I happened upon her room which was covered in paintings of her life and includes her bare cell where she lived for years.  After celebrating mass in her home, we boarded the bus for Tuscany.
   1.5 hours winding through the beautiful green hills of Tuscany under the setting sun was a sight to behold.  Upon arriving, we walked a ways in the wind and deep into the woods to find an abandoned bathroom hut.  As the night became dark the stars came out and we sat by the Norbertine's monastery and ate our dinner.  It was peaceful being in the middle of nowhere in a place where monks pray and villagers from the hillside live in peace.  We entered the cold stone church (not ornate) at 7:30pm as the Norbertine's entered in wearing their white robes with pointed hoods.  The Norbertine's are known for their beautiful voices and chant in prayer for hours everyday.  The lifting of their beautiful voices echoed in unison across the stone walls and added a spirit of warmth to the room.  It was beautiful just to enter into that tranquility even if I couldn't follow along.  At around 8pm we wandered back to the bus and as we headed home, I fell into a deep deep dramamine-filled sleep until we arrived back at Bernardi at 11pm.