There and Back Again: Part 1 (Lanciano)

Rome - Lanciano

Quaint but not that quaint

This past month I had the grace to go on a Marian Pilgrimage bringing with me many of your intentions. The destination was Medjugorje, site of the famous apparations of our Lady. Along the way we stopped in Lanciano, a small Italian city hidden in the hills along the Adriatic Sea.

Lanciano

 

It's a small town but it's not that small. There is an irregular main square, with its typical Italian cathedral and piazza Garibaldi named after the Italian General that helped unite the divided Italian kingdoms of the 19th century.


A Gift and Mystery

The tucked away town is known in Italy (and to the rest of the world) for one and only one reason: The Eucharistic Miracle. There are two known Eucharistic Miracles in town, one from over a millenium ago (8th century) in which a doubting priest in holding up the Eucharist beheld an accidental change in which the Transubstantiated host no longer looked like bread but was a piece of flesh. Within his chalice Our Lord's Blood coagulated into globules.

The flesh and blood remain in the same state for the past 12 centuries. See here for more information.

The Eucharist: Body and Blood of Our Lord

What did I do?

I spent a beautiful period of time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and receiving the grace to come inches from the Host and His Blood I knelt down and I asked for the grace to hold Him in my own hands one day as a faithful priest.

Miracle or no miracle (and in this case it is a miracle), now at home I gaze at the Eucharist with wonder and admiration. I hope one day I can celebrate mass with great love and fidelity and that I never stop contemplating the gift and mystery which happens within.

 

I encountered this beautiful statue of Our Lady and soon I was on my way to pay Her a visit.

To Be Continued...