Early during the first week when we were in Verbania, one of my tutors asked me to pass along to the other seminarians information about an opportunity that had been presented to us. She mentioned that we were invited to a feast at St. Lucia on 9 August, and that Mass, dinner, and transportation would be provided. Three of us took her up on the offer. When I was preparing to leave, I grabbed my camera, my book with the Italian Mass settings, and my hat, with the thought that we would be attending Mass and then having dinner outside, similar to the parish festivals we are used to in our diocese.
I was completely surprised to find that it was nothing like I expected.
The Parish of Santa Lucia and Sant'Ulderico
The town of Miazzina is up on one of the mountainsides, about six miles from Intra, and its parish is the parish of St. Lucia and St. Uldrich (Santa Lucia e Sant'Ulderico). When we arrived, Celestino, the gentleman from the parish who was kind enough to bring us there pointed us to the rectory, where we visited with the priests who would celebrate the Mass. We then were rushed off to the Church, where there were three albs ready for us to use... even though nobody mentioned we would be helping to serve the Mass!
The Mass for the day was to celebrate the Feast of St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (St. Edith Stein); since she is the patroness of Europe, her feast was celebrated with great solemnity here in Italy. In addition to the other two seminarians and I who served and carried the crucifix and candles in the procession following Mass, there were five priests, two other servers, and numerous Carbinieri (police who are something like a combination of our state police and military police) serving as guards posted at the edge of the Sanctuary.
After the Mass, there was a procession, which included all of the priests, Carbinieri, servers, and many of the people in the parish. A statue of Sant'Ulderico (St. Ulrich), bishop of Augsburg, was carried in the procession as well. We went traveled outside of the Church and around a few of the streets of the town, stopping several times at temporary altar-tables to ask the intercession of Sant'Ulderico for the town. And it was of great ceremony, but these were very normal people in the procession - it was a welcome taste of parish life which I haven't encountered for some time.
Sant'Ulderico, Bishop of Augsburg
(If you may have been wondering why a German bishop is one of the patron Saints of an Italian Parish, it is because in the late Medieval period, German shepherds would drive their flocks into the region and brought the devotion with them.)
What struck me the most about this is that for my great-grandparents and my more distant ancestors, some of whom came from this area of Italy, this would have been a common occurrence.
After the procession, we were invited to eat dinner with the priests, some of the Carbinieri, and some other guests. The food was wonderful (I'll have to mention normal Italian dining another day), but more importantly, this gave me another chance to listen to an ongoing conversation in Italian. I understood most of it, even if I still can't put together correct sentences quickly enough in my mind to carry on a lengthy conversation. It was like being a little kid again: all of the 'big people' sit and talk while the 'kids' (the two of us that had started with no Italian) sat and mostly listened.
All consideered, this trip reminds me of how blessed I truly am. There wasn't one part of that that I actually deserved. The whole trip has provided me with a chance to see how many ways God blesses me - all the world is Grace - a gift to be enjoyed, shared, and bring me to greater holiness.
In addition to all of this, I'd like to wish Bishop Brandt, my pastor Msgr. Persico, and our vocations director Fr. Kulick a happy name-day since today is the Feast of St. Lawrence. It is most fitting that the Bishop is ordaining the diocese's first permanent deacons on the feast of his patron, a prominent Deacon and martyr.
I was completely surprised to find that it was nothing like I expected.
The Parish of Santa Lucia and Sant'Ulderico
The town of Miazzina is up on one of the mountainsides, about six miles from Intra, and its parish is the parish of St. Lucia and St. Uldrich (Santa Lucia e Sant'Ulderico). When we arrived, Celestino, the gentleman from the parish who was kind enough to bring us there pointed us to the rectory, where we visited with the priests who would celebrate the Mass. We then were rushed off to the Church, where there were three albs ready for us to use... even though nobody mentioned we would be helping to serve the Mass!
The Mass for the day was to celebrate the Feast of St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (St. Edith Stein); since she is the patroness of Europe, her feast was celebrated with great solemnity here in Italy. In addition to the other two seminarians and I who served and carried the crucifix and candles in the procession following Mass, there were five priests, two other servers, and numerous Carbinieri (police who are something like a combination of our state police and military police) serving as guards posted at the edge of the Sanctuary.
After the Mass, there was a procession, which included all of the priests, Carbinieri, servers, and many of the people in the parish. A statue of Sant'Ulderico (St. Ulrich), bishop of Augsburg, was carried in the procession as well. We went traveled outside of the Church and around a few of the streets of the town, stopping several times at temporary altar-tables to ask the intercession of Sant'Ulderico for the town. And it was of great ceremony, but these were very normal people in the procession - it was a welcome taste of parish life which I haven't encountered for some time.
Sant'Ulderico, Bishop of Augsburg
(If you may have been wondering why a German bishop is one of the patron Saints of an Italian Parish, it is because in the late Medieval period, German shepherds would drive their flocks into the region and brought the devotion with them.)
What struck me the most about this is that for my great-grandparents and my more distant ancestors, some of whom came from this area of Italy, this would have been a common occurrence.
After the procession, we were invited to eat dinner with the priests, some of the Carbinieri, and some other guests. The food was wonderful (I'll have to mention normal Italian dining another day), but more importantly, this gave me another chance to listen to an ongoing conversation in Italian. I understood most of it, even if I still can't put together correct sentences quickly enough in my mind to carry on a lengthy conversation. It was like being a little kid again: all of the 'big people' sit and talk while the 'kids' (the two of us that had started with no Italian) sat and mostly listened.
All consideered, this trip reminds me of how blessed I truly am. There wasn't one part of that that I actually deserved. The whole trip has provided me with a chance to see how many ways God blesses me - all the world is Grace - a gift to be enjoyed, shared, and bring me to greater holiness.
In addition to all of this, I'd like to wish Bishop Brandt, my pastor Msgr. Persico, and our vocations director Fr. Kulick a happy name-day since today is the Feast of St. Lawrence. It is most fitting that the Bishop is ordaining the diocese's first permanent deacons on the feast of his patron, a prominent Deacon and martyr.
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