Pisa was cool--one of those places I felt like I should see if I lived in Italy for a year. Of course everyone knows what the main attraction is. And even though I knew coming in, it's still a shock to see that tower for the first time. It's really leaning. More than I expected, I think.
We only spent about 3 hours in Pisa, but that was enough time to go in the cathedral and pray for a bit, look at the baptistery from the outside, browse the giftshop (they sell coffee cups, regular cups, and wine glasses that are leaning over, it's pretty funny), take touristy photos, enjoy the beautiful sunshine, climb up the tower, and make it back to the train.
This shows the lean pretty well.
It feels sturdy up there, even though you can definitely tell sometimes you're walking uphill and sometimes downhill...
We had to:-)
From there, we headed up to Turin, aka Torino. You might recognize the Italian name from when the Olympics were there in '06. I remember they always flashed that across the screen and it took me awhile to realize that was the same thing as Turin. Anyway, we got in around 9:30. It was just my roommate Katie (a different Katie than the one I traveled with all of Christmas break) and I at this point. Matthew had come with us to Pisa but then gone back to Rome. Through an unfortunate series of last minute events, we got to Turin without a place to stay for the night. That was a bit unsettling, but luckily we were able to find a fairly cheap hotel not too far away from the duomo.
We woke up early on Monday morning, because our appointment to see the Shroud was at 8 am. Before you go in to see the actual thing, they show you a video that highlights the markings on the Shroud and explains what each of them are. Then you file in to the church and in front of the Shroud. On the way, we passed the tomb of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. I was almost as excited about seeing that as I was about seeing the Shroud. He's one of my favorites, probably on about the same level as St. Josemaria Escriva. So to get to see both of them, in a span of about 2 weeks...unbelievable. And if you want to know more about Pier Giorgio, just ask me, I love talking about him:-)
Anyway, the Shroud itself was a little different than I expected, I guess. Mostly I was surprised by how clean it was. We couldn't stand in front of it very long, but from thinking about it then and throughout the rest of the day, I think one of the things that was most moving was thinking about all the other people that have been in the same Shroud's presence, starting with Mary. We don't have many relics of her...but she was there when Jesus was wrapped in that cloth. And the women saw it laying discarded in the tomb on Easter morning. And many popes and saints have made pilgrimages to see it over the years, including St. Charles Borromeo, who's been popping up in my life a lot recently...(for instance, I just learned that he wrote a document after the Council of Trent outlining how churches should be built to be theologically accurate, and that was the basis for church architecture until about the 1960s. That's pretty cool. He's one of my patron saints, so maybe he's been nudging me towards sacred architecture all along, haha).
We spent the rest of the day in Turin walking around, visiting other churches, including one where Pier Giorgio had his first reconciliation, and also going to a museum about the Shroud. I learned some interesting stuff. They explained about all the markings on it--there are two types, one that's blood stains, and one that's something else. The blood stains show through on both sides of the cloth, but the other kind doesn't show up on the reverse side. The blood is type AB, which matches the blood of all the Eucharistic miracles that have been tested. Also, using computer technology, they created a 3D hologram of exactly what the body looks like based on the markings. So I think I saw what Jesus looked like. And they never say specifically, This Is Real. But all the evidence sure points to it.
We left in the late afternoon, and got back to Rome at about 9:30. Now I've been finishing up some last things...packing, visiting places I've always wanted to go, and some places for one last time...I leave on Friday. It's very bittersweet. More bitter at the moment. I'm very thankful for the time I've had here, and I guess it's time for a new part of my life to start. It might be a quieter section than this one, but those are necessary too. Like in a piece of music, it has different movements, and they have to be taken together to get the full effect of each of them. I was sad to leave the U.S. at the beginning of the year, but in retrospect I shouldn't have been quite as much, because I get to go back, and the 8 months doesn't seem so long after all. I'm sad now...and I don't know when, if ever, I'll return to Rome. I guess it just goes to show that I have a bad sense of timing, and the Lord knows much better than I when things should happen. His will is very clear in this case--I'm supposed to go back to America on Friday. His timing worked out at the beginning of the year, and I should trust that it's right this time (pun intended) too. Yesterday I was praying in the church of S. Luigi, one of those ones I've been meaning to go to for awhile, and I realized how fitting that was. I was able to ask St. Louis for some help in my transition back to St. Louis. And the thought struck me that I am not Italian. I am American (and so can you). That's where God has placed me. He brought me here to Rome this year as a beautiful gift and growing experience, but I can't stay here permanently. For one thing, I would need to learn the language a lot better:-)
People at home, don't think this means I'm not excited to see you! I am! But, like a line from a poem they gave us at the end of MSA says, "my heart now has two homes." Or in my case, maybe three or four. Anyway, I guess I'm just incredibly blessed. To have had so many amazing experiences this year, and to have such good things to come back to too. More processing and reflecting on this topic is definitely necessary.
Well before I get too nostalgic for Rome before I even leave...right now I'm going to head to St. Peter's to see the Pope again! One more Papal blessing will be nice:-) Pray for me this week!
Great 'end of abroad' reflections.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope you enjoyed Pisa as much as I did - the Plaza of Miracles was perhaps my favorite single space in Europe. I liked your picture - well done.