Day Two Photos and Update

From John Shaughnessy, assistant editor of our weekly newspaper, The Criterion:

There have been moments of humor, including the comment that Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin made during the Mass he celebrated at the North American College in Rome on June 26.

Beginning his homily for the 80 pilgrims he is leading on this week's archdiocesan pilgrimage to Rome, the archbishop noted about the group's arrival, "Standing at the airport talking to a number of you, I asked how the flight was for you. So many of you said, 'It was okay, but I couldn't really sleep.' I thought, 'Darn, I should have brought a few of my sermons along.' "

There have also been ever-increasing times of camaraderie and friendship as a group of strangers, friends and family members bond closer as they share adventures, meals, bus trips and discoveries of a city and a country rich in culture, history, architecture and scenic beauty.

Still, at its heart, a pilgrimage is a journey of faith together. So it has been on the second day of the pilgrimage as the pilgrims prayed the rosary on a day trip to Orvieto--a trip, on the way there, during which a tour guide on one of the two buses recounted the story of St. Francis of Assisi as the bus passed fields of golden sunflowers.

The emphasis on faith came dramatically into focus in Orvieto--a town about 75 miles north of Rome that is home to the awe-inspiring Cathedral of Orvieto and the "Miracle of the Eucharist."

The story of the Miracle of the Eucharist is shared in an Orvieto guidebook: "In 1263, a Bohemian priest--a certain Peter of Prague--said to doubt the dogma of the transubstantiation of the body and blood of Christ in the host and the wine, went on a pilgrimage to Rome to pray at the tomb of St. Peter that his strength might be strengthened. On the return journey from Rome, he stopped at Bolsemo, near Orvieto, where, on celebrating the Mass in the Crypt of Santa Cristina, he saw blood dripping from the host. The flow was so copious that the corporal--the Eucharistic altar cloth--was quite soaked with it."

After the miracle, residents of Orvieto devoted their work, their talents and their lives to creating the cathedral, which took three centuries to build, according to a cathedral information pamphlet.

The pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis toured the Cathedral of Orvieto on the morning of June 27 and then participated in a Mass celebrated in the chapel where the relic of the Eucharistic miracle is displayed. Three archdiocesan priests--Father Frank Eckstein, Father Larry Richardt and Father Rick Ginther--concelebrated the Mass which was offered for "the sanctity of life."

In his homily, Father Ginther focused on "the essence of what it means to be a disciple." He told the pilgrims, "How should we be judged? By how we care about one another." He also encouraged the group to "Do what is difficult. Love the one who is difficult. Nurture what you can."

In a city graced by a magnificent cathedral that rose from a countryside through the combination of a miracle and a people's determination to praise and honor God, Father Ginther's words offered a different kind of blueprint--a blueprint for how all Christians should build the foundation of their lives.

See a photo gallery from Day Two of the pilgrimage