Orvieto

One of the really great privileges we have on this trip is that the majority of our weekends are free for travel.  Today, I and a few of my classmates visited Orvieto, a small city about an hour north of Rome in Umbria.  Orvieto is a very impressive city, being built on top of a hill, but is most important for its Cathedral which houses the Corporal of Bolsena.  In 1263, following the disastrous 7th Crusade (most of the Crusaders were slaughtered and the Christians lost territory, pretty much the opposite goal of a Crusade), a priest whose faith in God and especially the real presence was shaken celebrated mass.  When he fractured the host, it bled onto the Corporal. It was preserved in the nearby fortified city of Orvieto, and its veneration led to the universal promulgation of the feast of Corpus Christi (St. Thomas Aquinas was commissioned to write the office and propers for it).

Cathedral.

Corporal

After visting the cathedral, which a very complicated chapel with frescos depicting the book of Revelation, we wandered the town for a while, and it was very nice to get away from the noise and smell of Rome. I think I understand why the Romans take August off.  Tomorrow, some of us will be attending lector installation at the NAC, so please pray for those who will be installed tomorrow.

View of the countryside from the old lookout point.