Did you know that this was declared by the former pope?
Rome, Italy, Oct 7, 2013 / 06:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In light of the jubilee instituted by Benedict XVI in honor of the Eucharistic miracle in Orvieto, Italy, the number of pilgrims coming to the area has increased, deepening the faith of those who come. [ On that note, is your faith about the Real Presence deepened by your experience of Communion in the Hand? Ask those who receive through this method.]
“It just makes you thankful that you can come somewhere where these things have happened that just reiterate the faith. It’s so real, it’s so tangible,” Jenna Schaffer of San Francisco, Calif., told CNA Oct. 6.
While he was Pope, Benedict XVI dedicated the years 2013 and 2014 as an Extraordinary Eucharistic Jubilee. The event celebrates the 750th Anniversary of the Bolsena Miracle of 1263, in which the Host began to bleed in the hands of the priest during the prayer of consecration.
Schaffer, who visited Orvieto with her mother and a close family friend, shared that she grew up Catholic, but has become especially close to God in recent years, and that being in the cathedral for her was “an honor.”
“It’s a great honor,” she emphasized, “to be able to hear and see what all of these people believe in and see it come true.”
The miracle occurred in 1263 when a German priest, Fr. Peter of Prague, stopped in Bolsena, Italy during a pilgrimage to Rome. The priest is described as having been pious, but found it difficult to believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
During his stay, the priest was saying Mass in the Church of St. Christina in Bolsena, and had just finished the words of consecration when blood began to seep from the Host onto the altar and corporal, a special linen used during Mass in order to catch any fragments of the host which might fall.
Fr. Peter immediately journeyed to Orvieto where Pope Urban VI was residing at the time, and informed the pontiff of what had just occurred.
After hearing the priest’s account, the pontiff absolved the priest for his disbelief and had the host and blood-stained corporal brought to the Cathedral in Orvieto where they are still venerated today, and instituted the feast of “Corpus Christi” a year later. [The events related here are depicted in paintings in the chapel of the Corporal in the Orvieto Cathedral. I have seen it for myself.]
Upon seeing the corporal in the Cathedral, Schaffer said it was “almost like trying to grasp the concept of God himself.”
“It’s a lot to take in, and it gives you a lot to reflect on, and to sit there and see where it happened, see the dedication to it,” she said. “It’s just hard to grasp that concept that this happened here. It’s just an honor.”
“It really enriched my faith.”
Gianlucca Piazza, who works at the Orvieto cathedral as a part of their security personnel, told CNA in an Oct. 6 interview that although there are many people who visit the cathedral for “artistic purposes,” most of the pilgrims come “for religious purposes.”
In context of the Jubilee called by Benedict XVI, Piazza noted that the number of pilgrims coming to the area has increased, stating that the miracle is “especially important” for Catholics.
According to Piazza, the Orvieto Cathedral still functions as a Church, with daily Mass during the week and four Masses on Sunday for those who wish to attend.
***
A fitting post number 3,001 don't you think? Especially after that post about Robby Okol taking home the Blessed Sacrament gathered some cobwebs from the priests who are supposed to protect the Blessed Sacrament.
Do you think they cared about Church regulations about bringing the Blessed Sacrament to a building not approved by the Church? By a person not even a cleric?
I had a gut feeling about this and I was right. They'd sweep it under the rug and act as it nothing bad happened.
Surprised?
Don't be.
This is the Archdiocese of Manila we are talking about.
We do not need to go to Orvieto to witness this miracle. It happens at every single Mass.
Oh did I say that this Mass celebrated by the priest does not resemble the Mass we have right now, like in SM Megamall and ABS-CBN?
It looks like this.
Go and spend time before the Blessed Sacrament, either in the Adoration Chapel or in front of the Tabernacle.
Whichever you choose, He is there!
Just go!
***
One unknown fact about the cathedral is that it already was a popular site for pilgrimage due to the fact that the it houses the relics of St. Pietro Parenzo martyred by the Cathar heretics in 1199. Many favors are granted through this saint's intercession.
On hindsight, I remember the late Ernie Baron of DZMM and ABS-CBN's Knowledge Power saying that the liturgical revolution after Vatican II took out "fictitious saints" from the Church's Liturgical Calendar. If he were alive today, he would've probably said that there is no saint named Pietro Parenzo and that his name most likely was taken off the calendar by the Vatican.
Some knowledge no?
God have mercy on his soul.
The first picture looks like they are dancing the Gangnam STyle in white attire.
ReplyDeletePardon me for the delayed reaction.
ReplyDeleteIt just came into my mind that I had recently come across a video of his eminence Cardinal Chito that was entitled a funny homily.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMmn1gUUGM0
If any, this is a great indicator how badly misled so many Catholics are in attending Holy Masses, where the intention is to get entertained and at times, pegged on the personality of the celebrating clergy, and not at all focused on the personal Christi that offers the Sufferings and Death of our
Lord to the Father in an unbloody manner.
Please read the posts below the video so you can have an idea how the view of the Liturgy has been decimated and demeaned into a mere entertainment and a personality cult. The liturgy is good because the celebrating priest is able to tickle us all, while it is bad because the celebrant is a grouchy old man.
This is appalling!
This is one thing the implementation of the Novus Ordo has missed: the abstraction of the persona presbyteris and the putting on of the persona Christi in the Mass. The Novus Ordo tends to either magnify or vilify the human person of who the priest is rather than to abstract it from the populus.
But there were mechanics already employed in the Misa Tridentina before that we have ignored in todays Novus Ordo - which help the priest shed off his persona and put on the persona Christi:
- The very use of Latin is one way
- the priest facing ad orientem or ad altare is another
- the separate Confiteor for the presbyter
- the distinction on the Oratre fratres that says 'my sacrifice and yours' (meum ac vestum sacrificium) - although thankfully this already has been corrected in the Novus Ordo translation recently
- the altar railings and the limit of access of the sanctuary to the priest and to the altar boy only
- allowing only priests and deacons in touching the Blessed Eucharist, yes, no lay ministers.
In fact, a priest has been 'set apart' for his ministry and no longer part of the laity. Hence, the very form of the Liturgy should also abstract his persona so that the populus can only see in him the persona Christi which should be the only thing that matter when we offer a Mass.
Too bad, our liturgy in a way took a wrong turn when the congregation starts to attend because of the priest and not because of the Sacrifice that we all offer. In the end, aside from losing the sense of the Divine, the laity also lost the sacral sense of the priesthood and has turned the liturgy into a demeaned personality cult. How often do we hear comments like "I have to attend the Mass of Fr XXX because he wakes us up very well with his jokes". instead of uplifting the congregation to God and to God alone - with its strict liturgical implementation of its rubrics, the Liturgy now focuses on the much lower person of the priest.
Misereatur nostris omnipotens Deus!