Passport to Europe: Milan, Italy
Here is a new video from my trip to Milan two weeks ago. I hope you enjoy!
Visiting the Saints of Milan
Today I traveled to the financial capital of Italy, Milan. I was surprised by the quick hour and a half train ride to the main train station in Milan. It was an amazing moment to step out of the subway tunnel in Piazza del Duomo and experience the grandeur and magnificence of the Cathedral of Milan. It took a few moments to realize the shear massiveness of the fourth largest church in Europe. The marble that adorns the cathedral actually came from the Lago Maggiore region of Northern Italy, which is where I have been staying for language studies. For a building that took over four hundred years to build, it is… breathtaking!
Me standing in front of the Cathedral of Milan.
Every inch of the Duomo is ornate.
After we arrived at the Duomo, we ran inside just in time for Daily Mass. In Milan, the Ambrosian Rite of the Catholic Church is celebrated. This was my first Ambrosian Rite Mass, but it seemed very similar to the Latin Rite (which we mostly experience in the United States.) After Mass, we explored the rest of the cathedral and I was even able to go below the main altar and pray for the intercession of Saint Charles Borromeo, the patron Saint of seminarians, in front of his glass entombed body. It was pretty amazing. There is also a beautiful crypt church located below the main level. The Duomo may be my favorite church I have seen in Europe, second only to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Looking towards the Main Altar at the Cathedral of Milan.
The Body of St. Charles Borromeo.
After enjoying the Cathedral, we walked to the Leonardo da Vinci Fondazione Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Technologia. In short, the Mseum of Leonardo da Vinci’s Inventions. It was a huge museum tracing science and technology that we have today back through human history and development. It was an interesting museum, but also a little boring! Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions were ingenious!
This is a model based on one of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings.
The museum also housed other exhibits, including a section on the development of modern-day instruments. I found a 12-stringed violin-ish thing.
This was the scroll of a 12-stringed violin-type instrument. I bet my brother, Landon, would love to play this monster!
After the museum, we visited the Basilica of St. Ambrose and then went back to the Duomo to have a Holy Hour. It was a fun day, but I am exhausted!!!
Passport to Europe with Brian Buettner
After watching many episodes of Passport to Europe with Samantha Brown, I have decided to start a spin-off series which will, I am sure, be picked up and syndicated by the Travel Channel. I came to this realization as I was walking out of the Cathedral in Torino, Italy on Saturday. I still cannot believe that I am here and I wish I could share the full experience with you. However, I guess this blog will have to do for now.
Me walking around one of the piazzas in Torino.
I finished classes on Friday morning and I spent the rest of Friday working on Italian vocabulary. It was a relaxing afternoon. I also went to bed at an unusually early hour in order to wake up on Saturday morning at 5:00 am. We woke up early in order to catch the bus, but due to some unforeseen events, we missed the bus and had to wait thirty minutes at a different bus stop. Even though Torino is the capital of this region of Italy, we had to take three different trains in order to arrive at the Stazione di Torino at 10:30 am. It took a long time and about 25.00EU for the train and bus tickets. I was hoping to find the Torino I saw during the Torino Winter Olympic Games in 2006. However, the town has forgotten, by the looks of it, that they were an Olympic host city. I only saw two things that even referenced the Olympics, a Visa sign in a shop window and a souvenir pin with the German flag. My dreams were dashed. However, what I found in Torino made up for my disappointment regarding the Olympics.
Verbania's main pedestrian walk along Lago Maggiore.
We are waiting for the train to Torino
A quick picture from the train as we pass Lago Maggiore.
No one can tell that Torino was a Olympic host city. What a shame!
We went to Mass at a beautiful church (I don’t recall the name) and then ate pizza at an awesome pizzeria. We then walked all over Torino in search of a church or museum that was not closed. As it turns out, everything is closed on Saturdays from about 1:00pm until 3:30pm. It was frustrating to say the least! However, I took advantage of the opportunity to visit the Egyptian Museum of Torino. It boasts itself as the largest Egyptian collection of artifacts outside of Cairo, Egypt. I was pretty impressed. It cost me 7.50EU to enter and it was worth it. I have never seen so many mummies, scrolls, and Egyptian statuary. We then met back up and went back to the Cathedral (called il duomo in Italy). I was able to pray at the altar of the Shroud of Turin, which is currently encased within an altar and sealed in a glass and metal chamber, from what I understand. Before I came to Italy, my friend, Ken Cole, gave a wonderful presentation on the Shroud of Turin to a group of my Catholic friends in Oklahoma City. I couldn’t pass up the chance to pray for them within feet of the cloth that seems to have wrapped the body of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. The duomo also houses the remains of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. I may be studying in Rome when he is canonized a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church. That would be cool!
A crucifix in one of the churches.
Photos of the Shroud of Turin
The other huge event was going to the Basilica of St. John Bosco (the church is actually named something else, but I don’t remember). I was able to pray for the intercession of St. John Bosco and St. Dominic Savio. They are both amazing Saints and have been good teachers for me as I have grown deeper in my faith. I guess that is the whole point of looking to the Saints as models of the life we are called to live.
It was a great day, but it was a very long day. In fact, on the way back to Verbania, one of the trains was delayed by an hour. It made the night last forever! However, I was able to relax on Sunday. It was a great first weekend and I look forward to exploring more next week in a different city.
Off to Language Studies
This first week in Rome has flown by with incredible haste. However, I have been able to find many moments to pray and orient myself towards Christ. Rome is such an amazing city to live in and I am humbled to be doing so. The heat has been intense and I am, therefore, looking forward to heading up to Northern Italy tomorrow to begin my Italian Language Studies. The town I will be living in is called Verbania and is situated on Laggo Maggiore (the Great Lake). The Lake serves as the border between Italy and Switzerland in that area. I am looking forward to traveling a little bit, but my main focus is learning the Italian language so I can get something out of my classes (which are in Italian).
Today the New Men traveled north of Rome to Orvieto. It is a medieval town built upon a cliff and surrounded with a large wall and a fortress. The views were spectacular, but the most interesting part of Orvieto is the Cathedral (the Duomo). Encased within a silver reliquary is a corporal (linen cloth) which is the sign of an Eucharistic Miracle. As a priest was traveling to Rome he was doubting the true presence of Jesus Christ in the consecrated host. However, as he was celebrating Mass, blood started dripping from the host and onto the corporal. From this miracle, the Pope declared the first ever feast day in honor of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). Consequently, we were able to celebrate the Mass of Corpus Christi in that chapel. The relic served as a great tool in order to enter more fully into the mystery of the Mass. It was one of the great moments in my life!
My camera is almost out of battery life, so I will try to upload pictures eventually. Hopefully I will have internet access in Verbania for the next month. If not, I will update the blog when I return in August.
