Marzo Pazzo Redux

Gilberto's Town and Bruna's People

We arrive in Imola, a small city best known for its loud Speedway, and are met by Gilberto who brings us to his home in Castel del Rio, the lovely nearly perfect town in Romagna. Tomorrow we are to join "Bruna's people" on a field trip to a restored Benedictine monastery in Cesena,

and on to Forli for an exhibition of the sculpture of Canova. The trip was organized by the Universita' per Adulti di Lugo, where Gilberto teaches and Bruna serves as administrator.

The monastery, Santa Maria del Monte, was a fascinating combination of architectural periods and styles. But this is unremarkable in Italy. What did catch my attention was largely ignored by the tour: a series of amateurish pictures portraying the intentions of people in distress who were granted favors in response to vows (voti) made to Santa Maria.

The pictures portrayed astonishing scenes: a concentration camp, several car accidents with a victims on the side of the road, families with empty tables, and a scene of












aerial bombardment. In each of these was a small figure of the statue of the saint and sometimes a text, either of petition, thanks, or to ask for help in fulfilling the vow.

Of course, as in all things Italian, we all sat for a fantastic pranzo. (But I must confess that I could not get past a small taste of "trippa.")

H o r s e b a t h P r a n z o

In the Romagnolo countryside there is a district known Rossetta, and a smaller portion known as Bagnocavallo, which means literally "horsebath" and here Bruna treated us to anall day pranzo in an ancient stone farmhouse, surrounded by husband Giovanne's orchards of peach and plum in full blossom. Inside the fireplace and wood cookstove were blazing, while friends and family arrived, ate, and departed and arrived, ate and departed again.

I think the pictures tell the story of that magical
wonderful day with beautiful people, great food,
and lovely surroundings. Topped by a spectacular Romagnolo sunset.

The March Madness Anglophone Tour

The March Madness Anglophone Tour Continues . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Alan and Barbara Mackenzie

The next stop our March Madness Anglophone Tour was visiting people and places that we associate fondly with our summers at OxfordUniversity. Of course, a necessary stop was a visit to The Anchorage B & B in Lytham-St. Anne's, England, hosted by our dear friend Alan and BarbaraMackenzie. Whenever(and wherever) we reunite we simply pick up the thread of our ongoing conversation that ranges from Bonaventure gossip to US politics and, of course, great books,good eating, movies and classic American jazz. Lytham-St. Anne's is a quiet resort town on the Irish sea, and Barbara is its Mayor. We spent several summers working the Francis Kelley Oxford Summer Program together, along with Bro. Basil Valente, who would show up in London just in time for our stop there.

Giving Oxford the Business

It's been a few years since we last visited Oxford, and it was great to be back. Of course, change comes slowly in places like Oxford and the most dramatic change was the opening of the Said

School of Business. I can imagine,

without knowing for sure, how horrified the Oxfonian humanists must be by this addition. Not only is Oxford constitutionally opposed to the so-called practical arts, but the building

itself is a high-rise post-modern architectural insult, complete with the statue of a bull on the pavement! Did I hear old Cardinal Newman groaning in his tomb?

"Towery city and branchy between towers"

Gerard Manley Hopkins, Duns Scotus's Oxford

Otherwise the town was as lovely as ever, and it was especially interesting

to be visiting during the regular school term -- a novelty for us. We paid a visit to sleepy Somerville College (below), the Phoenix Theatre, and walked the Christchurch Meadows (left), Broad Street and the High. We checked into Oxfordshire Central Library for some free internet. So we booked a great dinner at the Cafe Rouge, after a mandatory bagel sandwich at George and Davis. A perfect visit despite our somewhat funky lodging across from the all- night full-blast Eurobeat dance club across the street.

Cartwright Gardens

"The Tour" ends in London -- where else? -- which has my vote for the most interesting city in the world. We found a nice little hotel, The Euro, near St. Pancras Station. The Euro bordered Cartwright Gardens, dedicated to John Cartwright (1740-1824), where we found his statue from which we learned that he was distinguished as "the first English Writer who openly maintained the Independence of the United States of America" and who resigned his commission as a naval officer in 1776 because "he nobly refused to draw his Sword against the Rising Liberties of an oppressed and struggling People." (That's him on the left.) One of the things that makes London so interesting is Judy's cousin Martin Sherman, the noted playwrite and also a great conversationalist. We met Martin at a Moroccan restaurant for a wonderful laugh-filled dinner. At Martin's recommendation we got matinee tickets for the revival of Joe Orton's excellent "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" -- a great find! But before that we had a great lunch -- at Brown's, where else? -- with Bro. Basil, another former colleague at Oxford. He still directs the program and was

in England to make arrangements for the coming summer's program.

Above are photos of us with Basil (at Brown's in London) and Martin (taken last year in Greece

Hallelujah! Spring Break!

Hallelujah on Fishamble Street

Well, Judy and I decided that we would return to the Anglophone world for our spring break, and so we booked some cheap Ryanair flights: Rome to Dublin, Dublin to Manchester, and Rome to Perugia, with a visit to Lytham-St. Annes and Oxford by train.

Let's start with Dublin: We arrived in the middle of some Rugby madness that I couldn't quite understand, maybe England vs. Ireland, or Italy vs. Ireland. The plane was filled with raucous Italian teenagers who never stopped talking and never sat down, and this was after a three-hour wait at the Ciampino Airport check-in counter. But in Dublin a stranger gave us her left-over bus pass and we were on our way to the George Frederick Handel Hotel on Fishamble Street -- yes! -- near the spot where GFH premiered Messiah. Hallelujah!Dublin seems like a fun place, at least where we were staying, and we wallowed in meat, potatoes, beer and Irish music. High points? Lamb Boxty at Gallagher's Boxty House, Sliotar at The Porterhouse, "The Class" at the Irish Film Institute, a bus ride to the Irish coast and Malahide Castle. But I must concede that my personal favorite was the statue of William Edward Hartpole Lecky, the eminent 19th Century Irish historian, on the campus of Trinity College. (Of course, I had no idea who this guy was until I googled him.) I really liked the comfortable pose he strikes in this statue -- so relaxed!!!

Pregnant with God in Foligno (but not in Perugia!)

Pregnant with God

Last week we accompanied the Senora Traub and the "Saints and Relics" class on a trip to to view the body of the Blessed Angela of Foligno . A medieval city that sits on a plain with virtually no hills and few remaining historic structures, Foligno is an anomaly in this region. Nonetheless, it has a rich history dating back to pre-Roman Umbria, and played an important role in the story of Francis and his followers. For example, when Francis was trying to raise money to restore the chapel of San Damiano he took some of his father's cloth stock and sold it in Foligno, a center of commerce at the time. Foligno's strategic position and its shifting alliances with Pope and Emperor made it a natural enemy of Perugia to the north and west, which tore down its walls in 1282 after it had betrayed its former ally. In more recent times, Foligno's location made it a good location for a rail link to Perugia, and therefore a site for an important rail yard. Unfortunately, this invited Allied bombing during WW II, thus the unfortunate loss of many historic sites and the dreary modernity of many of its buildings.

( The photo to the right captures the sad aesthetic of Foligno. Notice the small remnant of Foligno's medieval wall lost in a background of modern high rises.)

While there we visited the church of San Francesco, which contains the Sanctuary of the Blessed Angela where her remains are still on display. We were treated to a lecture by a jolly friar, Fr. Dominic about the life and significance of Angela. The lecture was in Italian, but I think I was able to glean many details (augmented by a bit or research, of course.) Angela lived about a generation after Francis's death and as the story goes, lived a life of noble luxury and dubious morality. As she entered middle age, she lost her husband and parents, possibly to some plague or epidemic. She made a confession, but apparently she concealed a particularly shameful sin from her confessor, but took communion nonetheless -- a very bad sacrilege! So she prayed to Francis for help, and he appeared to her in a dream. Following this she led a life of penance, including anorexia mirabilis, and had a profound mystical experience. She dictated an account of her conversion and mysticism to her confessor and this was published as the Book of Visions and Instructions. Fr. Dominic quoted from this work a particularly striking phrase:
"Il mondo è incinto con il dio" (The world is pregnant with God.)

Although she is not an official saint, Angela is the patron of widows, theologians, those who struggle against sexual temptation, and for people who are ridiculed for their piety (although not only for those who meet all these criteria at once!)

Finally a European Country!

Returning to Perugia, we were greeted by a scene not often encountered in Italy: an information table set up to advocate for the UAAR (The Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics.) In their literature, they advocate to make Italy "finalmente un paese europeo" (finally a European country) including the recognition of civil unions, living wills, no discrimination based on sexual orientation, more liberal divorce laws, and de- criminalizing euthanasia, and opposition to renaming the main train station in Rome (Termini di Roma) which the current right-wing mayor wants to change to "John Paul II." Most recently, UAAR sponsored a showing of "The Life of Brian" on Darwin Day in Venice.

(I've added a picture of this unique display, including a button I purchased which reads "No to the Vatican, No to Jihad.")

From A to Z (Assisi to Zurich)

WHEN IS LUNCH?

The beginning of February means our annual class field trip to Assisi. What more can I say? San Damiano, Santa Chiara, Palazzo Vescovado, the Temple of Minerva, the incredible frescoes of Giotto, Cimabue, and Sanmartino, the chapel of the Porziuncula inside the huge Santa Maria degli Angeli and, of course, the transcendant Pizza al Tartufo at I Monaci.
For me the best part was sharing the experience with students seeing it for the very first time.

(Team Francis '09, Left to Right: Senora Traub, Raffaella, Jessica, Ashlee, Phil, Nikki, Noel, Patrick, Linda, Me, Nick, Prof. Hoch, Rino, Mary, Carla, Kristin, Shannon, Angela, Sarah, Mrs. C)

It always make me feel a proprietary sense of pride to be able to answer students questions: what happened here? Why is this important? When is lunch? Aboveis a grand group photograph taken by a gentle nun from Our Lady of Glassboro, NJ.
Grazie Sorella!!



THE CRAZY COW



Off we go to Zurich, Switzerland and the Crazy Cow Hotel. I don't know how or why it got that name, but I do know that we began to wonder whether we were a bit crazy to leave the relatively mild weather of central Italy for the bone-chilling cold of northern Switzerland! Of course Zurich is a beautiful little city and sometime home to Thomas Mann, Albert Einstein and Tina Turner. Besides the cold, the city was unbelievably expensive AND almost all the restaurants were Italian! But the old city was very walkable, beautiful and clean. (I saw a guy actually pick up a scrap of paper from the pavement and put it in the trash. In Italy we see the reverse!) Another wonderful contrast is that English-language films were subtitled rather than dubbed, as they are in Italy. Some as a refuge from the cold and the high prices, we used the time for a pre-Oscar catch-up: Vicky, Christina, Barcelona, Doubt and Revolutionary Road. In Zurich, movie theatres have reserved seats which seemed to suit the local practice of orderliness. But more, they have intermissions! In the middle of the film, no matter what is going on, the movie stops, the lights go on, and a message appears on the screen:

"Why not get some ice cream?"

Ice cream?? Are you kidding? In this frozen city? Hot chocolate maybe.

But even getting hot chocolate was an adventure: I must confess that we visited the local Starbucks in our quest. For one thing, American franchises for all their familiarity and cheesiness are at least smoke-free, and that is a real benefit. Unfortunately, the chocolate was not too hot. Above is a little video featuring the wonderful Mrs. C offering a critique of the hot chocolate at the Zurich Starbucks.

Todi: "a moment, a twinkling"

Our colleague, Maria Traub, (left) organized a class trip to Todi. Her class, Saints and Relics is only open to Franciscan Heritage Program students. But I think that we have tapped into something real in the hearts and minds of our students. I judge that by the number of students from other classes who ask to join our group as we travel to places around Umbria. Church after church, crypt after crypt.
We visited the the beautiful, if slightly shabby, church of San Fortunato, noting frescoes resembling those of Giotto in Assisi and a fragment of the famous Virgin with Child and Angels by Masolino da Panicale. (See above right.)

Housed under San Fortunato, are the remains of the famous but controversial Franciscan poet and spiritualist Jacopone de Todi. (His image on the outside wall is shown on the left.) According to legend, Jacopone, was a nobleman educated in law at Bologne. In his early forties, a floor gave way in his home during a fancy ball and his wife was crushed to death. He discovered, to his great surprise, that his wife was wearing a hairshirt of a penitent under her gown. Subsequently, he became a Franciscan, following strictly the original form of life of Francis of Assisi. And this brought him into conflict with the Pope who advocated a less stringent form of Franciscan life. Jacopone is best known for his religious poetry. Here's a sample:

So many proud princes, and power so splendid,

In a moment, a twinkling, all utterly ended.

- De Contemptu Mundi

We’ve been to Todi three times; twice in pouring rain and once in unbearable summer heat. Too bad. Todi is beautiful, with the magnificent Piazza dei Popolo bordered by the twenty-nine steps of the Duomo.

Finally, is the must-see Santa Maria della Consolazione with its beautiful dome and epicyclical interior. The design of this church is attributed to Bramante, better known for his design of St. Peter’s although this is disputed. The story of this church is that it was built to celebrate the miraculous restoration of sight of a worker who had wiped his face and eyes with a rag that he had used to dust the image of the Virgin Mary.

(From top clockwise: Rino, Judy, Me, Patrick, Noel, Phil, Mike, Maria Traub.)

Of course, the highlight of the day for me was the wonderful pranzo we ate with the students at Pane e Vino. (Only later did I realize the theological significance of this name!)

Classes begin

At last, classes begin. My course is called “Contemporary Global Issues: The Franciscan World View.” However, much to my distress the very first class meeting was a bit overshadowed by the inauguration of President Obama. As we all know now, the US Constitution begins the President's term at noon on January 20, which means 6 PM in Perugia, and my class (5:15 to 6:45 PM) straddled the most important parts: the Oath of Office and acceptance speech. Of course, we couldn't cancel the first class, but modern technology partially resolved the dilemma by switching from power point to streaming CNN video projected on the wall. Prose to poetry. ridiculous to sublime. I quietly included into the powerpoint an image I found in Google that sums up the spirit of the class. Take a look, but please Francis and Obama fans, don’t take offense!

The following week we hosted the distinguished

medieval scholar, Jacques Dalarun. Jacques graciously

agreed to come up from Rome to address our class.

Actually, he was quite enthusiastic to visit us and did a

fantastic presentation. He led the class through an

example of the sort of research he does: reading,
translating and interpreting Francis’s letter to Brother Leo.
The original is displayed in nearby Spoleto, (see above left) and I hope to get the students there eventually. (Above right is a picture of Jacques in Perugia with Assisi over his shoulder.)