La Festa dell'Epifania

This year we were lucky to arrive in Italy early enough to enjoy the celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany commemorating the visit of the three Iranian astrologers (i Magi) to the baby Jesus. In Perugia, the celebration included a children’s party honoring La Befana, a costumed procession through the historic center of Perugia, and a free concert by a local community orchestra. La Befana is an old crone who, it is reputed, visits children on the eve of the Epiphany (5 January) to leave gifts of candy for “good” children and coal for misbehaved kids. The legend of Befana, which is an Italian original, is that the Magi stopped at her hut to ask directions to Bethlehem to visit the newborn king. Befana, always busy with sweeping and baking, could not help them, but after they had left she regrets that she hadn’t joined them. So she packs her bag with goodies and her broom and sets out to find il Bambino. (Part of the legend is that she had lost her only child and looks for the newborn to alleviate her grief.) She never does find him, and so she continues her quest to this day, visiting homes wherever there are children and leaving gifts and sweeping the floor. Interestingly, a Perugian street sweeper had attached a Befana doll to his little 3-wheeled Piaggio – no doubt a tribute to the patroness of sweepers. See the pictures. The procession portraying the Magi assembled in the Piazza d’Italia and I was able to get a photo of a double-humped camel – the real star of the parade -- and his handler.

We brought you peace!

As they proceeded down the Corso Vannucci, I took a video showing the Magi and other fantastic characters, including a black prince sitting high atop the camel looking impossibly dignified. As if all this weren’t amazing enough, the musicians played – of all things – an Israeli folk song “Havenu shalom aleichem” (We brought you peace).

Amazing Chops!

After the procession, there was a free concert, in the beautiful Sala dei Notari (the old City Council chamber in the 13th Century Palazzo dei Priori) by a local community orchestra, La Filarmonica Pretola, with a surprisingly eclectic selection of tunes ranging from Harold Arlen to Giuseppe Verdi. The band – all wind instruments plus percussion -- played well enough, but for me the highlight was the improvising lead trumpeter in "Over the Rainbow" (Sopra il Arcobaleno) who had amazing chops despite his advanced years – see the video.

Postscript: They're all here, safe, sound, and well-fed!

(Above Kara, Abby, Evan and Amie following a hearty cena of gnocchi and pollo.)

Last night was the opening dinner for the Spring Semester at the Umbra Institute. We were happy to find that all the SBU students had finally arrived safely -- and not much worse for the difficult voyage. Ryan had arrived earlier and his picture is in the earlier post. We found Evan, Amie, Kara and Abby in the lobby of the Hotel Gio, where the dinner was held. We'll be seeing them this afternoon at the Umbra orientation, and I'll try to get a few more pictures to put up.

Returning to Perugia

Waiting for gli studenti

The Franciscan Heritage Semester Study Abroad Program (FHP) 2010 is scheduled to resume in a few days with the arrival of our intrepid cohort of St. Bonaventure students: Evan Comins, Amie Marasco, Kara Telfer, Abby Schaaf and Ryan O’Donnell. Kara and Abby are education majors who are taking advantage of the special opportunities that FHP offers. They will be taking courses that have been approved for education majors, including Developmental Psychology, language and Clare College courses. In addition, Kara and Abby will be interning at the Perugia Montesorri school. Evan and Amie will be completing a series of courses that will virtually complete the requirements for an International Business minor. Their course schedule will include several business courses that focus on European and global business practices, including the politics and economics of the European Union, and, of course, they will study Italian. Their semester will be topped off by a month long internship with the Costa D’Oro Olive Oil Company in nearby Spoleto. And Ryan is enrolled in the “full immersion” Italian language and culture program. This is a unique program in which students attend Perugia’s Universita per Stranieri (University for Foreigners) studying Italian while their progress is monitored by the Umbra Institute, which awards credits transferable to American universities.

(Above: That's Mrs. C on Corso Vanucci, still decorated for Christmas. Right below: Ryan enjoys the first of many pizzas at the Cafe di Perugia.)

Ryan is already here (his program starts a few days earlier) and the other students will arrive soon. I thought that this might be a good time to resume blogging. Before the program starts in earnest I thought it would be a good opportunity to update our activities since last year.

Last summer, Mrs. C and I visited three of our AFCU (Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities) partner campuses, Hilbert College, Neumann University and Felician College, greeting old friends and making some new ones for the program. We are looking forward to their participation, hopefully for spring, 2011. We’ll be attending the AFCU Symposium this summer at USF Fort Wayne, IN, and will encourage wider participation by AFCU schools. To date, we have enrolled students from Alvernia, Neumann, USF Ft. Wayne, Marian, as well as SBU.

Spring 2009 highlights

(From left to right: Senora Traub waiting for the bus to Todi;
Mrs. C leads Umbra Seder; Gerry Straub leads Assisi retreat; clockwise: Gilberto Zapitello, Tim Noone, Judy C., Colleen Noone climbing Mt. Subasio; Jacques Dalarun overlooking the Spoleto Valley, Mt. Subasio and Assisi.)

To review some of the highlights of last year’s program: We were happy to host, Dr. Maria Traub, of Neumann University, whose course, “Saints and Relics” integrated field trips to the sites of saints whose relics are found throughout Italy, with many Franciscan saints in Umbria. In January, we welcomed the internationally renowned Franciscan scholar, Jacque Dalarun, who gave a fascinating presentation illustrating his paleographic and interpretive skills on the famous autograph letter of Francis to Leo (which we were later to view in the Duomo in Spoleto.) Later in the semester, we hosted a Passover Seder, led by Mrs. C, and attended by students of various faiths. We organized a lenten retreat at Casa Papa Giovanni, in Assisi, lead by the well-known Franciscan film maker Gerry Straub, and attended by Tim Noone (yes, another famous scholar) and his wife, Colleen, and the Italian philosopher Gilberto Zapitello. Of course, we also took students on field trips to Assisi, Montecasale, and La Verna in conjunction with my course on “Contemporary Global Issues: The Franciscan World View.” We look forward to resuming many of these special events, and an expanded range of courses and visitors with more students participating in 2011.

Mrs. C’s famous melanzane parmigiana

Back in the US this fall, we sponsored the visit of Tom Cornell of the Catholic Worker Movement, Pax Christi, and the Catholic Peace Fellowship Tom is credited with organizing the very first anti-Viet Nam war demonstration in 1963, and the first corporate act of resistance to the Viet Nam War, the burning of draft cards, in 1965. (See picture on the left from NYTimes, 1965.) We first met Tom in Assisi in March, 2008, where he led a conference on the issue of conscientious objector status for Catholic GIs. He was returning from an audience with Pope Benedict regarding the CO question, and was accompanied by a former Abu Ghraib interrogator, Joshua Casteel, who had recently won a CO discharge as a Catholic pacifist. While at SBU, Tom visited several classes, lectured to the University Forum, and visited the Olean cabin where Thomas Merton summered with Robert Lax. (See photo on the right for Tom in Lax's cabin.)

Finally, no update would be complete if I didn’t mention the visit to SBU of several of my students from the previous spring: Nikki Tarantula and Ashlee Serik, from Neumann, and Patrick Craven from Elon U. They were visiting their Bonaventure friends Phil Penepent and Noel Baylor. Patrick also had a more "serious" purpose: he had decided to write his senior thesis on "Franciscan Theology of Creation and Community Supported Agriculture," and so I was happy to bring him to Mt. Irenaeus and Canticle Farm to interview Franciscan brothers and sisters whose ministries embodied the spirit of Francis and nature. (See photo above of Patrick at Canticle Farm with Sister Joyce Ramage, Farmer Mark Printz, and unnamed dog.)

Of course, we could not let the leave western New York without a fine dinner of Mrs. C's famous melanzane parmigiana (eggplant parmesan) !!!!

(Above is a picture of -- clockwise -- Ashlee, Nikki, the C's, Phil, Noel and Patrick. Notice the clean plates and the conspicuous bottle of Costa D'oro's Il Grezzo on the table.)

Next: The Magi visit Perugia

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.")