The Saints are Coming

Celebrating St. Francis' birthday in Assisi
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By Christina

We would be remiss in not mentioning here our continued fascination with the saints and religion. Even our rabidly agnostic young daughter is finding the stories of saints and our various visits to religious spots interesting. Just yesterday in Assisi, she purchased a book on St. Francis and proceeded to tell us all about his life. The idea that one can become a saint after performing a certain number of “miracles” just fascinates her. Needless to say, Dan and I are ill equipped to explain the feats of the various saints and the rules that need to be satisfied before one can become a saint. As a result, we have promised to look for a religious bookstore in Rome (at the Vatican, perhaps?) with a children’s book on the saints.

Franciscan monk in Assisi
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Grayson also is interested in religion, albeit the more violent side of things. The Stations of the Cross that we visited in Rocamadour and the story of Jesus’ cruxification as depicted in the numerous churches we visit, continues to elicit a lot of questions. When he learned about stigmata and the idea that various folks continue to experience stigmata to this day, he was blown away. By the way, for those of you who don’t know this, St. Francis experienced stigmata shortly before his death.

Assisi knights (costumes for the festival of St. Francis)
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One religious spot that we all loved (because our interests border on the macabre) was the Church of San Domenico in Siena. Evidently, Siena was home to one of Italy’s most famous saints, Santa Caterina (St. Catherine). Although she died in Rome, her head was returned to Siena and you can still see it in the Church of San Domenico!!! This is not a pretty sight, I tell you, as her mouth is all worn away and she looks really creepy. I pointed out to Dan that it was strange that her entire head hadn’t worn away to skull given that she was 500+ years old, but he simply replied, “Hey, she’s a saint, they age differently”. Also riveting were her desiccated thumb and the whip she used to flog herself – these were found in a display case near her head.

Next to come: mass with the pope next week!!