Basilica del Corpus Domini

Yet another beautiful Baroque church in Turin, Italy is the Basilica del Corpus Domini, or the Basilica of the Body of Christ.

It's hard to see the altar painting, but it is portraying the Eucharistic miracle that happened on the site of the church.

On the floor, this plaque designates the exact spot where the Host levitated in the year 1453.  The story goes that a group of French soldiers were plundering a church nearby Turin.  They took the Mass vessels, including the ciborium holding the Body of Christ.  Their donkey (carrying the loot) fell down on this spot, refusing to move, and the Host was seen rising out of the saddlebag and into the air.  The church was built on the site about 30 years later.  It has been modified a few times, with fantastic art added.  For more, see here: Basilica of Corpus Christi and the legend of the miracle - Torino Rete

 

April Harvest Totals and Thurby

 April Harvest totals:
Eggs - 186

Lettuce - 1 cup

And I had to bury our original beloved Lavender Orpington, Lavender, yesterday morning.  She was old, and died in her sleep as peacefully as a chicken can, I think.

In happier news, Nathaniel and I went to Thurby yesterday.

It was my first Thurby in 3 years.  We had a great time.

Activities

The spring has been pretty busy.  Emry is playing basketball still.  Gyunay still has swim lessons.  And Lydia is doing pole vault:

We also went to Malachi's last concert of the year:

One more month of school!  And for my college guys, just a couple of weeks.  Elijah will be graduating!

 

Lavazza Coffee Museum

Nathaniel has been drinking Lavazza coffee for many years.  Turin is the home of Lavazza Coffee, and they have a very nice little museum.

All of the interactive stuff was in both Italian and English, so that was easy.

Nathaniel as a mad scientist

These characters were part of a hilarious ad campaign from the 60s and 70s.  They missed an opportunity, because nothing in the gift shop had them on it.  

 

The Chapel of the Holy Shroud

 

As part of the Savoy Museum complex (Musei Reali), we got to see the Chapel of the Holy Shroud.

It is a small, circular room with extremely high ceilings and a magnificent dome.  

These marble statues are around the circular room, with the altar in the middle.

Unfortunately, this photo of the altar is blurry.  The Shroud used to be kept here.

I took this photo in the Cathedral.  The glass behind the Cathedral's altar is a wall of glass in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud.  So it is still attached to the Cathedral, although it is no longer a working chapel, just part of the museum.

To the left of this picture is the place where the Shroud is kept today, out of sight in a climate-controlled box.  

Stupid Rich

 

After coming back down from the Sacra, I went again to the Duomo.  I went into the basement museum there, although I didn't get any pictures.  I had a private tour in English from a very nice lady.  

The next day, Nathaniel and I visited the Savoy Palace.

These people were stupid rich.

When this is the entrance to the house, you know it was built to impress.

The wall papers, furniture, etc are from the 1500s.  

There is gold and masterpiece level artwork everywhere.

The vase alcove.  You know, for when you don't know what to do with all of your priceless vases.

And don't forget that all of the ceilings are magnificent:

And you apparently need your own chapel and baptismal font, even though the house is literally attached to the cathedral.

And then, there's the Armory. 

You know, for when you want to show off your collection to your friends.

And it wasn't just European weapons and armor.  There was a complete samurai section, too.

More Savoy stuff next time.

Happy Easter!

 

The egg hunt had to move to the front yard, because of the septic issues.  Elijah had fun hiding the eggs, and the younger 3 loved hunting them.

It was great to have all 6 kids here for the egg hunt and lunch.  Malachi joined the boys, Nathaniel, and I for the Easter Vigil last night, and Lydia, Elijah, and I enjoyed Mass this morning.  Pilot and Malachi were heading out this afternoon, so we had a nice lunch first.  The weather ended up being absolutely beautiful!

Leaving the Sacra

We started our descent from the Sacra.  Now we just had to go back down the mountain.

Along the way, there is this little shrine to St. Michael:

Roadside shrines to saints used to exist all over Italy and France.  Some are still there, including this one.  I thought at first that the shrine had a lot of trash in it, but on closer inspection, those papers are holy cards and prayers!

It "only" took us 1 1/2 hours or so to get back down the mountain to the town of Sant' Ambroglio.

In the town, we stopped at the church, which was built in the 1700s.

It's a very small town, a village, really.  And they have this gem for their church!

Walking through the town, I noticed this little roadside shrine to Our Lady:

The Latin says "Our Lady of Sorrows, Pray for us."