Trani Cathedral

To follow up on my vampire insinuations of the other day, I decided to visit the Diocesan Museum in the town of Trani. Housed in this museum is a bust of Monsignor Davanzati, Archbishop of Trani in the early 1700s and author of a Dissertation on Vampires, which was not a novel, but the most exhaustive analysis of the vampire phenomenon ever written. It has chapters with titles like "On the Power Delegated to the Demon" and "Which Physical Causes Could Produce Vampire Appearances."

Unfortunately, the museum is closed for restoration for three months, so I spent some time in and around Trani's magnificent cathedral, completed in 1143, reputed to be the finest example of Apulian-Romanesque architecture. This style is known for its lack of adornment, sort of the opposite of Baroque.

The photo above shows the backside of the church. The front is being restored and is covered with scaffolding, but if you are curious to see it, click here. I think the dark and gloomy sky here sort of gives it a vampirey feeling!

This is the altar in the uppermost level of the church. Below this level are two crypts and even further down a hypogeum, or underground, pre-Christian temple or tomb.

This fellow was industriously holding up one of the columns along the side wall of the church.

A fresco and altarpiece in the upper of the two crypts.

A statue of Saint Nicholas the Pilgrim, for whom the cathedral is named, is located in the lower crypt. This is not the St. Nick of Christmas lore (he is the patron saint of Bari, the capital of this region), but another Nicholas altogether. He came from the east to meet the Pope, but only made it as far as Trani before starving to death, according to some, or being assassinated, according to others, in 1094.

Parrocchia San Giuseppe

The steeple of St. Joseph's parish is crisscrossed by the lines and wires located along the train tracks which pass close by. See that blue sky? I love it!

First Communion

Yesterday we celebrated my younger son's First Communion. This is the Roman Catholic ceremony for a person's first reception of the sacrament of the eucharist, which is generally considered to be a commemoration of the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest and eventual crucifixion. The consecration of bread and a cup within the rite recalls the moment at the Last Supper when Jesus gave his disciples bread, saying, "This is my body", and wine, saying, "This is my blood.

Children in Italy receive this sacrament in fourth grade. My son is the little guy in the blue suit. Most families then continue the celebration by offering friends and family a meal. Those invited bring gifts for the child (a definite perk as far as the kids are concerned!).

We held a buffet in our backyard...today I'm exhausted. But, my son had a wonderful day, so it was all worth it!

Hospital Chapel

This is the chapel at the hospital. When a person dies at the hospital the family is obliged to hold the funeral here. You don't get to take Auntie Maria back to your local church. When I was in the hospital in Terlizzi years ago, there was a lovely friar who would come around every day or two and talk to people, pray with them and bless them. I'm not Catholic, but I did find it reassuring to be blessed every so often while in the hospital! Another kind of medicine...

Back to Church

Today was the first Sunday of the "catechistic year." This means the period of the year in which children attend catechism. It starts in October and ends in early June.

My family is Catholic, but not particularly devout. A great many Italians (though certainly not all) care that their children receive all the key sacraments: baptism, first communion and confirmation, even if they do not themselves attend church regularly, or, in many cases, at all. We attend for the length of the catechistic year...and then go on religious vacation.

One day while I was visiting a friend, the local priest stopped by to bless her house. He asked why he hadn't seen her at mass. She explained that she was a believer, but not an attender of mass. I chipped in that my family are believers, but only seasonal attenders...during the catechistic year.

I'm not sure if that makes us hypocrites...or just religiously lazy?