A special stop in Italy.

We flew from Malta to Bologna, Italy where we had an overnight stop on the way home, and so planned to go pray at the tomb of a longtime friend of ours - St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans!! St. Dominic was born in Spain, founded his order in Toulouse, and devoted himself to living without distractions to grow closer to the Lord through study and contemplation, and was dedicated to the teaching of his fellow Christian brethren. St. Dominic is also the saint who received the Rosary from the Blessed Mother in a vision which was recorded as follows:
"Our Lady appeared to him, accompanied by three angels, and she said, 'Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?' 'Oh, my Lady," answered Saint Dominic, "You know far better than I do, because next to your Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation.'
Then our Lady replied, 'I want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the principal weapon has always been the Angelic Psalter, which is the foundation-stone of the New Testament. Therefore, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter.'
 So he arose, comforted, and burning with zeal for the conversion of the people in that district, he made straight for the cathedral. At once unseen angels rang the bells to gather the people together, and Saint Dominic began to preach. 
At the very beginning of his sermon, an appalling storm broke out, the earth shook, the sun was darkened, and there was so much thunder and lightning that all were very much afraid. Even greater was their fear when, looking at a picture of our Lady exposed in a prominent place, they saw her raise her arms to heaven three times to call down God's vengeance upon them if they failed to be converted, to amend their lives, and seek the protection of the holy Mother of God.
At last, at the prayer of Saint Dominic, the storm came to an end, and he went on preaching. So fervently and compellingly did he explain the importance and value of the Rosary that almost all the people of Toulouse embraced it and renounced their false beliefs. In a very short time a great improvement was seen in the town; people began leading Christian lives and gave up their former bad habits." 

The boys were happy to kick back at our hotel before we ventured out to find St. Dominic's church.

Side chapel and tomb of St. Dominic - painted by masters of the Bolognese School between 1614-1616 - culminating in St. Dominic's Glory (below) by Reni.

The Arco di San Domenico which hold his remains, was begun in 1264 and was not completed until 500 years later. A young Michelangelo was one of the stone masons who worked on it.

 

Behind his tomb, we found a reliquary holding St. Dominic's skull! What a privilege to lay eyes on the skull that held the brain that was spinning with wisdom and love for God and the Blessed Mother. So many prayers were going up from my heart to St. Dominic in heaven for my Dominic, and all my boys, that they may have the desire to follow God's will and especially entrust all their work to the protection and intercession of our Lady of the Rosary. 

 

The Rosary Chapel.

 

Mid-13th century Crucifixion by Guinta Pisano.

We trained up to Venice from where we were taking the night train home, and walked around for a few hours in a more residential section where we hadn't been before, and then sat out on the steps of San Simeone across from the train station until it was time to leave.