St. Anthony

Today we started off with a little macchiato from the corner cafe then took the bus downtown to see St. Anthony's Basilica.  It was, of course, massive.  We were greeted by pigeons.  Raleigh's breadsticks that we brought to keep him busy while we toured soon became lunch for the pigeons.

Basilica is an architectual term meaning kingly or beautiful hall.  I was not raised Catholic nor do I have much education on the Saints, but being surrounded by it in Europe has sparked my interest as well as the rest of the family.  We studied a bit about St. Anthony before going to the basilica so we could have more of an appreciation of the structure and the saint.  He was born into a wealthy family and they didn't want him to live the lowly life of a friar, but he felt his calling was to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the poor and that's what he did until he died at 36.  He was proclaimed a Saint within 10 months of his death.  It is known to be the shortest period of anyone being proclaimed into sainthood.

The church was built in 1290 and had been continually added on to.  Some of the sculptures were done by Donatello.  We were able to see his robe (sorry if that's not the right term) under glass.  The girls and I watched a presentation of his life which was interesting to hear about all the miracles he performed.  One thing I keep thinking about was how he talked of the importance of being silent before God.  He compared it to giving your spirit to God so he could fill it up and then give it back to you.  That sounds lovely. 


Annie counted 20 confessionals!   I was not allowed to take pictures and video inside but here are some from the outside.

We ended the day right back where we started--our new favorite corner neighborhood coffee shop.  The kids all had an ice cream treat on the eve of Annie's 10th birthday.