20 Blog Post September 22, 2024 “Big Church”
Big church day, literally and figuratively.
The first experience was led by Martino (“Like martini but with an o,” he said.) At 9 am, Alistair and I walked down to the Museo de la Cenacolo Vinciano in the Santa Maria delle Grazie complex (the Museum of the Last Supper in Holy Mary of the Graces). I actually fought our travel agent, Jean, when she said we needed to see the fresco of DaVinci’s painting. Haven’t we all seen the Last Supper, or some version of it, a million times? Jean was absolutely right.
Martino gave us a short history of the painting, including the miracle of its survival after the convent complex was bombed in WWII, and the miracle of it surviving after Napoleon turned the room into a stable, and the miracle of it surviving because DaVinci actually used the wrong technique when he painted it, and the painting was gradually flaking off the wall instead of absorbing into the plaster, the way it should have been done.
And then Martino said quietly, “Imagine that you are 14th century monks who lived in this complex. The painting is a focal point for your silent meals. Imagine,” he said, “Imagine that Jesus is inviting you to the table, inviting you to have a meal with him.” For the next 15 minutes (the time groups are allowed to stay) we sat there and allowed ourselves to dwell in that space of invitation. I felt my edges soften as I tried to understand the magnitude of what was happening—Jesus had just said that one of them would betray him, but they did not yet know which one of them it was and there was chaos. We think of the Last Supper as such a still painting, and yet it is full of action and emotion. Each disciple is clearly identified, if you pay attention to their behavior. Judas is the only one whose back is to the viewer, Peter is shouting and actually has a knife close by him (remember how he cut off the ear of the soldier in the garden with Jesus?), Thomas is pointing his finger (remember how he wanted to touch Jesus after his resurrection?) and so on. Leonardo knew his Bible well.
After seeing the fresco in the refectory (where the monks ate their meals), my concern was that I would not be able to go to church, and it was Sunday. Would I be able to pass off the Last Supper as sort of being church? Just then, literally as we finished the tour, and I began to worry about how I would attend church, the bells of the Santa Maria Church began to ring. Church was starting in the same complex as the Last Supper we had just viewed! Alistair and I were able to attend a complete Sunday service, including, for me, receiving communion.
I don’t usually receive communion when I am in a Catholic Church, and perhaps some of you who are Catholic will be offended, but I took Martino at his word—imagine that Jesus has invited me to the table. It was an extraordinary blessing to receive communion after that invitation, and I was deeply nourished by the gathering of God’s people, by the reading of God’s word, by the sharing of the peace, which had its own universal message. The language barrier did not matter at all. I had been invited to the table with Jesus, and I accepted the invitation.
Following church, we spent about 2 hours in a café, Le Jardin, on the way to the Duomo. We sipped coffee, shared a croissant—I finally got to say ‘Un cappuccino et un cornetto, per favore!’, then stayed for lunch without leaving our prized window table, which looked out over the narrow street. Watching the young people walk by was like having a personal fashion show. Sunday morning is surprisingly busy in Milan, and I don’t think it’s because of all the people leaving church! Milan is simply rich in fashion and design, and every day provides a new opportunity to demonstrate that.
At 2 pm, we headed to the Duomo, which means home. It is, of course, the house of God, but it was also the church built for Milan royalty and it was their church home. The Duomo is the third largest Cathedral in the world, and it was a work of art with over 120 pinnacles (spires), many of which had hand carved statues of saints perched on them, and it took six hundred years to complete the entire Cathedral. Just in time to start on the maintenance work that is always needed!!! We took a tour with a professional guide, but it was really hard to hear her, so I missed most of her info, but the high point of the tour (pun intended) was our trip up to the top of the Cathedral, overlooking all of Milan and the surrounding country. I love the thrill and unexpected experience of being on the roof of a Cathedral and this is our second for this trip. St. Peter’s Basilica’s dome climb in Rome will be the completion of the trinity of dome trips.
After the Duomo, we wandered, and everywhere we went, there were people, people and more people. Most of them were Italians and not tourists. At Parco Sempione, there were impromptu concerts, families riding bikes, The weather seems to create a culture of gathering, and Milan is also a culture of romance and affection. Young couples kiss, hold hands, wrap around each other on park benches. Physical affection and intimacy are part of the formula that makes Milan special. We’ll see if the rest of Italy is the same.
Following our wanderings, only 20,000 steps today, we stopped at Deseo near the Parco for apertivo, one of the greatest deals around. If you stop by local restaurants between 5 and 7 pm, you can get apertivo, which means appetizers, very inexpensively. It’s kind of like tapas. After 7 pm, all restaurants serve multi course dinners until 11 pm or midnight. With apertivo, you must buy one drink and then you can eat as much as you like. I had my first Aperol spritz, and it was a vivid orange, slightly bitter drink that was beautiful. Alistair had a non-alcoholic drink. And then the platters of food arrived—an entire meal in small bits and pieces including (for me) grilled veggies, a boiled egg, grain salads, cheeses and other deliciousness. Have you heard of the “Girl Dinner”? This was the perfect Girl Dinner!! Alistair, my resident meat eater, got the platter with the prosciutto, dry salami, cheeses, ham sliders and meatballs and sauce on mashed potatoes. We also got fresh fruit and a tiny chocolate mousse. One platter each was plenty for us, and full of the day’s adventures, we wandered back to our hotel to begin packing once again.
Next stop—Venice—another place I argued about with our travel agent. I didn’t want to go to Venice. She insisted that we not only go to Venice, but that we stay for a few days. Hmmmm….I’ll let you know, but I bet she’s right again!
If you wonder which part of this day has had the greatest effect—clearly it was the invitation to dwell with DaVinci’s fresco, and then to enter into it, and to carry that invitation out into the world. “You are invited….” Nourishing words indeed.
May you be nourished by an unexpected invitation.
ML+
(Correction: I named TWO blogs #16, so I’ll have to go back and correct the others, but the right number for this blog is 20!)
