Our long-time friend and contributor, and photographer extraordinaire Fr Lawrence Lew, is currently with a group of pilgrims in Italy, and was able to say the Dominican Mass yesterday at the tomb of St Dominic in the Order’s church in Bologna. (This is an important liturgical week for the Dominicans: November 12th is the traditional date for the feast of All Dominican Saints, although in the post-Conciliar Rite, it has been moved to November 7th. Today is the feast which honors St Thomas Aquinas as the patronage of all Catholic schools, and on Saturday is the feast of St Albert the Great.) The arc of St Dominic was original commissioned from the sculptor Nicola Pisano in 1264, 30 years after Dominic’s canonization, and completed in 3 years, but new sculptures were added to on more than one occasion, including three by the young Michelangelo in the later 1490s. It has stood in its current location since 1411, but the decorations of the chapel have been reworked very considerably since then. The basilica is currently undergoing a major renovation, but worked halted long enough for Fr Lew and his group to have Mass and venerate the relic of St Dominic in the very beautiful Gothic reliquary, which is accessed from behind the altar, as seen below. It’s very nice to see the red drapes on the columns, a custom which was once very popular in Italy and is making something of a comeback.
