THE CHURCH OF ST LEGONTIAN
THE MIRACLE OF EUCHARIST, 700AD

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FAITH is being SURE what we hope for,
and CERTAIN of what we do not see.
Hebrew 11:1

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Day 11 of 14. Oct 15, 2007.

We left Loreto to get to Lanciano in the same morning, 180km southward along the coastline freeway. We were concerned about getting to the destination before the city afternoon nap time of 1-3PM. We parked away from the St.Legontian about 1M and walked through the streets, curving along the narrow streets to get to the church.


We entered the side door leading to a small courtyard, and were told to have 15min window to visit the Holy Eucharist at the altar. We lined up against a wall outside waiting for the previous group to leave, another group was behind us. When we got inside and in front of the Sanctum, the place was crowded with people around the Tabernacle hosting the miraculous Eucharist, of 700AD. It was an awesome feeling to be in His Presence.
We spent specious moment of this time-pressed window to pray in our private moment, paying reverence in His Presence as people clicked away their cameras at the same time.

The Altar was separated from another altar below of the main church where there was some meeting of a small group of priests; we did not visit this part of the church. A Franciscan monk stood aside signaled our group of the end of our time, the next group came in.

We stopped by the church bookstore, small and crowded, from many visiting groups speaking in different languages. The cashier and a monk worked frantically with the patrons. We headed out for lunch, which was quickly overcrowded more than 50 of us. Some of us decided to walk further out, but there was not much of any sandwich shops around, yet there were high class shopping windows along the main street nearby. We grabbed something to eat and rendezvoused with the group at Plebiscite Square, public square, in front of The Basilica of Santa Maria del Ponte, St. Mary of the Bridge, in Lanciano.

It was still early at the square, I went inside the Basilica. It was astounding magnificent in architecture, without anyone knew about this place. No one around inside, yet a few images were recorded before a Franciscan monk walked quietly passing me and seemed like pacing and waiting at the door. It was 1PM, the afternoon resting time of the town begun.

We grouped together in front of the church in the public square to board our bus.
The pilgrimage continued westbound toward Rome, 240km away in the same afternoon.


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______________________HISTORY OF LANCIANO _______________________


The ancient Roman name of Lanciano was Anxanum, a city of the Frentani Italic tribe. The city would have been founded in 1181 BC by Solimus, a Troyan refugee arrived in Italy along with Aeneas. Legends apart, archaeological findings have shown that the area was settled from the 5th millennium BC.

Under the Frentani it was probably under the influence of Greater Greece. After the end of the Samnite Wars, which saw the Frentani allied with the Romans, Lancianum obtained the status of municipium. It was probably a flourishing commercial site, across an ancient and important trade route connecting Pescara to Apulia.

Plebiscite Square in Lanciano.

According to tradition, Lanciano is also the birthplace of Longinus the Roman centurion who thrust his spear into Jesus' side during the Crucifixion: Lanciano in Italian means "of the Spear"
During fall of the Western Roman Empire, Lanciano was sacked by the Goths, and was destroyed during the Lombard invasion (c. 571 AD). A new settlement was then created around a castle built by the new rulers. In 610, however, it was conquered by the Byzantines, who annexed it to the Duchy of Teate (Chieti) and allowed the trades to restart. In the late 8th century Lanciano was conquered by the Franks, who included it in the Duchy of Spoleto.

In 1060 the Normans made it a centre of the unified Kingdom of Sicily. Lanciano flourished again and in 1340 it was the largest city in Abruzzo with 6,500 inhabitants, renowned industries (ceramics, wool, silk, goldworks, ironworks), receiving important privileges by both Frederick II and his son Manfred, with a substantial administrative autonomy. Charles I, King of Sicily, assigned the revenues of the city's port to the Vatican Basilica. Later it was frequently at war with nearby Ortona.

It was here that Pope Gregory XII, fleeing from Cividale, landed on Neapolitan territory (1409), and went thence to Gaeta. After the end of the Italian Wars, the new Spanish rule and the shift of commerce due to the discovery of America, impoverished Lanciano, which, in 1640, became a baronial possession.

Later, the city took the part of the Neapolitan Republic of 1799 and rose against the Bourbon kings in 1848, 1849 and 1853. In 1860 it voted for annexation to the newly formed Kingdom of Italy.
During World War II it was an active center of the Resistance against the German occupation. In 1952 it was awarded the Gold Medal to Military Valour by President Luigi Einaudi.


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