Stage 11, June 21

After Morning Prayer and breakfast, we got an early start. Today was clear and beautiful. We readily got into a an easy pace line, and we rode hard until we ran into a gravel road. That destroyed our average speed.

We arrived in Vercelli, where we stopped for a snack. We went through the ancient church, which was grand. 

Then we went to the cathedral where St. Eusebius had been the bishop. The cathedral have been rebuilt, and it also was grand. We traveled another 25 miles, and had the best lunch in the trip and then we traveled to a small village, where a recently canonized saint's body is on display.

Saint Ricardo Pompouri had grown up and lived in this area. During World War I, he was severely injured serving as a doctor. Renowned for his kindness and care for the poor, he was accepted finally as a brother in a religious order. He died two years later, and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in the 1980s.

The present pastor greeted us, gave us free drinks, and explained the Saint's life to us. As you can see, he is much taller than I am. He also was wearing a shirt with Southern Comfort on it. He could not have been more welcoming.

We have been traveling through very flat land, and this is the area where the local  farmers grow rice. So there are lots of water and even more mosquitoes. Here is our Agriturismo planted right in the midst of a rice field.

The owner's father welcomed us very warmly, took our passports, and settled us into our rooms. We showered quickly, changed our clothes, and drove in the van into Pavia, where we went to the church of San Pietro in Ciel Del'Oro.

The bones of St. Augustine are entombed below the altar of this church, was which was built in the 12th century. We toured the church and prayed at the tomb of St. Augustine.

The silver urn containing his bones can be clearly seen under the Altar.

The Roman philosopher and martyr Boethius is buried in the crypt of the church.

I concelebrated at the 6:30 evening Mass, and we met a woman who is an historian and has done extensive studies on this church. She told us the history of the church. Her husband is the man we met at the Agriturismo.

Afterwards, we went to a restaurant for a fine meal. As you can tell, the Schooler contingent enjoyed the meal greatly. When we got back to the Agriturismo, it was very late, and we prayed evening prayer and went to bed.