Wednesday, October 21, 2009

A REAL TONGUE BEFORE ME: FEAST OF ST.GASPAR DEL BUFALO MISSIONARY AND PREACHER OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS


It was quite an experience about an hour or so just now.I went up to kiss the relic of a saint as I often do and when I kissed the glass, I looked before me and was sure this looked like a tongue.It was red in some areas and also black.Some areas looked dry others very real.It was the tongue of St.Gaspar del Bufalo I asked myself as I walked back passed where his body is kept in the small church.
Today is the feast day of St.Gaspar del Bufalo,Missionary and preacher of the Precious Blood that saves, founder of two Missionary Congregations and known for his preaching which would make people cry, repent and go for Confession in Rome.
There was a solemn Mass held at the Church.It was focused on the Passion of Our Lord and his Precious Blood. There was the 'rosary' of the Precious Blood  followed by the Litany of the Precious Blood of Jesus. The prayers and hymns also made one conscious of the Passion of Our Lord and as if this was the time of Lent.

Finally it is the Passion of our Lord and suffering here that is important in this life. and  not the glamour we are continously being exposed to today.
The Church is situated in a noisy area  and yet within there was such a strong feeling of sanctity .
If you are a tourist in Rome and are before the Trevi Fountain,where people throw coins and make a worldly wish, look to your left. You will see a small church. Within you can venerate the body of St.Gaspar and make a wish that you may have eternal life in heaven after you die.
There is also a small seminary of the community of the Precious Blood which St.Gaspar del Bufalo founded.They have 16 seminarians.

I asked one of them as I was leaving the Church, about the relic, I kissed.
It was the uncorrupted tongue of St.Gaspar del Bufalo!