The town of Orvieto and the Corpus Domini[1]
[1] These pictures were taken on June 22, 2025.
The Duomo of Orvieto is simply monumental. A majestic presence that imposes itself calmy to the visitors with its mosaics on the façade gleaming at sunset. It was built as a home to commemorate the miracle of Bolsena by order of Pope Urban IV, its construction continued for about three centuries. This Cathedral stands today as a lasting reminder of the Eucharistic miracle that took place in the neighboring town.
A priest celebrating Mass doubted the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, but God gifted him with His Blood on the Corporal, which is kept today in the Chapel of the Corporal with frescoes showing the various stages of this miracle. This relic is carried in procession every year on the streets of this gorgeous town. This year on June 22 I had the grace of attending the liturgical celebration at the Duomo and the even more precious grace of carrying the corporal with three other priests from the chapel to the main altar for veneration. It is a heavy reliquary weighing more than two hundred pounds, but worth carrying it in the short procession to the Church. The Lord gifted us with this miracle which contains the spots of his Precious Blood on this linen. At the altar of the Church of Saint Cristina in Bolsena where the miracle took place–one can still see the stained marble, another testimony of the Eucharistic Presence.
Saint Thomas Aquinas, who was at the time working in Orvieto, composed the Office of Corpus Christi at the request of Pope Urban the IV. A story goes that Saint Bonaventure had also been asked to compose the Office to celebrate this liturgical solemnity, but when Aquinas began to read his in the presence of the Pontiff, Bonaventure simply tore up his papers thus bowing to the excellence of Aquinas’ composition. The well-known hymns Pange Lingua, Tantum Ergo, Lauda Sion are part of this liturgical jewel.
Orvieto lives from the Corpus Christi celebration: its Duomo was built to host this relic. Orvieto lives for Corpus Christi. Once a year this town, always worth visiting, comes to life just for one morning, for one day, for the sacred remembrance of the Body and Blood of the Lord. There is a first early Mass celebrated by its Bishop, and a second presided this year by Cardinal Tagle and concelebrated by about one hundred priests, who will then carry the Blessed Sacrament on the streets full of people: curious visitors and faithful Catholics. The town blooms with priests, seminarians, and religious nuns giving testimony of the life of the Church, a life coming from its only fount, the Eucharist: I am the life of the world.
In the evening, a concert for Peace in the Holy Land in front of the church filled the air with religious and secular melodies, all adding something beautiful to an already beautiful day.
On both sides of the main altar you can also see a gorgeous Annunciation in marble by artist Francesco Mochi:
There are also frescoes by Beato Angelico and Luca Signorelli in some of the chapels. The entire building, within and without, is a feast to the eyes, and more importantly a Catechism writen in stone, marble, mosaics, and frescoes. Not to be missed: A Church that speaks eloquently from the silence of its elements and the beauty of its art, but more importantly it does speak from the Eucharistic Heart of Christ whose Blood is a reminder of his love for us. We can only hope that Our Lord will bring draw millions of hearts to his Eucharistic Heart.
In 2027, the Italian Conference of Bishops will host in Orvieto the National Eucharistic Congress, they could not have found a better place. Visit and enjoy this town who lives proudly around its Duomo and its miracle: htps://ww.orvietoviva.com/en/the-duomo-of-orvieto/
May the Lord bless you all,
Fr. Marcelo Javier Navarro Muñoz, IVE
Author: The Contribution of Cornelio Fabro to Fundamental Theology. Reason and Faith, Cambridge Scholars Publishing: htps://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-9315-2
Poesía Sacra, Quemar las Naves, and Desde Fossanova, IVE Press: htps://ivepress.org/
