PA – DOE –VA were Sal’s instructions as I persistently mispronounced the city and origin of the patron saint of lost things, St. Anthony. I was not the first English speaker to butcher the name of this place since all the English maps call it Padua, not Padova, anyway. We were here accidentally, having discovered after boarding our train from Florence to Venice (or Firenze to Venezia as the Italians would have you call it) that we left Florence a day too soon. Our conductor looked sympathetically, no sadly at us as we presented our tickets to him. I took my Italian designer glasses off and wiped my lenses to help focus on the problem. After a great deal of consternation and discussion the determining factor was a poor internet connection on his hand held computer. Had it been working he would have had to charge 500 Euro for our grievous error. Instead the copotreno told us that he would charge us only 100 Euro but we had to get off at the next stop which was Padova about 40 km from Venice. I put my black Ermenegildo Zegma glasses back on automatically.
My mother, Sal said, had always wanted to visit St. Anthony’s Tomb so it is fate and perhaps a little help from my mother that we are here.
At the train station we checked our Rick Steve’s guide to Italy and the local tourist office. Rebecca and Sal strode off to find a recommended hotel which turned out to be across the street and we got three rooms for 300 Euro. Next door was a McDonald’s and the boys decided to get something to eat there and pushed to go explore on their own. A bit rejected the three adults struck out on our own in search of St. Anthony’s tomb and the center of town. In just a short distance from the hotel It was apparent from all the banners that there was a lot going on around the celebration of 400 years since the invention of Galileo’s 8 power telescope while at the University of Padova. The University established in 1222 is one of the worlds oldest and its rich history includes the tenure of Nicolaus Copernicus the famous Polish Astronomer and Physician who first formulated the heliocentric theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun. It was however through Galileo’s telescope one could see visible evidence of Copernicus’ theory.
As was customary in new surrounds we bought a map and several scoops of Gelato; the former being necessary to know where we were going and the latter, well to eat as much Gelato throughout Italy as we possibly could. We were very impressed with the Padova samplings of melon, peach and limone. It was tough to beat our favorite Gelateria in Rome but this was very close. We had been cooped up in the train so walking was a relief. We slowly navigated our way through the Piazza Garibaldi where the Revolutionary War hero’s statue stood guard over an upscale shopping area of Italian designer stores like Gucci and Ferragamo. As we entered the “Ghetto” we passed through narrow streets and Hebrew lettered arches. Emerging on the other side past the University of Padova, we approached the Palozza della Ragione, an extraordinary structure reported to have the largest roof unsupported by columns in Europe. Below were numerous stands of locally grown fruits and vegetables displayed in striking variety and color. Thinking the boys were missing out we called their cell phones and there was no answer. Rebecca was concerned but the two dads were in the mood to let them learn a lesson in survival and independence. So we consulted our map and pressed on to find St. Anthony’s Tomb.
It is said that Galileo’s telescope could not have been discovered without the already 300 year old Italian industry of making lenses for eyeglasses. While it is unknown who the craftsman was that invented spectacles as we know it, it is first documented in the early 13th Century by an order of Dominican Monks who credit the invention in the 1290’s to a Pisa glassmaker. By the time Guttenberg invented the printing press in 1454, eyeglasses for reading were widely in use. Renaissance Italians could then buy a book and read it for the first time…ever. The lens that brought the written word into focus was the same instrument that allowed Galileo to look outward at the stars and begin to understand the Universe in clear and precise terms. Equally important, the Protestant movement was in full swing in the 16th century with the held belief that people could read the words of God themselves. Knowledge no longer belonged to the privileged few and the Church struggled to hold its authority.
Galileo, a Florentine, came to the University of Padova as Chair of the School of Mathematics in 1592 at the age of 28. Over the next 18 years in Padova he had a period of great discovery and growth culminating in 1609 in the invention of his high powered telescope. It was also during this time that he met and fathered 3 children with Marina Gamba. Because they were born out of wedlock, his two daughters in Galileo’s eyes were unfit for marriage and both later entered convents. Paradoxically Galileo thought of himself as a religious man and yet his own standard of judgment appeared not as high as the one he held for his children. Ironically his daughter, a nun, Sister Maria Celeste was to be his greatest ally in his effort to save his tortured soul for the after life and take care of the ailing Galileo while imprisoned and later under house arrest for Heresy.
In great contrast to the brilliance of Renaissance thought a war raged among religious institutions both new and old. Inquisition and repression were the reins on new ideas and Galileo was swept up in the net. What was so clear to Galileo through his telescopic lens of how the moons of Jupiter revolved around the planet was not so clear to a Church that above all demanded faith in the gospel as taught by a holy order. New ideas and discoveries were ok as long as they fit within the framework of the Church teachings and doctrine.
So when the Pope Urban VIII engaged Galileo in a series of conversations and requested Galileo to write a book of the scientist’s life work it was mostly a test of his faith not his physics. Galileo misjudged the moment entirely and wrote about what he saw through his lens and how that supported the Copernican theory that the Sun not the Earth was the center of the Universe. The idea was certainly not new. But the instrument he used was. It was one thing to think it but quite another to prove it real. The Pope must certainly have asked the question: what else will he or others see with that thing? Within the year the elderly Galileo was tried for Heresy in front of a Vatican Inquisition. He was found “vehemently suspect of heresy” and Galileo was forced to renounce his belief in Copernican theories of the Universe imprisoned and excommunicated from the Church.
We emerged upon an enormous piazza with tents set up for a flea market. Browsing the merchandize we thought again about the boys and tried to call. No answer. We were now several hours into our journey and had no idea how long it would take to return. Rebecca again voiced her concern for the boy’s whereabouts while Sal and I thought it was their intent not to be found. We saw a great Basilica in the distance and hiked through the expansive Prato della Ville with its 78 statues of famous Padovans. It was at this Basilica we thought we would find St. Anthony’s Tomb and then we would return.
Inside through great Iron doors a mass was underway and Sal attended while Rebecca and I searched everywhere for some sign of St. Anthony without luck. Upon leaving, our aching backs, sore feet and empty stomachs prompted us to call once again. This time Nick answered the phone. We thought you guys were coming back to the hotel to get us so we were waiting around for you. Well why didn’t you answer your phone? Because the battery was dead and I was charging it. Why didn’t anyone else answer their phone? Because their phones are not working. Ok. So why don’t you guys start walking toward the city center and we will meet you there. Ok. And we hung up.
It was in 1737, 95 years after Galileo’s death that the Church allowed his body to be entombed in the honored space of the church of Santa Croce in Florence. A curious matter however took place during the move. Several scholars in attendance most notably Anton Francesco Gori managed to secretly cut off the index and middle finger and thumb of Galileo’s hand and remove a vertebra and tooth. The middle finger has been on display in Florence many say as a defiant gesture to the Vatican and the vertebra has been on display at the University of Padova. The index finger, thumb and tooth have only recently been found after many years of disappearance. It was common in the day that body parts were frequently removed from the remains of saints with the appendages considered good luck. More than just a prank the scholars most certainly performed this desecration in a mock homage of sainthood for the genius that lived in defamation for so long. One grave robber conceited that it was almost beyond his control not to take the skull of Galileo in honor of his great mind. The Vatican moves very slowly in admitting mistakes and centuries later in 1992 Pope John Paul finally exonerated Galileo of any lack of faith and posthumously reinstated him into the Church.
Looking a bit disappointed, Sal studied his map while we drudged on toward the city center where we hoped to meet the boys. On turning a corner we were greeted with another great cathedral. This no doubt was the resting place of the Saint of things lost. People have been known to have visions and powerful life altering experiences from visiting St. Anthony’s Tomb and as Sal emerged he was visibly drained perhaps by the experience but more than likely from the long day. I read a description of a great miracle performed on this spot by St. Anthony. In a fit of anger a young man had kicked his own mother. Repentant he confessed his sin to St. Anthony who replied “The foot of him who kicks his mother deserves to be cut off” to which the young man did. St. Anthony in a miracle of faith purported to have rejoined the young man’ severed foot.
The boys had wandered the city for some time now and were more than agitated from hunger and their parent’s cruel abandonment. Amid a fury of cell phone calls our lost children were rejoined to us not long after. St. Anthony had done his work. As my mother smiles down upon us, Sal said. Instinctively I removed my glasses and gave them a good wiping. Perhaps it was a tear or a bead of sweat down my face. Night was falling and I could see the faint flicker of Mercury rising. With Galileo forgiven and all his body parts returned the world was good and whole again. What the boys really did and where they were that day remains a mystery however days later when asked about favorite moments in Italy all three boys recanted their day of adventure and freedom alone in Padova as one of the highlights.
