Italy 2025 1-2: Arrivals, Milan Duomo, Baptismal Font of St. Augustine
by Steve Ray on May 16, 2025
It’s the Jubilee Year of 2025 and we have a new Holy Father (who we will see in two weeks! Our group landed today in Milan Italy in the Melpensa Airport.
Our first stop was the cathedral Duomo in the heart of downtown Milan. This gorgeous cathedral took over 600 years to build. Its intricate spires look lacy and light, some reaching 365 feet!
Holds 40,000 people; with more statues than any church in the world — 3,400 with 134 gargoyles and stunning stained glass. Both inside and outside you stand with your mouth open in awe and no pictures can do this Church justice.
4th-century Baptistery beneath Milan’s Duomo
We had Mass here today in front of the church under the relic of a nail from Jesus’s crucixion. My favorite part is going to the grotto below to see the baptismal font where St Ambrose baptized St. Augustine in 387 (both Doctors of the Church)! Renewed our baptismal vows here.
Free time in the Square before we checked into our hotel, had a nice meal together with introductions and announcements and early to bed. Off to a good start!