Welcome to the Padre Pio Foundation's
pilgrimage to Italy for the Beatification of Padre Pio!
During our pilgrimage, we kept a journal
and would like to share with you our travels and experiences. You can click on
the underlined text to see pictures of the places we visited. Some may take
longer than others to download but we hope you enjoy our trip.
If you are interested in going on a
pilgrimage, we are sponsoring another one in September, 2001. If you would like more information, just let us us know.
We all arrived on April 30th
at the Leonardo DaVinci Airport at 10:00 am, Rome time (six hours difference).
After luggage problems were resolved, and all 50 pilgrims were on our bus we
came to our hotel, left off our luggage and went immediately to Santa Maria
Maggiore where Fr. Joachim and Fr. Michael celebrated mass. After Mass, we all
came back to our hotel and got some much needed rest!
At 7:00 pm we all gathered
together and had dinner. After dinner, just about everyone went out in groups
and walked around the area, visiting some of the local sites.
Saturday, May 01, 1999
The Feast of St. Joseph the
Worker and Labor Day all over Europe.
We started the day by
celebrating Mass at the tomb of St. Paul in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside
The Walls. After Mass we visited the cloister of this beautiful fourth century
Basilica. After our visit we made our way through Rome where they were
celebrating labor day and you could also feel the excitement and anticipation
of tomorrow's Beatfication Ceremony for Padre Pio! There were concerts
throughout the city, the major one was held at St. John Lateran, the seat of
the Bishop of Rome-Pope John Paul II. The concert lasted for six hours and
closed off most of the center of the city making it impossible for the pilgrims
to visit St. John Lateran and the Holy Stairs.
As we made our way to the
Vatican, on every street corner we could see the posters of Padre Pio.
Upon our arrival at St.
Peter's Square, we were all so thrilled and our excitement began to build when
we saw the preparations for tomorrow's Beatification. The chairs were all set
up and flowers lined the square. We were all so thrilled to know that we will
be participating in this glorious occasion!
St. Peter's Basilica had
more pilgrims than usual and we saw the Pieta, St. Peter's chair and the
wonderful ceiling to floor mosaics.
After lunch we visited
ancient Rome. We stopped at the Coliseum, the Constantine Arch, the Forum and
Circus Maximus. We kept in mind all those early Christians who lost their lives
in these places.
At dinner this evening we
celebrated the Italian tradition of eating fava beans on the Feast of St.
Joseph.
We will let you know all
about the beatification tomorrow!
May 2, 1999
The Beatification of Padre
Pio
Today was wonderful. We met
for breakfast at 6:30 am and everyone was so excited. We got on our bus and
left the for the Beatification Ceremony at 7:30 am. Buses were not allowed in
or near St. Peter's Square so we were left off on a side street and we walked
to St. Peter's Square. We were not the only ones walking! It seemed like a
parade. People with signs, scarves, hats, flags and banners filled the streets.
Everyone was so happy! Upon entering St. Peter's Square, we were overwhelmed by the amount of people throughout the square. We felt so honored to be there on
such a special day.
At 9:30 am, the ceremony
began and Pope John Paul II made his way to the altar. His Beatification
Proclamation was lovely. If you would like to read the English translation,
click here for the Beatification Proclamation. There were television screens set
up in the square and at St. John Lateran Basilica so that everyone could get a
close up view of what was happening on the altar with Pope John Paul II. There
was an ocean of people which stretched from the altar of St. Peter's to the
Tiber River.
One of the families on our
trip is the Forgione family, cousins of Padre Pio. They were interviewed by CNN
at St. Peter's Square. Emotions were high and many people were moved to tears.
Another member of our tour was very good friends with Padre Pio and Mary Pyle.
As an American soldier, he attended Padre Pio's Masses and spent many Sunday
afternoons with Padre Pio's Father, talking about Queens, New York where he was
from and where Padre Pio's father worked when he lived in the United States (he
was in the US working to support his son in his studies). He became a life long
friend of Mary Pyle, corresponding with her on a monthly basis up until she
died.
After the ceremony we all
returned to the hotel and some people slept and others took advantage of being
in Rome and doing some more sightseeing on their own for their last day here.
So tomorrow we are off to
Assisi. We will check in once again from the road!
May 3, 1999
We were off to Assisi this
morning. Our guide let us sleep in--or at least we thought she did--7:30 am
wake up call! We had breakfast together and we left for Assisi at about 9:00 am
via the Autostrata passing the Sabine Mountains, the Appenine Mountains and
through the beautiful Umbrian countryside. It was a beautiful ride,
approximately 3 hours. Our guide provided a lot of information about the
history of these areas as well as stories about St. Francis and St.Anthony --
with a little help from her friend, Fr. Joachim.
We arrived in Assisi in
time for lunch. After lunch we walked up the very steep hill to St. Francis
Basilica where we attended Mass at the Cappella Santa Caterina (the Chapel of
St. Catherine). Fr. Joachim and Fr. Mike
concelebrated.
Following Mass, we attended a briefing on the Basilicas in the area. Brother Daniel explained that the frescoes in St. Francis Basilica were
destroyed by the earthquake in September of 1997 and explained how they are
restoring them. The three major basilicas in Assisi were also destroyed and
they are rebuilding everything with seismic construction. They anticipate that
they will reopen the upper Basilica of St. Francis by September, 1999, St. Clare's Basilica will not be finished for at least a year and a half and
Santa Maria Degli Angeli will reopen in time for the year 2000. Even dressed in
scaffolding the beauty of Assisi and the Umbrian hillside come through. We rode
the escalators to the very top of Assisi where we
found beautiful pink stone houses with terra cotta roofs lining the cobblestone
streets. Lovely, little piazzas invited many of us to sit and have a cappuccino or a
gelati and enjoy the scenery. St. Francis' city is truly a city of peace and
tranquility.
After a long day of walking
the hilly streets of Assisi we were brought to our hotel. Upon arrival at the hotel,
the staff at the Panda Hotel informed us that they had seen The Padre
Pio/Little Flower Tours group on Italian TV on Saturday May 1. The celebrities
had arrived.
Tomorrow we have an early
start. We will be on our way to Loreto and Lanciano. Talk to you then!
May 4, 1999
8 AM and we're on our way.
Leaving the Umbrian countryside we cross the Appenine Mountains heading for the
Adriatic coast. Along the way we pass little villages and towns one of which
was made famous by St. Nicholas of Tolentino.
Nicholas was born in Ancona
which is a short distance from Loreto. In 1263, at the age of 18, Nicholas
joined the Austin Friars. He was ordained seven years later and became famous
as a healer and wonder-worker. In 1274 a heavenly voice directed Nicholas to go
to Tolentino and shortly afterwards he was sent there.
For the next 30 years,
Nicholas tended Tolentino's destitute, ministered to criminals and mediated in
quarrels and estrangements. Many miracles were attributed to him. He is said to
have healed the sick by giving them pieces of "St. Nicholas Bread"
over which he had invoked the Virgin Mary's blessing. One of his particular
devotions was to mothers and their newborn babies, hence his role as their
patron.
According to legend, in the
months before his death Nicholas was soothed by Angelic choirs who assured him
of his salvation. He died on September 10, 1305. He was canonized in 1446.
Passing Tolentino we have
reached the Adriatic coast and shortly we arrive at Loreto. As we approach the
hill of Loreto we can see the beautiful Basilica of Our Lady which houses the Holy House of
Nazareth. Pope John XXIII correctly called it "a window that opened onto
the world at the end of the 13th Century." In the evening you
can see the magnificently lit Basilica from land and from sea. Tradition has it
that on the evening of December 9 -10, 1294 Angels carried the Holy House to
the western shores of the Adriatic Sea. The house, which was the place where
the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she was to be the mother of
Jesus, first stopped on the eastern coast of the Adriatic (the Dalmation Coast
of Yugoslavia) in the year 1291 and then was transported to a marsh near the
eastern coast of the Adriatic. Since the land was not considered suitable, the
house was transported to the nearby hill of Loreto, which was on the main road
connecting Recanti to the Adriatic Sea. In the 15th century the
people were concerned that the Turks might attach the town in order to claim
the Holy House so they built a wall around the city and built watch towers. The
Basilica lies within this Fortress.
We had the good fortune of
having Mass in Our Lady's house which is under the dome of the
Basilica. The house is surrounded by marble reliefs which depict the life of
Mary. The most important being the Annunciation. St. Therese made a pilgrimage
here in 1887 and she described the house as "a pearl in a jewel case."
The tiny brick house can hold about 60 people and we filled it from wall to
wall. Our Mass was very special. You could feel the presence of Our Lady in
this lovely chapel. When Mass ended, some remained unable to leave this holy
place. Some visited the small town, did a little shopping and had
lunch.
After lunch we boarded our
motor coach for the drive to Lanciano. As we drove along the Adriatic coast we
couldn't help but think about our soldiers who were across the sea defending
freedom. Two of our pilgrims were especially preoccupied with the Adriatic
because their son is stationed on the Roosevelt which is patrolling in the
Adriatic Sea.
Upon arrival in Lanciano we
went directly to the Church of the Eucharistic Miracle. The Friars were waiting by the door to tell us that
the Church is under renovation and that the Eucharistic Miracle could be found
at the Church of St. Lucy. Again, fortune has shined upon us. In Its' regular
house you must climb a long staircase to witness the miracle and then you must
quickly leave. At the Church of St. Lucy we were able to kneel and pray for a
long time. What a blessing.
The miracle of the Eucharist
came about in 1180 when a Basilian Monk, while celebrating Mass, doubted the
presence of Jesus in the consecrated host. In the presence of the community the
host began to bleed and took the form of flesh. Recently, a medical team
examined the host and found that in contained flesh which is found around the
heart and blood which was type AB.
After this wonderful day of
miracles of Our Lord and Our Lady, we retired to our hotel for a wonderful
dinner and a good nights rest before arrival at Padre Pio's city - San Giovanni
Rotondo.
May 5, 1999
This morning we left
for San Giovanni Rotondo, in the rain and arrived at 11:30 am. Although the
sunshine appeared for a portion of our drive, by the time we arrived at San
Giovanni Rotondo the rain was coming down. Some of us had umbrellas, some had
raincoats and others had plastic bags to cover their heads.
During our ride to San
Giovanni Rotondo, we were privileged to have one of our pilgrims talk about
Padre Pio and Mary Pyle. He was very good friends with both of them. He sat in
the front of the bus and told us stories and answered many questions. He also
provided pictures and letters he received from Mary Pyle that were truly
inspirational. Just to hold them and read them and to know that he was in constant
contact with them was a very special honor for all of us.
Once we got there, we all
tried to escape the rain but not until we looked at the enormous picture of Padre Pio that was hanging on the wall of the church; this was the
picture that was unveiled during the beatification. It was surrounded by fresh
flowers on all sides and it made up the frame. We also saw Padre Pio's
hospital, Casa Sollievo Della Sofferenza, right there in the square as well.
Once we took a good look at that we headed for a restaurant for lunch. We can
attest that we were not the only ones in San Giovanni Rotondo that day! There
were people everywhere, from everywhere. After lunch we visited the Basilica of
Our Lady of Grace that houses Padre Pio's cell and tomb. In the Basilica, a
mosaic of angels adorns the altar. There are different pictures of Padre Pio on each column in the church as you go toward the
altar. There is a statue of Padre Pio to the side of the main altar and it is
holding Padre Pio's rosary beads and many people brought their rosary beads
with them to touch them to his. You can also see his robe in a glass case next
to the statue.
His tomb is downstairs and is surrounded by a
beautiful rought iron gate. Inside the gate you can see beautiful bouquets of flowers, offerings
and pieces of paper with intentions that people have brought to Padre Pio. Many
people stood and knelt around the tomb.
The altar was right across from his tomb. There were two other groups
besides us and all the priests concelebrated, 6 priests in
all. Fr. Greschel,
from EWTN, was the main celebrant and gave a wonderful talk about Padre Pio
prior to the Mass as well as in his homily. The other groups were from
Australia and New York.
After Mass, many people
visited Padre Pio's cell where they were able to see his bed, his slippers, his
chair and the pictures he had since the room has been left pretty well in tact
since his death.
We left at about 5 pm and
arrived at our hotel in Foggia at about 6:00 pm. We all had dinner together at
7:30 pm and after dinner many of us sat together
and visited.
Tomorrow morning we are on
our way to St. Michael's Cave (Mt. Saint Angelo).
May 6, 1999
7:30 am wake up, breakfast
and then we were off to St. Michael's cave. The road to the cave was one of the
windiest roads most of us have ever been on. As we made our way up the
mountainside, we were overlooking the picturesque Gargano countyside and
Adriatic Sea.
Once we arrived to the top
(and I mean top!!!!) we walked to St. Michael's Cave. Fr. Joachim and Fr. Mike
concelebrated Mass and Fr. Mike expressed to all in the cave his elation at
having the opportunity to celebrate Mass at St. Michael's Cave -- his patron Saint. The Cave was
lovely and when we walked into it, we could really feel that we were in a very
holy place. Some people sat in the pews during Mass and others sat on the rocks
in the cave. It was amazing. St. Michael said that this Basilica (cave) had
been consecrated by his presence, therefore there was no need for the bishop to
consecrate it.
Attached to the cave were
many other altars that had been added on over the years. It was really a
spectacular place to visit.
We left the cave and
visited the village. Many of us ate lunch on one of the
side roads. We did
some shopping and then met back at the bus to go back to San Giovanni Rotondo
for the rest of the day.
We got back to San Giovanni and we
were off on our own.
Some visited Mary Pyle's house although it was not open. Some visited the site of the new church they are
building which is already under construction. Basically, the time was ours to do what we wanted
while we were there. At about 3:00 pm, Fr. Alessio Parente visited with us and
blessed us with Padre Pio's glove. What a feeling that was! He met with members
of the Forgione family who were with us on our trip and also with the gentleman
who was friends with Padre Pio and Mary Pyle for so many years.
We all met back at the bus
stop to be taken back to our bus at about 4:30 pm and then we went back to our
hotel for the evening. We had dinner and many of us walked around the town.
Tomorrow we are on our way
to Pietrelcina and then to our final destination, Sorrento.
May 7, 1999
We received our wake up
calls at 7:00 am and we headed out for Pietrelcina at 9:00 am. At the hotel we
met the owner's daughter, Valentina, who obviously ran the show around there.
She and her young daughter joined us on our trip there.
Pietrelcina was a very quaint little village. We had to walk down narrow roads to reach Padre Pio's
home. You can't walk all the way into his home but you can look around completely. We also saw where he was born, and baptized at Santa Anna Church. This is the church that the Padre
Pio Foundation, through its benefactors, restored after the earthquake in 1980.
The church balcony overlooks the beautiful countryside
where Padre Pio grew up and lived. We also visited Padre Pio's room that was at the top of staircase cut out of stone.
After visiting this quaint little village, we walked back to the main section
of town and had Mass at Santa Maria degli Angeli (Our Lady of Angels) that the
Padre Pio Foundation also helped to restore after the earthquake. We
commissioned, once again through the generous support of our benefactors, the
magnificent mural of angels that adorns the sides of the altar. Fr. Joachim and
Fr. Mike concelebrated.
After Mass we continued our
visit of the village and met at 2:00 pm so that we could leave for Sorrento.
While waiting for everyone to arrive, Fr. Joachim (a Franciscan priest and
Spiritual Director) was petting a dog and realized that it had ticks all over
it. He knelt down by the dog and began removing the ticks from the dog. It was
a neat sight considering the implications of St. Francis of Assisi. I thought
out loud of course, St. Francis of North Dakota (that is where Fr. Joachim is
from). It was such a humane thing to do and so natural for him.
We left for Sorrento at
about 3:00 pm and we dropped Valentina and her daughter off at the train
station. She hadn't know us very long, but she sure cried when she said goodbye
to us. We arrived in Sorrento, due to traffic at about 6:30 pm. We met for
dinner in a very elegant dining room. After dinner, people visited on the
terrace and walked into the very busy town of Sorrento.
May 8, 1999
This is our last day! The
time went by so fast and we all made so many new friends. Today we had the
option of staying in Sorrento or going on an optional trip to Pompeii and
Capri. We visited the ruins of Pompeii after attending Mass at Our Lady of
the Rosary - Pompeii. Our tour guide, Rafael, showed us around and gave us the
history behind the ruins. At about 12:30 pm, we met back at the bus to be taken
to a shuttle bus to go to Capri.
That evening, we all met
again for our last dinner together in an outside dining area in a
lemon grove with lemon trees everywhere. The smell was wonderful and the
waiters allowed us to pick some lemons. We all had a wonderful dinner and some
people went back to their rooms to pack and others went out, back to town for
their last night.
We got up very early to catch our plane in Naples. We then flew into Rome where we realized that
our plane was delayed 4 hours. We all piled our belonging up and someone stayed
behind to watch everything. We had lunch, did some shopping in the airport and
patiently waited for the plane to start boarding. Once we were all aboard, we
took off and headed for home. While in the air, people visited with each other
for the last time.
The trip was wonderful and
fulfilling for us. We made so many new friends and we were, at least on this
trip, brought together by Padre Pio. We had a tour director, whose knowledge of
Christian Italy is what allowed us to attend Mass in some of the most amazing
and historic places in all of Christianity. So our thanks go out to Susan De
Bartoli of Little Flower Pilgrimages. If
you are interested in a pilgrimage to Italy, we will be sponsoring another one
in September 2001 with Susan. For details on this trip, please
leave us a message.
We should also mention our wonderful guide for the 11 days, Ana. Her knowledge
of Italy and the history of Italy put many of the places we visited into
perspective for us. She also served as a translator for us and made sure that
we were where we needed to be. And last but not least, our bus driver, Paolo.
His safe driving and willingness to help us in loading and unloading our
luggage, and making sure that our belongings were safe, gave us all a sense of
security. In the end, most of us felt like he was part of the pilgrimage.
So thank you very much
Susan, Ana and Paolo!
God bless and thanks for
visiting!