A journey from my head to my heart

ROCCAMORICE - SAN BARTOLOMEO

One evening after dinner our cousin Gabriele and his family took my sister Irma, nephew Mark and me to the hermitage of St. Bartholomeo in Ligio.  

The cavern is located in the hills of the Maiella Mountains in the Abruzzo Region where our family lives. The hermitage is extremely old and dates back to before the 1200’s and the first hermits on Maiella and stands under a 50 meter long rocky ledge that is built directly into the face of the mountain and which can be reached by a sacred staircase, usually done on one’s knees.  This beautiful refuge is very remote, steep, and not easily accessible and is approximately 750 feet above sea level.     

The heights were dizzying, the fresh mountain air intoxicating with the sweetness of wild herbs and flowers and the myriad of vistas absolutely breathtaking.  

While standing on the ledge of the hermitage looking at the amazing work of the Lord’s hands I felt so very blessed and so very close to heaven that I thought I could almost touch the face of my Creator. 

Visiting the hermitage of St. Bartholomeo was one of the highlights of my trip and a moment of deep spiritual awakening.  When we returned home later that evening I remained sitting outside under the stars long after everyone had gone to bed writing in my traveling journal of that days experience and eventually writing a short poem that I titled “Maieletta” which in English translates to “Little Sweater”. 

I realized that our beautiful unexpected excursion to St.  Bartholomeo had brought healing and a deep sense of peace in my grief for my mother who passed away the previous November and whose pilgrimage to visit our family in Italy and the Shrine of her Patron Saint Gabrielle had brought us all together on this family trip.  

I have also come to realized that that unexpected visit to Roccamorice and the brief but powerful encounter with the Lord was a transforming moment in my life and the beginning of a deep and intimate relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  

And the blessings continued.  One morning before sunrise, Irma and I went with our cousin Gabrielle and his son and two of their truffle hunting dogs deep into the hills and woods high on top the mountain to hunt for truffles.  At daybreak we found ourselves in the middle of a clearing filled with butterflies, mountain peaks close in the distance.  Blessings and experiences that brought me closer still to my family and in particular to Jesus who I always knew in my head, but whom I was discovering in such an intimate and tangible way in my heart