Marines, priests and migrants together to clean the sanctuary. It is one of the initiatives that, in the month of May, animated the “house” of the Addolorata of the Passionist fathers in Mascalucia, a town on the slopes of Etna. «An unscheduled event, which we would never have expected and which saw the large participation of the marines from the American naval air base of Sigonella as well as that of a group of young migrants from the Integra community of Mascalucia», says the rector, Father Emanuele Zippo, 55 years old, superior of the religious house of the Passionists and exorcist priest.
An event, which we wanted to follow closely, capable of uniting what is the “DNA” of the same place of prayer, always open to civil society initiatives, with the Community Relations program of the US naval air station, which often sees US soldiers engaging in voluntary activities throughout Sicily at the weekend: from painting schools, to cleaning common areas, such as streets and squares, to gardening work as was the case with the sanctuarywhich boasts an outside amphitheater and a vast green lung, with centuries-old trees and among these what was the small home of the venerable Father Angelo Fontanarosa, the first superior of the Passionists on the island. In the name of Mary, marines, migrants, priests and lay people equipped themselves with gloves and rakes provided for the occasion by the Municipality of Mascalucia and began to pull out the weeds, restoring a part of the area outside the temple to its former glory, with non-stop work, from 9am to 1pm.
«It was a very intense moment of brotherhood, the relationship with nature increased the human one, we went into symbiosis under the gaze and protection of Mary, feeling embraced by Her», continues Father Emanuele.
The sanctuary of the Addolorata of the Passionist fathers in Mascalucia is a point of reference for thousands of faithful from all over Sicilywho deliver their prayers under the statue of the Virgin of Sorrows, the work of Marco Epicochi, a master of Lecce papier-mâché who created the simulacrum by studying the painting of Our Lady of Sorrows placed in the altar of the smaller chapel, the beating heart of the church. Painting that was brought here in 1939 by the venerable Lucia Mangano, mystic and religious of the Ursuline order, who from the institute of San Giovanni La Punta reached Mascalucia to be supported by her spiritual father, the venerable Father Generoso Fontanarosa, whose remains are kept inside the chapel of the Addolorata.
While the marines continue to remove weeds, inside the sanctuary life continues with its rhythms of prayer, so Father Emanuele alternates between directing the works, with the unusual workers, the prayers and the daily Confessions.
«Days like these», he explains, «make us reflect on Mary’s role in nature. She repairs original sin, she is the new Eve, the spiritual Mother in natural and supernatural life. It is the garden always in bloom, a fountain of gushing water, the spring wind and sun that caresses every flower and all creatures.” Every second Thursday of the month the sanctuary is filled with faithful from various locations to participate in charismatic adoration, with songs and prayers of liberation for a spiritual moment of reparation.
Every activity here leads back to a gaze of continuous devotion to the Virgin. «Many of the marines serving in Sigonella have a deep bond with Maria, especially those of them of Latin American origins. Many, today, were moved to see this oasis of peace and asked to be able to return for a second activity”, underlines Alberto Lunetta, head of external relations at the US base Nas Sigonella.
At the end of the work, they pose together for the group photo, once again with the Passionist fathers surrounded by the marines and representatives of the Integra cooperative. An Our Father and a Hail Mary are recited: «She leads us to rejoice in the little things, like on this beautiful spring day where we are all brothers looking precisely at Mary, the pure, the beautiful, the full of grace», says Father Emanuele. His book will be released soon Overcome Evil with Good, practical guide to discernment, protection and spiritual liberation (Lette Scomoste editions), a volume that addresses the theme of evil in contemporary times, giving readers the tools to recognize and defeat it: «Above all, the most powerful weapon is the Rosary, the sweet chain that binds the heart to Mary and with her to Christ. Because in the repeated Hail Marys, the soul immerses itself in the very rhythm of the Gospel, while the Virgin, Queen of victories, guides her children to victory over evil”, concludes the religious man.
