Velletri greeted Our Lady of Fatima: a believer’s story of the final ceremony

Of Fabiana Catteruccia

Castles News was on the field, it is right to say, when the Pellegrina statue of the Our Lady of Fatima. And even on the afternoon of Monday 24 June we were present during his departure, with a certain uneasy sadness.

Yet one last, very participatory and moving ceremony of the Holy Mass dedicated to her, during which the Parish of San Giovanni Battista of Velletri was honored by the intervention of His Eminence Most Reverend Cardinal Angelo Comastri.

Personally, it was a great and strong emotion to be able to witness your recitation of the Holy Rosary live. It was like seeing, after some time, a dear brother, known on television during that sad, recent pandemic chapter, for his outpouring and diffusion of Marian prayers. A church packed with faithful, priests from the various parishes in the area, including His Excellency the Rev. Bishop Mons. Stefano Russo, from the Diocese of Velletri Segni and that of Frascati and, at an institutional level, the Mayor of Velletri, the lawyer . Ascanio Cascella.

His Eminence began the celebration of the Holy Mass with some phrases that tend to underline the importance of the figure of Saint John the Baptist, Patron of the Parish of the same name, whose solemnity is celebrated on 24 June.

“He rejoiced and rejoiced at the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb.” He invites us to follow his example in preparing the way for Jesus. He also urges us to purify our hearts before worthily celebrating these Holy Mysteries.

The entire assembly, with lively participation, carefully followed every single word of his homily. Some brief fragments of what he said about him being industrious, humble and spiritually elevated as well as profound, reminded us of how important faith is to live with meaning and to live with meaning. He quoted some phrases from famous people, such as the Swedish writer Stig Dagerman, who wrote this phrase on a note before committing suicide: “I lack faith and, therefore, I will never be able to be a happy man, because a happy man cannot have the fear that his life is just a senseless wandering towards a certain death“.

He himself commented: “Sand if you don’t have faith, you lack the key to understanding life.” Then he added: “Even Indro Montanelliin the absence of faith, he admitted that his heart was melancholy and confirmed that he should have understood the meaning of faith first and he understood it only towards the point of death”. From here very pertinently: “Without God there is no light and human history goes crazy and we can see it even today.”

A mention of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “Returning from receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, she passed by the Celio in Rome, in one of their houses (which was then a former chicken coop), during the press conference, a journalist asked her a question: Mother, on the threshold of 70 years, what has the world changed? Rest! And she calmly replied: “I have never claimed to change the world, Jesus will change it. I am a small drop, it doesn’t seem like much to you. And the little one is so strong and tenacious Nun continued: “A drop of goodness makes the world better”.

At the end of his speech, His Eminence appropriately mentioned Our Lady of Fatima and her messages, inviting us to avoid sin. In the farewell greeting for the departure of the Statue of the Madonna, Cardinal Comastri joined the emotion of the Community, reflecting that it will indeed leave a void, but we will always carry it with us and in the song dedicated to the Madonna, the procedure of accompanying the Statue outside the Church.

I bring this to the attention of the readers the Parish Priest of the Parish of San Giovanni Battista who hosted her for more than a month, the active and dear Don Andrea Pacchiarotti, who with a short prayer outside in the square, placed her in the appropriate case, among hymns of the faithful and a final farewell complete with fireworks. He welcomed her and he with a revered goodbye, accompanied her in the van that will take her on a return journey to the land blessed with her apparitions, Fatima in Portugal.

Fabiana Catteruccia