Roman Holiday

Work by German youth, and other news for the month of August – otes from the couple who are caretakers at Belmonte

...en camino a la audiencia con el Santo Padre ... leaving for the audience with the Holy Father … auf dem Weg zur Audienz mit dem Heiligen Vater
18 de agosto en Belmonte August 18 in Belmonte Bündnistag im August – da sind nur Ausländer da!
Jovenes de Alemania en su „Jornada de trabajo“ Young people from Germany at their “Work Week” Jugendliche aus Deutschland bei ihrer römischen Arbeitswoche Fotos: Nuño © 2007

ITALY/ROME, Francisco Nuño. August, our first month, in Rome has ended. We had often thought of our brothers, the Abram and the Musolino’s who in previous years offered the sacrifice of their ferragosto or Roman holiday by their constant presence near the Matri Ecclesiae Shrine in Rome. In spite of the sometimes-oppressive heat this year, with 40° Celsius and high humidity of these Roman summer days, our Belmonte Shrine has kept its doors open and has offered the few pilgrims who have visited a time of peace and rest. Our Mother, the Queen of Belmonte and Mother of the Church, has been waiting for her children who were searching for her.

Ferragosto, an Italian idiom, is a term with special meaning; as far as we know, it can’t be translated into other languages. In trying to find a way of better understanding this term, we have spoken with some of our Italian friends and read the dictionaries we have on hand. The word ferragosto originated like so many others in Latin and is derived from two Latin words, Feriae Augusti, meaning August rest. In ancient Rome after the cereal crops were harvested, there was a large celebration for the farmers and the draft animals. They were given a well-deserved rest: they were even adorned with many flowers. These celebrations were also in honor of the Emperor Augustus Caesar, and the main day of this celebration was August 15^th.

During those days only foreigners remain in Rome

My friends do not expect to find Christian religious elements in my narrative and in the Roman ferragosto. Today, ferrogosto is synonymous with Roman holiday, rest, and excursion, giorni di balneazione. Roman citizens usually aren’t in Rome or its surroundings during ferrogosto. During August, there are only foreigners and those who have to stay to take care of visitors. Our friend, an Italian professor and the mother of a very involved family in our parish, told me that her son-in-law didn’t know that August 15^th was the Feast of the Assumption until he met her daughter! Throughout the centuries, the Church has tried without success to reject this pagan feast. Finally, in 1950 after the declaration of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, August 15^th was declared as a Marian feast day of holy obligation. In spite all of this, the Romans kept the tradition with Emperor Augustus who conceded vacation and rest even to the mules, asses, and horses of his stables. Recalling celebrations from my Andalusian background of Marian love and enthusiasm, especially including the August 15^th Marian procession with the picture of the Blessed Mother on the Almuñecar beach, a province of Granada, I looked for something similar in Italy. What I found instead was ferragosto, which for those of us who stay in Rome is synonymous to emptiness, absence, a city abandoned by its citizens and also by the draft animal of our century: the automobile. Rome is great without autos and motorcycles! In all fairness I should also mention that our pastor, Don Federico, organized a celebration beginning at our Schoenstatt Shrine that included praying the holy rosary in the afternoon on the eve of the Feast of the Assumption. Attendance by the faithful was very limited.

A group of German youth invaded Belmonte

Just as in life itself, not everything is black or white; there is always some blending of colors. This was also the case of our Roman ferrogosto this year. A group of German youth joined in praying along with the members of Saint Gemma’s parish on the afternoon of August 14th. They came to offer the Mother of the Church the work that they had carried out in Casa dell’ Alleanza and its surroundings. For us, this was an example of what these Schoenstatt youth did out of their love for Mary and the Schoenstatt Movement.

There were different reasons for our joy and gratitude: these youth worked hard while experiencing the crushing heat of these Roman days, and their courage and youthfulness has been contagious. Two priests of the Schoenstatt Diocesan Institute accompanied them and stayed in the bedrooms at our Belmonte house with their sleeping bags. There were two young Schoenstatt couples in this group – the Burkarts and the Maas –who made the stay easier for their housemates to the joy of my Family Work brothers. These couples took care of the group. But there was more: for one of these couples the stay at Belmonte was the beginning of their honeymoon. The newlyweds wanted to spend their first days of marriage in Belmonte, along with the Mater Ecclesiae to offer her the joy of their youth and the effort of their hands. Since there was time for everything on August 8^th, they arose at dawn, he dressed in his suit and she in her wedding dress, they greeted our Mother in the Shrine, and they also went to greet our Holy Father, Benedict XVI, during the Wednesday audience. They are Michaela and Bernhard Maas.

Rimini

The German group left, and we continued to take care not only of our Shrine but also Casa dell’ Alleanza, empty and closed since the workers left to fulfill their ferragosto.

For the Fathers the last days of August were very intense, they moved into their new house in Trastévere – a typical and centrally located Roman neighborhood – next to the parish that has been entrusted to them by the Roman Diocese. Father Gerardo Cárcar is the pastor. The small community of Schoenstatt Fathers who live in Rome are happy for this gift from Divine Providence, which will undoubtedly contribute to making Schoenstatt known in Rome. We, along with Father Ludovico, who is in charge of the Movement in Italy at present, have spoken with them during these days. We shared the desire that the Matri Ecclesiae Shrine be a spiritual home for all the Italian Schoenstatt Movement.

In conclusion, many of those who left Rome during the middle of August went to Rimini, a city on the Adriatic Coast, where the well-known Meeting of Communion and Liberation is held and where more than 700,000 people attend! I promise to return to this subject.

Francisco and Anneliese Nuño, members of the Institute of Schoenstatt Families, since 2006 are working as custodians of the International Schoenstatt Shrine in Belmonte, Rome, which was dedicated in September 2004. Since then, families of the Institute have taken turn in the custody of the Shrine. Since this year, a Schoenstatt Sister, Sr. Fernanda Balan, from Brazil, is working there in the pastoral of the Shrine. In future, the International Schoenstatt Center in Rome will be a place where representatives of all the Institutes of the Schoenstatt Work will live and work.

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA /amj