Good Friday, Easter Pilgrimage in Italy: We wake to the most solemn day in the Church year. You may choose to fast or enjoy the breakfast spread in Palazzo Seneca’s garden room, filled with the morning light. Fresh fruits, cheeses, eggs cooked to order and a variety of breads—all local and prepared to order.
St. Rita of Cascia received the stigmata on Good Friday. This morning we travel 20 minutes from Norcia to pray at a shrine at her birthplace in
Roccaporena. She is the “Patroness of the Impossible.” We pray the
Stations of the Cross
as we climb the
Rock of St. Rita,
believed to be the place where St. Rita often prayed.
, which houses her incorrupt body. In the lower Basilica we also venerate the
Eucharistic Miracle
preserved since 1330.
We return to Norcia for a bowl of soup before preparing to
participate in Good Friday liturgy with the Benedictine monks.
The monks chant the liturgy in Latin. It is a solemn moment,
truly an extraordinary experience—but in an ordinary way, for
this is how the monks worship every day. You are able to follow along, with provided Latin-
English missals at hand. Back inside the city w
e share an evening meal before the warm
glow of the wood-burning grill, a respite to reflect upon
the day.
Passion Procession, Norcia, Easter Pilgrimage in Italy
At 9:00 p.m. we make a short walk to one of the piazzas. We take our places alongside many local residents, visitors from Italy and beyond, other pilgrims, religious, and clergy. Tonight we witness a living recreation of the Passion. The sacred drama begins with a priestly blessing. It feels as if Jerusalem has been transported to Norcia, and it’s extraordinary. We experience the events of the Passion. We walk outside the walls of the city, stopping at each Station depicted, finding ourselves stepping back in time to that Night of Nights, two millennia ago. From His arrest and appearance before Pontius Pilate, to meeting His sorrowful Mother, to encountering the weeping women of Jerusalem, and culminating at the hill of the Cross, we pilgrims witness the Passion of Christ as few Christians can.
Though only an hour and a half in duration, this moving experience is the memory of a lifetime.
