"Thank you, Lord, for giving us Padre Domenico"
by Antonio Bini
all photos by Antonio Bini except as noted
With these heartfelt words, Padre Guglielmo Alimonti, a disciple of Padre Pio, concluded to applause the solemn Mass celebrated in Cese in memory of Padre Domenico, 120 years after his birth, taking up the message of St. John Paul II who in concluding his speech on the occasion of the canonization of Padre Pio, exclaimed: "Thank you Lord for giving us Padre Pio and for having given him to us in this generation." And there was certainly no lack of further parallels between Padre Pio and Padre Domenico, whose memory is always alive, seeming to reach ever younger generations, as these gatherings help us to discover
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| People waiting to enter the chapel where Padre Domenico is buried |
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| Sister Handmaids of the Most Holy Blood in front of the Chapel |
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A Devotee signs the visitor's book at the tomb of Padre Domenico
(photo by Francesca Esposito Bini) |
Before the celebration, many people spontaneously gathered in the small cemetery, at the gates of the town, to visit the tomb of Padre Domenico. The town, a hamlet of the municipality of Avezzano, has about 600 inhabitants. For the occasion, the town square and the side streets were taken over by cars from a number of parts of Italy.
The greetings of the city of Avezzano was expressed in the church by the Councilor Iride Cosimati, wearing the tricolor sash of her office, who recalled that she had always been impressed by the figure of Padre Domenico, whom she had known as a child, thanking the Capuchin fathers and those who came to Cese for his commemoration.
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| Padre Guglielmo meets Councillor Iride Cosimati. Behind her Sister Maria Matera |
The Mass was preceded by a meeting with several Capuchin Fathers gathered in Cese for the occasion, welcomed by Padre Lorenzo Macerola and Padre Frederick Alorbu.
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| Capuchins in front of the altar meet the devotees of Padre Pio |
Among the Capuchins, seated in front of the altar, Father Domenico was remembered by Padre Guglielmo Alimonti and Padre Luciano Antonelli, both very close to Padre Domenico. Their testimonies were important and profound. Padre Guglielmo Alimonti is a well-known figure among the devotees of the Saint of Pietrelcina, and in particular among the Prayer Groups (he founded over five hundred in Italy and other European countries). At the age of 95 he is still very active in carrying on the memory of Padre Pio and there are many priests who turn to him from various parts of the world. His speech was followed by that of Padre Luciano Antonelli. Both knew Padre Domenico since they were young students. The former, In the years following the death of Padre Pio, turned to him as a confessor, while the latter was his superior at the Shrine of Manoppello when Padre Domenico died on September 17, 1978.
“It is good for us to meet together as friends and devotees of Padre Domenico", thus Padre Guglielmo warmly addressed those present, highlighting: "We too are here as confreres of Padre Domenico, we are here as people called by Padre Domenico himself to breathe for a moment the fragrance of his simplicity, his poverty, his seraphic charity, a true son of St. Francis." With these words the meeting opened. We will combine his testimony together with that expressed during his homily, constituting, in fact, a single picture of the human and religious profile of the Capuchin, reporting some significant passages in the complete text and others summarized briefly.
"Telling the lives of the saints means creating a mirror of the very life of Christ," said Padre Guglielmo, continuing: "Father Domenico often told us - because we urged him - "But when you were a child didn't you end up under the rubble of the earthquake?". That was the first extraordinary sign that the Lord performed to save the life of this future chosen one of his, as servant, and as holy priest. And it was said that he and his father had really come out of the rubble alive by a miracle. It was therefore a first sign, a ray of light on the life of this young boy." The friar was alluding to the catastrophic earthquake that devastated Marsica on January 13, 1915, causing the death of over 30 thousand people.
"I confessed to him as often as I could," continues Padre Guglielmo. "I was in Pescara not far from the Holy Face. He waited for me, met me, smiled at me, listened to me, caressed me, smiled at me and gave me signs of his holiness and also of his charisms", and then Padre Domenico’s relationship with Padre Pio: "Padre Domenico had a special friendship with Padre Pio and I had been with Padre Pio for years. The confreres knew that Padre Domenico went as a military chaplain to San Giovanni Rotondo (in 1940). It is known that Padre Dominic went to see Padre Pio several times. There are a number of testimonies that Padre Domenico was seen following the coffin with the body of Padre Pio during the procession that was conducted throughout the town. And they also said to him: "Padre Domenico but weren't you there?" and he never answered explicitly, leaving it understood, as always happens when you want to "extract something" from the saints - and Padre Dominic was this way in his soul, in his heart, in his vocation, in his life – keeping his secrets. The saints prefer to leave them secret."
The friar was keen to point out that "the celebration we are holding today is not only a historical commemoration of the 120 years of Father Domenico, but it is a memory of graces, consolation, conversion", once again associating the memory of the friar with that of Padre Pio.
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| Padre Guglielmo giving the homily at the Mass |
And further"Father Domenico showed that he was a man of God, because he was attracted by God, by Christ he was truly enlightened, consoled, strengthened. In him there was this boundless charity. Padre Domenico for many years, a bit like Padre Pio, welcomed people who came wherever he was, people ran everywhere, so much so that the superiors, almost disturbed by this phenomenon, sent him to smaller, more remote convents, so people did not get there. And it did not happen this way. People go where there is a saint. This was his mission until the end". In fact, Padre Domenico underwent many transfers in the course of his religious life and we know that even in Manoppello, where the flow of devotees had become increasingly remarkable, there was though of yet another, last transfer, opposed by many of his admirers.
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from left: Padre Guglielmo, Padre Lorenzo Macerola, Padre Luciano Antonelli, Deacon Antonio Masci
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Finally, Padre Guglielmo did not fail to highlight as "the last stage" of his earthly life, Padre Domenico’s death that took place in Turin where he had gone for the exposition of the Shroud, which he does not refer to, defining the moment as "a luminous piece in the life of Father Domenico", who also there revealed himself to be a man of charity, consoling and encouraging the young man who had caused the accident. "He who acted as a guide to all the pilgrims who went to Manoppello, showing and explaining the face of Jesus, had said in confidence that he would not die in Manoppello, but would die after seeing the face of Jesus. We understood later the meaning of this statement".Padre Luciano Antonelli also spoke recalling how in September 1977 he was transferred from Chieti to Manoppello, the place where Father Domenico, died a year later, on September 17, 1978, after having been present there for some time
"It was a fabulous year," he says, "one of the best years of my religious life because, I don't know, maybe there was also our youthfulness, that we were young. At that time there were four of us in the convent, but it seemed as if we were a caravan on the way. There was an atmosphere of mutual and beautiful love. And I attribute this precisely to the presence of Padre Domenico. The convent was filled with him. With his presence, his power, his voice and his prayers he filled both the convent and the shrine. It was a beautiful year."
Padre Luciano also related his memory of an episode of exemplary obedience by Padre Domenico, whom he visited when he was a young student during a summer period spent in the convent of Campi, which for reasons of brevity we will leave out.
Padre Luciano recalled the flow of devotees who then came to the Holy Face, because of Padre Domenico: "they came from Puglia, from Ruvo di Puglia and Andria, together with Sister Amalia, from Pescara, from the parts of Ascoli. Buses came from Germany to stay sometimes for days, to go to confession, to meet, to talk with Father Domenico and I tell you that people returned home in a different way from how they had come, all full of joy, of a spirit of prayer". And again: "I must tell you that I saw the holiness of Father Domenico from him, always present very early in the morning, he who opened the church, he knelt there, in the choir. Together we prayed. But he was the first. Prayer was truly his central focus and that of all those who came to him. Padre Dominic was loved, Padre Dominic converted, because he prayed. He was ready to give, to give himself, ready to answer the phone, answer letters. We cannot fail to remember Brother Vincenzo D'Elpidio, who collected many letters from Father Domenico, some of which have been published." Brother Vincenzo tirelessly continued his work of collecting testimonies, but also of organizing meetings and maintaining relationships with many devotees, until his death on December 15, 2020.
Father Domenico's holiness, together with his relationship with the Holy Face and St. Padre Pio, constantly resurfaced in a recurring and profound way throughout the afternoon. An opportunity not only to remember the birth of the friar, but also to maintain his memory and therefore to continue to support the reasons that justify unblocking the process for his beatification and canonization, resuming its journey, inexplicably stopped ten years after the granting of the Nihil Obstat (nihil osta), expressed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on March 3, 2015.
But Father Domenico's holiness, recalled by his confreres, was already widespread and recognized during his lifetime by many of his devotees, who continue to remember and venerate him.
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Banner of the Association in Honor of the Holy Face of Manoppello
(photo by Francesca Esposito Bini) |
The organization of the event was an initiative of the "Association in Honor of the Holy Face of Manoppello", established in 2022 in Tagliacozzo, also in the name of Padre Domenico, whose image, together with that of the Holy Face, recurs in the banner made by the expert hands of Marie Antoinette Rubeo.
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Rita Tabacco converses with Sr. Maria Matera surrounded by Apulian devotees
of the Holy Face |
And it was precisely to the president of the Association, Rita Tabacco, that the provincial of the Capuchins of Central Italy, Padre Simone Calvarese, addressed his message of greeting given to those present, read by deacon Antonio Masci:
"I learn with joy of the happy event that you have decided to celebrate because of the 120th anniversary of the birth of Father Domenico da Cese. I hope in God and I pray that the celebratory moment that you will be called to live will be such as to awaken in those present, and not only them, that genuine yearning that impels consciences to seek the profound meaning of the truth. For us Christians, truth has a face and a name, Jesus Christ. Father Domenico da Cese, through devotion to the Holy Face of Manoppello, transmitted to the faithful the importance of seeing, in every needy human being, Christ who said: "Whatever you did to one of my smallest garments, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40). May God therefore also grant you. the gift of being able to love him only everything and love our neighbor as Christ loved us."
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| Padre Guglielmo talks with Sr. Maria Matera |
The event was animated by the Padre Pio Prayer Group of Pescara. Present were devotees of the Volto Santo Association of Ruvo di Puglia and the Volto Santo Association of Andria, together with Sister Maria Matera, disciple of the Holy Face and sister of Sister Amalia Di Rella, from Ruvo di Puglia, who was the spiritual daughter of Father Domenico. We recall that it was in the church of the Purgatory of Ruvo that the first enthronement of the Holy Face took place, in memory of Padre Domenico, in 1979, a few months after his death. The Handmaids of the Holy Blood, Polish nuns present in Manoppello since 2011, also participated in the event.
Finally, being in the Church of Santa Maria di Cese, I cannot help but remember how it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1915, where many people perished, including two little sisters of Padre Domenico who, on the other hand, was saved by a young man who pulled him out of the rubble, whose face he recognized many years later, arriving in Manoppello, where with surprise he recognized it as that of the Holy Face. A circumstance that he told some people close to him, as per the testimonies collected.
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Church of Santa Maria di Cese
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Well, in this church we notice some reproductions of the image in the vision of Sister Faustina Kowalska but not also that of the Holy Face, which we can find, instead, in distant places of the world. It is to be hoped that in the not too distant future, in this church, as in others in the world, there will be an image of him. It would be a significant way to remember Padre Domenico himself, who was a pioneer in the dissemination of the Holy Face, whose divine nature he had perceived.
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