On Pilgrimage with Sr Jeannine

My third pilgrimage with Sr Jeannine Gramick SL, this one bore the title of "Along Italian Roads, Ancient and New".

I met my fellow pilgrims (25 Americans) at Rome airport and from there we flew on to Palermo in Sicily. Met off the plane by our tour guide the irrepressible Elke Lehmann, we were straight onto a coach and the sight-seeing began! Our first destination was the Monreale Cathedral, just outside of Palermo. This was the creation of William II, the last Norman king of Sicily, in the late eleventh century. The Cathedral is notable for its splendid mosaics, including much gold. The designs include patterns and scenes from the old and new testaments, reflecting the fact that the work was carried out by workmen from the Islamic, Jewish, Catholic and Byzantine traditions. Outside the cathedral is the cloister of the old Benedictine Abbey remarkable for its surrounding of double columns, many topped by intricate sculptures of scenes from scripture and history.

We spent our first night in Palermo and I was able to pop over the road for a late drink to the Grande Hotel Palme, where Wagner stayed while writing significant parts of "Parsifal". Next morningwe set off driving through mountainous scenery with roads lined by citrous trees to the ancient city of Agrigento. Here we visited the Valley of the Temples, a series of remains or reconstructions of temples from the period when Sicily was occupied by the Greeks. Some of these temples were stunning. I was asked by Sr Jeannine to provide a 'spiritual moment' and so on the steps on the best preserved of all the temples the "Concordia" I sang the Kyrie eleison from the Mass Orbis Factor.

We then moved on to Siracusa, which was to be our home for two nights. We were booked into the Church of St Rita for a prayer service (no priest on this pilgrimage so no daily Mass, which was a big miss). The Church itself was disappointing, a large modern building where I had been hoping for some Sicilian baroque, but we were received very warmly by the Parish Priest. He produced an image of a Weeping Madonna, gave us each a pink rosary and then led us in singing Ave Maria.

The next day we went to the Archaeological park of Siracusa with its Greek remains, including an amphitheatre. We were also taken to the "Ear of Dionysus" a cleft cut into the rock which has produced a magical acoustic. I sang the opening of the solemn Salve Regina from one end and Sr Jeannine responded by singing the simple Salve from the other. We then moved on to the old town of Siracusa and held our prayer service in the Cathedral. This is based on an ancient temple whose columns are incorporated into the modern building. All very historical but still no sign of Sicilian baroque. Our prayer service was conducted amongst the loud babble of tour guides showing visitors around. In the afternoon I went to the actual shrine erected to Siracusa's Weeping Madonna. This is a large brutalist concrete structure - by now I was beginning to despair of ever finding any Sicilian baroque.

After a morning prayer service at St Rita's (no further appearance by the flamboyant priest) we set off for Mount Etna, Italy's tallest peak and the largest active volcano in Europe. The mountain was covered in snow, its top disappearing into the mist as we approached. We were able to drive up above the snowline and snow was actually falling as we left. We then moved on to the picturesque hill town of Taormina, which includes an impressive Greek theatre from the third century BC. I had said a few words on the coach about the composer Bellini who was born on Sicily and I took the opportunity to sit in this theatre looking out over the sea and listen to an aria from his opera "Il Pirata".

After dinner in Catania (Bellini's birthplace) we embarked on the overnight ferry to Naples.