[TI] Ken and Fr Anthony - My Visit with Fr. Anthony

Sun Feb 24 10:42:09 CST 2008

Jerry,

Glad you enjoyed it. Would love to meet you some day.
Maybe I'll see you in Cleveland or perhaps you could
join Ann Riggio and I the next time we meet at a
King's restaurant in Pittsburgh!

Ken
--- Gerald Serrino <gserrino at verizon.net> wrote:

> Ken,
> I so enjoyed your account.
> 
> Jerry
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ken Geraci" <ken_geraci at yahoo.com>
> To: <terminiimerese at comunesofitaly.org>
> Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 5:54 PM
> Subject: Re: [TI] Ken and Fr Anthony - My Visit with
> Fr. Anthony
> 
> 
> Dear Termini Cousins,
> 
> By a stroke of good luck, they assigned me a load of
> freight last week going from Brownsville, Texas to
> Atlanta, GA and then another load going back to
> Texas
> and so I am back here in Austin today where I am
> typing this letter (I will be delivering in El Paso,
> TX on Monday).
> 
> As Fr. Anthony wrote, I was in Atlanta this past
> Wednesday night through Thursday morning. I had
> tried
> to reach Fr. Anthony on Wednesday night but got the
> abbey's electronic switchboard and didn't know Fr.
> Anthony's phone extension (I chuckled to myself at
> the
> thought of modern voice mail meeting the lifestyle
> that St. Benedict mapped out over 1,500 years ago!).
> 
> The message system did however mention Mass times
> and
> I decided I would attend the 7:00 am Mass in hopes
> of
> being able to say hello to Fr. Anthony. I also
> called
> my cousin, Ann Riggio, who forwarded my message to
> the
> list in case Fr. Anthony was reading it that I might
> be in the area.
> 
> Knowing I would be attending Mass, I had another
> problem. I needed a shower but the main truck stop
> company that provides showers for our company's
> employees was the Pilot Truck Stop at exit 51 on
> loop
> 285 in southeast Atlanta. Unfortunately, located in
> an
> area of urban blight, this particular Pilot
> truckstop
> has the unfortunate reputation for being the most
> dangerous truckstop in the entire United States as
> several drivers have been shot and robbed there not
> to
> mention a host of other notorious vices that I won't
> mention that also unfortunately abound at this
> location. Our company recently told us not to go
> there
> or to do so at our own peril.
> 
> Instead, I left Atlanta that night and found a small
> truck stop located near Conyers (Ellenwood,GA) to
> sleep at that did not have showers but did have a
> quiet men's room with a sink and so I washed my hair
> and got a sponge bath at this location! Getting
> ready
> in this way, I set out before dawn from I-675 over
> Panola Rd taking what I thought was a shortcut to
> Hwy
> 212 South where the monastery was located. It soon
> became apparent that I shouldn't have taken this
> pre-dawn "shortcut" through Georgia's winding rural
> roads which were mixed with new development and long
> stop lights. I looked at my truck's clock with some
> despair as it showed I was ever closer to Mass time
> at
> 7:00 am. The sun was just barely coming up and I
> strained in the semi-darkness to see any monastery
> on
> Hwy 212. It was now 7:05 am and I still hadn't found
> the monastery but I saw a large evangelical church
> with some people in the parking lot. The sun was
> beginning to come out as I pulled in and they looked
> at me a little oddly when I asked for directions to
> a
> Catholic monastery but they told me I still had
> another 4 miles down Hwy 212.
> 
> The Georgia sunrise was finally coming into its full
> splendor as I saw the small sign on the right side
> of
> the road that read: "Monastery of the Holy Spirit"
> with an arrow pointing to the left. With great
> relief
> I came around a slight bend in the road and was
> mesmerized as I saw the beautiful abbey site
> shrouded
> in morning mist with the new sunlight gently
> filtering
> through an arching canopy of orchard trees that
> lined
> the pathway to the abbey. Fr. Anthony had previously
> told me that it was OK to bring a tractor truck on
> the
> property although it felt somewhat surreal as I left
> the highway and drove the Freightliner through the
> arching trees with the top of my truck almost
> touching
> the lower branches.
> 
> I parked and got out and with rapid strides I made
> my
> way into the abbey church hoping I hadn't missed too
> much of the Mass. I entered an impressive sanctuary
> that was both long and spacious with beautiful
> stained
> glass windows of various geometric shapes. The
> sanctuary had a high vaulted ceiling. The church's
> stone architecture was simple and solid with an air
> of
> permanence and yet it avoided any taint of
> ostentatiousness. The heavy stone interior gave the
> church the deep echoing accoustic properties that
> made
> it ideal for chants.
> 
> There appeared to be about 15 to 20 monks sitting up
> close to the altar. They were dressed in their white
> habits with black scapulars (similar to aprons) and
> most of them were quite lean, even gaunt, reflecting
> their dedicated ascetic lifestyle. I had seen many
> pictures of Fr. Anthony over the years but because I
> had walked in late I stayed in the back and couldn't
> quite recognize which monk might be Fr. Anthony from
> the long cavernous distance of the sanctuary.
> 
> I had unfortunately missed the readings and even the
> Gospel but I came in time for the Homily and the
> Eucharist although I did not think I was eligible to
> receive it since I was late for Mass. So I went to
> the
> Communion line just for a blessing and an older,
> slightly olive-complected monk with a kindly face
> gave
> me a blessing as I approached with my arms crossed.
> Was this Fr. Anthony, I wondered?
> 
> After Mass was over the monks began filing out and I
> hesitantly walked up to the area they had been
> sitting
> in and managed to get the attention of one of the
> last
> monks who was then leaving. I was a bit worried that
> I
> was doing something improper as I know that some of
> them are not supposed to talk at certain times. I
> inquired of him whether it would be possible to meet
> with Fr. Anthony DeLisi.
> 
> "Let me see if I can catch him" was the reply and
> the
> monk hurriedly disappeared off down a long hall. A
> few
> minutes later he reappeared along with the same monk
> who had given me the blessing! We greeted each other
> warmly and I apologized for being late to Mass
> explaining that this was why I hadn't taken
> Communion.
> Fr. Anthony informed me that this rule only applied
> for Sundays and offered to administer Communion to
> me
> which I gladly accepted, especially coming from his
> hands.
> 
> As many of you have undoubtedly found, Fr. Anthony
> is
> a very kindly and wonderful man who immediately made
> me feel very much at ease with his gentleness and
> hospitality. He inquired whether I had had breakfast
> and led me into the retreat center cafeteria where
> they still had some coffee, juice, hard-boiled eggs
> and various coffee cakes.
> 
> We sat and talked for a little bit as I ate and I
> asked him questions about the monastery and it's
> origins and Fr. Anthony asked me questions about the
> trucking life. We discussed the history of the
> Cistercians and of the monastery. I explained how I
> got trucking loads and where I travelled. We also
> talked a bit about my personal life from a spiritual
> perspective as well as Fr. Anthony's entrance into
> the
> monastery 60 years ago. When Fr. Anthony mentioned
> 60
> years, I of course did some mental calculations and
> was amazed because I realized that Fr. Anthony was
> probably around 20 when he entered making him a good
> deal older than the 60-something he appeared to be.
> Reluctant to mention his age (a true Sicilian!) Fr.
> Anthony mumbled something about the number "80"
> similar to the way I often mumble something about
> the
> horrible number "45"!
> 
> Fr. Anthony gave me the grand tour around the abbey
> with all of its beautiful artwork. Fr. Anthony
> showed
> me one work of art in which the artist had sincerely
> wanted to accurately draw Christ and so he prayed
> for
> help and in answer to his prayer, Christ appeared to
> the artist revealing his appearance so that the
> artist
> could accurately render his features. Another work I
> was very impressed with was a stunning and enormous
> copy of a painting of St. Michael the Archangel,
> powerfully holding in his angelic hand, the Latin
> inscription "Quis Ut Deus", meaning "Who is like
> God?"
> - St. Michael's response to the devil and his
> arrogance as he triumphs over the devil as described
> in the book of Revelation. This remarkable piece of
> artwork is in one of the front rooms near the front
> reception area and I recommend its viewing to all
> who
> might visit in the future. There were also copies of
> other religious art by many artists including
> Rembrandt, Da Vinci and El Greco.
> 
> Fr. Anthony led me into the cellar under the church
> and unlocked a door and led me into a small room
> that
> serves as his office. The office contained a
> computer,
> a filing cabinet and many, many books. In front of
> Fr.
> Anthony's computer is a large reproduction of the
> magnificent Byzantine-Norman Christ Pantocrator
> gold-tiled mosaic from the Cefalù, Sicily cathedral.
> He turned on his computer and the same Christ
> Pantocrator mosaic appeared as his desktop! A very
> nice Sicilian Catholic choice!
> 
> Fr. Anthony then opened his filing cabinet revealing
> stacks and stacks of genealogical information. In my
> awe of the monastery and the monastic life I had
> truly
> forgotten for the moment that Fr. Anthony was also a
> fellow Termitano! At that moment I realized how much
> I
> was enjoying my visit which just kept getting better
> and better. We looked at the names in Fr. Anthony's
> family tree and I saw a few family surnames that
> were
> in my own tree (Indovina, etc) but these however,
> were
> married into Fr. Anthony's tree so we didn't have
> any
> direct connections at this time. Fr. Anthony showed
> me
> photos he had taken in Termini of the cemeteries and
> burial processes as well as photos of some of the
> oldest 1540 baptismal registries from Termini.
> 
> We discussed other Termini topics such as genetic
> diseases such as Graves Disease and others found in
> Termini families. Then, Fr. Anthony had a list
> printed
> out of Sephardic Jewish names and we discussed this
> topic and I showed him some of the Sephardic names
> (Navarra, Silvestre) that appeared in my tree and he
> did likewise. Then we also discussed a religious
> paper
> that Fr. Anthony is currently working on regarding
> his
> reflections on Islam and Christian-Islamic dialogue.
> 
> Fr. Anthony turned to his stacks of books and
> started
> handing me various titles to take home. With
> amazement
> I realized that Fr. Anthony himself was the author
> of
> all of the books! I have already begun reading one
> of
> them, a book on what constitutes the charisms of a
> Cistercian monk and I have found it to be very
> readable, in fact, I can hardly put it down and have
> already nearly finished it.
> 
> As my visit was approaching its end (I was worried
> that my company might be trying to reach me on the
> truck's QualComm messaging device to dispatch me), I
> asked Fr. Anthony if he would like to see my truck
> and
> Fr. Anthony was actually quite enthusiastic to do
> so.
> 
> Fr. Anthony put on his cap and we went outside where
> the sun had now been obscurred by clouds and we were
> now beginning to get some much needed rain (the
> Atlanta area has experienced a bad drought this past
> year). I opened the door to my truck which is quite
> high off the ground and more than a little
> challenging
> for even a young man to enter but before I could
> worry
> about him, Fr. Anthony proved his Sicilian vigor by
> easily pulling himself up into the truck where he
> soon
> was sitting behind the wheel of my 2007 Freightliner
> Century Class S/T truck! He asked about some of the
> controls and buttons - I sensed that Fr. Anthony
> would
> probably enjoy going out on the road as a trucker
> for
> a least a trip or two. In fact, Fr. Anthony asked me
> if we were ever allowed to bring visitors and at the
> time I simply answered "yes" without thinking too
> much
> (actually I confess I was preoccupied with worrying
> about Fr. Anthony seeing how messy I kept the
> interior
> of my truck!) but later, after leaving, it occurred
> to
> me that perhaps Fr. Anthony might actually like to
> go
> with me sometime and so if you are reading this Fr.
> Anthony, the answer is "yes", you may take a ride
> with
> me anytime you would like to experience this mode of
> travel!
> 
> We both finally said farewell to each other and Fr.
> Anthony stood waving goodbye in the now gently
> falling
> rain as I started up the truck with no small degree
> of
> sadness and started pulling away, once again driving
> through the arching canopy of orchard trees to the
> other world waiting for me on the other side. The
> rain
> picked up in intensity as I drove down the road
> thinking about my fascinating and extraordinary
> visit
> with this warm but quiet and modest Termini cugino
> who
> is an accomplished author, a worldwide traveler, a
> geneaologist and a spiritual leader blessed by God
> with many gifts. Fr. Anthony is truly a blessing to
> have amongst us and I pray that we will have the
> chance to visit each other again in the future!
> 
> Ken Geraci
> 
> --- "Fr. Anthony Delisi" <franthony at trappist.net>
> wrote:
> 
> > Dear Termini Cousins,
> >
> > This morning Ken Geraci came for the 7 AM Mass. 
> We
> > spent a few hours
> > together before he had to leave for another
> pickup.
> > It was great to
> > personally meet someone I have known over the
> years
> > via the Termini site.
> > Ken does not have typical Sicilian features.  I
> > sense that he could make a
> > good monk since he spends many an hour alone
> > trucking around the country.
> > His Atlanta terminal is about a half hour away
> from
> > the monastery and he now
> > knows that he has someplace to rest his head
> > whenever he is in the Atlanta
> > area.
> >
> > PAX. fr. Anthony Delisi
> >
> 
> 
> 
>      
>
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