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

Sun Feb 24 17:02:41 CST 2008

Ann, where do you live now?  I'm in Edwardwville, IL,
just across the river from St. Louis.

Sheryl Hartnett  :) 

--- Ann Catalano <anncat1029 at roadrunner.com> wrote:

> Ken -
> 
> I don't know you but certainly enjoy your writing. 
> You really ought to
> write a book of your adventures.  You have a gift!
> 
> It is so neat that you can visit all these people
> from the Termini
> listserve.  I enjoyed putting faces with names when
> I went to the reunion in
> Rochester.  I'm looking forward to the reunion in
> Cleveland since many of my
> ancestors settled there and I was born and raised in
> Lorain, Ohio just
> outside of Cleveland.
> 
> Take care on your travels.
> 
> Ann Catalano
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: terminiimerese-bounces at comunesofitaly.org
> [mailto:terminiimerese-bounces at comunesofitaly.org]
> On Behalf Of Ken Geraci
> Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 5:55 PM
> To: terminiimerese at comunesofitaly.org
> 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
> 
=== message truncated ===

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