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

Sun Feb 24 20:07:49 CST 2008

Currently I live in North Tonawanda, NY - just north of Buffalo. I've lived
here for 34 years but get back to Ohio all the time as my 88 year old mother
and my sister still live in Lorain.

Ann

-----Original Message-----
From: terminiimerese-bounces at comunesofitaly.org
[mailto:terminiimerese-bounces at comunesofitaly.org] On Behalf Of Sheryl
Hartnett
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 6:03 PM
To: terminiimerese at comunesofitaly.org
Subject: Re: [TI] Ken and Fr Anthony - My Visit with Fr. Anthony

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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