Catacombs at Siracusa

The missionaries in Siracusa invited us to a baptism last Saturday.  Being a Saturday afternoon we had some extra time so we decided to see some extra sights while we were in Siracusa. I have been researching Paul and his stops in Italy.  The Paul stop on Sicily was perfect for an extra side trip!

Chronologies of Paul's life are approximate and debated by scholars. At some point around the year 59 he visited Syracuse where he preached - probably in the place where the paleo-Christian Church of Saint John was built. Whatever was said was expressed in Greek, the vernacular of Roman Sicily (where Latin was a second language). It is possible that a few Jews came to hear Paul talk, as there was a Jewish community at Syracuse. There was no subsequent "Letter of Paul to the Syracusans." However, there is no doubt that it was Paul who brought Christianity to Sicily, even though his stay in Syracuse lasted only three days before he departed for Reggio Calabria, Pozzuoli (near Naples) and then Rome.

The description of this journey is found in Acts of the Apostles, 28:11-13.
"After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered on the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli."
Palermo native Vincenzo Salerno has written biographies of several famous Sicilians, including Frederick II and Giuseppe di Lampedusa.

This is a family catacombe, spaces for adults as well as children.

Altare di San Paolo!

Epigraph of Euskia.

Maps of the Catacombe Di San Giovanni

Another Transfer Day

Six weeks seem to go by so quickly, some transfers go smoothly with just a ripple of change in our Catania Zone, and others are quite jolting.  The September transfer was a regular earthquake. 

The missionary faucet is slowing down and we are sending many more missionaries home than we are receiving. Europe is experiencing a drop across the continent of 25%.  When we arrived in Italy last January there were 198 missionaries in the Great Rome Italy Mission, we have dropped to 164 and a low of 138 by Christmas time. There are many reasons for the drop in missionaries, fewer applicants, fewer baptisms in Europe and a religious discontent across Europe are reasons mentioned most often. 

Last week we were 20 missionaries in the Catania Zone, today we are 18; seven of the 18 are new transfers. In our Catania District four of the six left Sicily!  What that really means is two Anziani and two Sorelle packed up all of the Italian belongings and moved off the island.  That means a crazy couple of day dropping off at the train station, the bus terminal and the airport.  On Thursday we set a record, we managed to get nine very large overstuffed suitcases in a little Toyota Yaris, that is a record.  A second trip transported the Sorelle to the train station while the Anziani took the metro to the train station for a 12-hour train ride to Rome! The bus station took missionaries from Siracusa to Palermo and airport duty consisted of four Zone leaders and Sister Trainers drop off on Friday for a training meeting in Rome, returning on Saturday night for a pickup back to their apartments.  Sunday looks normal again as we attend our Sunday meeting in Catania Ward and Sigonella Branch no one suspects it has been total chaos for three days straight! 

Sorelle Sullivan, Kaesler and Maxfield with small bags and a penny board on their laps in our back seat on the way to the train station.

Luggage overload with all their Italian possessions at the train station!

There they are ready to board the train!

The missionaries who just got on the train were scheduled to speak at Sigonella on Sunday, now there is one new missionary in each companionship that I haven’t applied for security clearance for so they were not able to get on base. It normally takes five working days for the Sigonella Base Security office to process new missionaries security clearance. When they arrive on Thursday there is no way they can be cleared by Sunday. That caused yet another set of anxiety, suddenly we don’t have any speakers in church!!

Best Missionary Prep in Catania

How to Prepare to be a Missionary

The six missionaries assigned to Catania decided to prepare a ward Missionary Prep Activity for the Catania Ward. 

The only tree on the property of the Catania Ward.  Anziani Huntsman, Waddell, Misa and McDonald along with Sorelle Cattani and Kaesler

Friday, September 14 was the designated presentation activity. They decided on four objectives:

            1.You need to be physically fit.

Anziano Waddell played volleyball on his International School team in Lima, Peru! He and Anziano Hunstman gave volleyball lessons in the church parking lot.

            2.You will need to be able to do some cooking.

Sorelle Kaesler and Cattani taught a cooking class on Banana Boats!

I must admit, I have never had a Banana Boat! They were tasty.

            3.  You will need to learn different cultures.

Anziani Misa and Macdonald conquered the Polynesian HAKKA!

Even with a tie!

            4. You will need to study and focus on the scriptures

We have great missionaries, the Catania Ward is one lucky ward!  They are ready to train those new missionaries!

 

The Legand of Chicken Pitchers

The Legend of the Chicken Pitchers

In 1478 the Medici’s ruled the Republic of Florence. This powerful family, led by Lorenzo the Magnificent, held immense wealth, power and land holdings. Lorenzo and his brother, Giuliano, often held festivals to reward peasants successfully working their land. Only one family challenged the Medici’s reign over Florence, the Pazzi’s. Knowing that Giuliano loved a good party, and his drink, the Pazzi family enlisted a conspirator to suggest a festival for the now vanished village of Gallina. Giuliano agreed and the murder plot was a go. Pazzi assassins waited until the festival ended and Giuliano slumbered in a wine induced sleep.

But the not so smart assassins made so much noise sneaking through the village they woke up the village roosters. Before the would-be killers could reach Giuliano and his guards, roosters started crowing and alerted everyone to their presence. All of the Pazzi’s hired hands were captured and executed. A grateful Giuliano hosted another festival the next night and ordered artisans to craft ceramic copies of roosters in the form of wine pitchers. He presented those pitchers to the peasants as a symbol of good luck in warding off evil.

Unfortunately for Giuliano the next Pazzi conspiracy succeeded. Fast-forward to today and you can find these ceramic chicken, or rooster pitchers in most Italian homes. They are often given as housewarming gifts to protect homes and families.

If you come to Sicily to visit I will have one waiting for you!

My personal favorite!

This is an Arabic Glaze made in Northern Sicily.

Modica Adventure

We never plan to do just one thing, but always try to maximize a day out with some adventure.  We needed to complete an apartment inspection in Ragusa both Anziani and Sorelle, so we left in the morning for a 2:30PM appointment with the Anziaini followed by a District Council Meeting @3:30 PM, then a 5:00PM Sorelle apartment inspection then finished the day with a concert at the Ragusa Chapel at 7:00PM performed by Anziano Jacob Clark.  Anziano Clark is a very talented musician performing, Bach,  Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, and Janice Kapp Perry for a packed chapel  applauding wildly and shouting "Bravo!"

There is no music anywhere, one full hour all in the head! That Kawai never sounded so good!

Ragusa is about an hour and a half distance from our apartment so that left  us with a few hours before our appointments.  Modica just happens to be  right on the way! Italy is great.

Modica was destroyed by the earthquake in 1693, but in this catastrophe there was opportunity and the result mean the city has enjoyed UNESCO protection since 2002.

On a backstreet in front of a thick oak door one of Modicas’ most recent secrets stands.   

This was only discovered 30 years ago by a young man playing soccer on the street, as his ball disappeared among the rubble of an old building he found himself searching  for his ball inside a cavern with a fresco on the wall.  Within a few steps, the tempretature cools and the corridor opens to a dimly-lit chapel the Chiesa Rupestre di San Nicolo Inferiore  carved into rock and covered by a beautifully painted Byzantine fresco.  On the apse, above a limestone altar, a faded mural depicts Christ in a rich indigo cloak, holding the gospel and supported by saints with halos. It’s incredible such history was hidden for so long!

The entire fresco!

Jesus Christ sits in the center representing the King of the Universe. He wears a red tunic with a blue mantle, holding the Gospels with the inscription EGO SUM LUX  MUNDI.( Iam the light of the world).

The icon of the Virgin Mary holding the Holy Child is widespread in Italy.

Saint Vitus or The Healer was responsible to set people free from illness.

Saint Peter with the white curly hair holds the keys, he represents the blessing Saint, also wearing red with a blue mantle.

Baptismal font on the right of the fresco.

Ocean Baptism

I have never had the opportunity to attend an ocean Baptism, and that certainly wasn’t on my list of expectations but it has become my reality. 

Last January when we arrived in Sicily my first visiting teaching assignment was handed to me.  Brianne Kelsey was on the list; no one in the Sigonella Branch knew her, or really anything about her.  There was an email address, a local address in Trecastagni, and a California area code on the phone number.  I sent an email introducing myself and she promptly replied, so I asked if I could drive to her home and meet her.  She was especially cordial and invited me to her home. 

Tristan, Brianne, Haydren, Bruce and Avelyn Kelsey

Craig and I drove out and found her home in the little suburb on Trecastagni.  It was a little bit of heaven, the yard looked like southern California, palm trees and hydrangea bushed five feet tall and at least that big around.  Brianne explained that they wanted their family to enjoy the whole Italian experience, living on the economy, trying to learn the language and the two oldest boys were enrolled in the local Italian school.  They had not attended church in the three years they had lived there and really didn’t plan to start any time soon. Interestingly enough we found that Trecastagni was on our way to lots of places, we stopped by on our way to the church in Catania a couple of times, it ended up being about 20 kilometers out of the way but it seemed to work for both of us.  WE stopped by just to chat regularly, Bryce is an independent contractor on Sigonella NAS.  He works shifts and Sunday is always a workday for him.  Things seemed to click and we loved spending time with the Kelsey family.

In May Brianne told us things were shaking up at Bryce’s work and they were possibly looking at a move because the housing contract as well as the job contract was being re-evaluated. Bryce had a shift change and he now would enjoy the weekend as his time off. We were all very excited about that reality.

 Haydren’s eighth birthday was coming up in August and Brianne expressed interest in Haydren being baptized  and it might be nice if Avelyn, the two year old was blessed as well.  Wow, we were suddenly going in a different direction that we expected, our prayers had been answered!  Brianne didn’t want to attend the Sigonella Branch but wanted her family to attend the Catania Ward where he kids could continue to learn and use their Italian. We immediately sent their records from Sigonella to the Catania Ward and introduced the missionaries to the Kelsey family.  The rest is history, Brianne’s parents flew to Italy on Thursday for Haydren’s baptism in the ocean on September 1, 2018, in addition Avelyn will be blessed at home after the baptism and bonus- Tristan the thirteen year old son will receive the Aaronic priesthood and be ordained a Deacon on Sunday , September 2. Their father, Bryce, will preform all these ordinances.  We have spent time with this family and watched their lives change as they were taught the Gospel, 0-100 in just a few months. It is hard to find words to explain what that feels like.

The sun rising on Lungomare Ciclopi in Aci Castello, Italy, 7:00AM 1 September 2018

Finding a spot suited for this occasion!

Best baptism water ever!