R. & P.
Great celebrations and celebrations, in an atmosphere of intense spirituality, on Friday 5 August, at the diocesan shrine of Our Lady of the Rock, in honor of Sant’Emidio, bishop and martyr. Many devotees flocked to Santa Domenica di Placanica, where the renowned Marian work founded by Brother Cosimo for over half a century, from various Italian regions and also from abroad to venerate the holy bishop and martyr, protector against the earthquake, the calamities natural, plagues, pandemics.
Brother Cosimo carried out an evangelization on the holy bishop and martyr, Holy Mass was celebrated and then the procession took place with the precious statue and the first degree relic of Sant’Emidio that the bishop of Ascoli, where the body is buried of Sant’Emidio, he wanted to bring and donate to Brother Cosimo and the sanctuary a few years ago. On Friday there were so many people who approached the sacrament of reconciliation so much so that the priests confessed, uninterruptedly, for the whole day. All the moments experienced by pilgrims are touching, in an atmosphere of profound composure, order and religious silence. Below, we report the evangelization of Brother Cosimo on the holy martyr, after having raised a Hail Mary to Our Lady: “May peace, mercy and grace be to you all brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus the Lord. Welcome to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rock on this Friday, August 5, 2022. We all know the reason why we are here, on this particular date and that is, to venerate our dear patron Saint Emidio, Bishop and Martyr.
Thus recites the last verse of a hymn composed by the priest Nicola Marinelli on the occasion of the violent earthquake of 1805, which is still sung in the church of Agnone, in the province of Isernia, dedicated to the Holy Martyr Emidio; I took the liberty of adding the first sentence to the verse of the hymn: “Saint Emidius glorious and powerful, always look at the beloved land, protect it with your strong arm, watch over its ancient gates, extend your gaze of love to us ! Hello, Emidio! May your name resound on the lips of the old men, on the children, thank you for the included gifts, to you palms, to you incense, to you flower “. The young Saint Emidio, at the time of his life, was a great evangelizer of peoples, so now to pay homage and honor to his person it is good to have recourse to the Gospel of the day proposed to us by the Evangelist Matthew c. 16 starting from v. 24 up to v. 26: “At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Because whoever wants to save his life, he will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he will find it. In fact, what advantage will a man have if he gains the whole world, but he will lose his life? ”.
Dear brothers and sisters, friends and devotees of Sant’Emidio Bishop and martyr, whose feast we celebrate today in memory of his glorious martyrdom, which took place on the 5th of August in the year 303 under the bitter persecution of the Emperor Diocletian. We have just heard the first three verses from the Evangelist Matthew, through which the Lord Jesus reveals openly and clearly what it means to be his disciple: to renounce oneself, take up the cross and follow him. Giving up on oneself does not mean self-sacrifice, but it means submitting to his control in such a complete way that one’s self no longer has the right to emerge. Taking the cross means being willing to endure ridicule, suffering and perhaps even martyrdom for love of him; it also means dying to sin, to oneself and to the world. Following Jesus means living as He lived and that is, with humility, mercy and every other virtue that comes from heaven. In the short passage of today’s Gospel of Matthew, allow me to say, the figure of our dear Sant’Emidio is perfectly reflected. Since he converted to Christianity at the age of 23, he has become a true disciple of Jesus Christ, has known how to renounce himself, has embraced his daily cross of persecution and has followed the Lord faithfully throughout his life. he. He offered the sacrifice of himself to the end, endured ridicule of all kinds, various sufferings and finally cruel martyrdom for the love of Jesus Christ. Of Sant’Emidio, I feel compelled to repeat it for those who were not yet aware, it is said through the writings that are handed down from generation to generation, that he was born in the city of Trier, in Germany, from a noble and pagan family. At the age of 23, as I said earlier, he converted to the Christian religion, was baptized and over time became one of the most popular preachers in the population.
Emidio, having come to Italy, traveled almost all of it, in order to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere, working unheard-of wonders everywhere, such as innumerable and instantaneous prodigies and healings, and in this regard do you know what everyone called him? The Wonderworker of Italy. In fact, during his stay in the city of Rome, before he was consecrated bishop, he worked among the people who followed him, countless miracles and healings. Then Pope Marcellin immediately consecrated him Bishop and assigned him to the city of Ascoli Piceno, where he spent his entire life engaged in evangelization, and so always ardent with love for God and for his neighbor, he ended his short life by suffering martyrdom, in glorious day of August 5 of the year 303, at the age of 30. Brothers and sisters, devotees of our dear Sant’Emidio, know that this saint is held in great esteem as the saint defender from earthquakes, wars, famines and even pestilences, and his cult obviously originates from Ascoli Piceno, the city that houses the body of the glorious Martyr, kept in a Roman-style sarcophagus of the 4th century, in the Crypt of the Cathedral. The cult of Sant’Emidio, if you like, is widespread almost everywhere, but mostly in the Piceno area, where the holy martyr preached the Gospel of life at the dawn of Christianity. Sacred places and more or less important churches dedicated to our patron have been built in various regions of central and southern Italy. After the terrifying earthquake of 1703, which completely destroyed L’Aquila and caused countless damage throughout the region, and during which the city of Ascoli remained unharmed, through the intercession of its patron saint, many cities in central-southern Italy spontaneously introduced the festival del Santo in their diocese and elected him co-patron. Now, how unique our glorious saint is in his protection against earthquakes, he is already known throughout Italy and beyond. And how propitious he too is in times of plague, wars, famines and other universal calamities, the city of Ascoli has experienced unspeakable times.
Therefore, in every grave need, one has always resorted to a dear and faithful protector. Brothers and sisters, seek more and more to intensify your devotion to Sant’Emidio, elect him as your protector, protector of your homes, your families and even your cities and the Holy Martyr will certainly not disappoint you, as he has never disappointed. his children Ascolani and all his devotees in the world. In the past and up to now, Sant’Emidio has always granted maximum protection to the people of Ascoli, in the city and outside, to things and people. Aware of such benevolence on the part of Sant’Emidio, know that the people of Ascoli, during the earthquakes, do not get much upset, they run out of the house, but invoke Sant’Emidio and continue their work calmly. I don’t know if the generation at the present time still behaves like this. However, in this regard I would like to tell you what a noble lady from Ascoli told us with her doctor husband, who, together with the Bishop of Ascoli, Monsignor Giovanni D’Ercole, a few years ago, invited us to dinner at their home. It was me, Cosimino, Giuseppe and Nicola, who are present here. While we were having dinner, talking about Sant’Emidio, the lady told us when on 24 August 2016 there was the strong earthquake that destroyed Amatrice and other cities, and she pointed out the staircase of her building that connects the first with the second floor where, on top of it, on the side, there was a sturdy piece of furniture, which during the earthquakes swayed strongly and continuously but without falling. And I asked her: and you? The lady replied: we stayed at home quietly, confident in our patron saint.
This is a beautiful testimony of faith. Before concluding, I would like to give briefly, once again, a hint regarding the basil seedlings, which will be blessed today. Since ancient times, on August 5, the feast of Sant’Emidio, on the sacrato of the Cathedral of Ascoli you can see herbaiers with baskets full of basil plants, which they sell to the faithful, who in turn insert a twig on the hat, on the ear or buttonhole of the jacket. With this custom we intend to renew the tradition and the gratitude to the fragrant little plant with white and soft flowers. In fact, it is said that when after one thousand the remains of the Holy Martyr were moved from the caves of Campo Parignano to the Cathedral, near them, in the intense and humid darkness of the caves, a small basil plant was found green and flowering, which, according to a pious belief, he wanted to guard and keep company with the venerated relics of the patron. Hence the basil is called by the people the flower of Sant’Emidio. My dear, and I conclude, even if the effects of the earthquake continue to be felt almost everywhere in the world, we know that we can count par excellence on our patron saint and protector Saint Emidio, and we continually entrust ourselves to him with a renewed enthusiasm of faith. , love, trust and hope.
“O Saint Emidio glorious, our most singular advocate against the terrible scourge of the earthquake, always protect us with your thaumaturge arm and accompany us on the difficult journey of life. Say Amen. God bless you and our Sant’Emidio protect you. Praised be Jesus Christ.”