"Go and rebuild my House, which, as you can see, is totally destroyed." These were the words Christ spoke to St. Francis through the crucifix of San Damiano. Francis knew what to do: rebuild the church.
Though those words were directed to St. Francis eight centuries ago, they could have been spoken to St. Benedict today. Yesterday, I went to the town of Norcia to visit the Benedictine monks whose church and monastery were destroyed in a series of earthquakes last year. On the night of August 24, 2016, a powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck near Rieti in central Italy. It was a horrible tragedy: the towns of Accumuli, Pescara del Tronto, and especially Amatrice were destroyed. 299 people lost their lives, 365 were injured, and approximately 2,100 lost their homes. Here are some pictures I took yesterday while driving through the area:
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Bret ThomanCatholic. Franciscan. Married. Father. Pilgrim guide. Writer. Translator. Pilot. Aspiring sailor. Archives
January 2023
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