Of miracles, the saint standing, has made many, but certainly the greatest of all is that of having strengthened over time the devotion of the Messina linked to the founder of the Monastery of the Clarisse, which has always been “home” of hope. This is the case for Christian Merrino’s family, who survived the fall from the fifth floor of a building in Piazza San Vincenzo. That day, on August 22, 2010, everyone shouted at the miracle made by S. Eustochia. The astonished mother, noticed the misfortune, took to the street convinced that she finds the dead baby, but Christian had come out almost unharmed.
Dimised by the Polyclinic where he was found only a fracture in his arm, the Merrino family wanted to “bring the small miraculous from the one who had saved him”. Since then every year on August 22 for the boy – today seventeen years old – and the parents Santino and Isabella is a day of grace, which testify with their presence in the church of Montevergine. “We are linked to this place and this day that has marked the rebirth of our son” explains Santino, founder of the Cantattattu, stressing that they usually wish Christian’s birthday wishes on February 18 and August 22. The boy, who attends the Antonello hotel institute, dreams of one day to enter the Carabinieri weapon; Among his passions the one for volleyball (he plays in the Messina Volley team with which he won three provincial championships), dance and singing (it is part of the folk group the Madonnina chaired by his grandfather, Nino Merrino).
A life returned at the hands of the one who donated her to the Crucifix; The chaplain Msgr. Pietro Aliquò yesterday, on the occasion of the memory of the Corrotto body of S. Eustocchia; Many faithful, together with the representatives of the civil and military institutions, squeezed themselves to the community of the Clarisse led by the Badessa Maria Agnese Pavone in the church of the Monastery of Montevergine, to pay homage to the religious daughter of S. Chiara. During the Mass presided over by the Emeritus Bishop of Syracuse Salvatore Pappalardo, it was the mayor Federico Basile to offer – according to the decree signed by the Senate Messina on 2 July 1777 – the votive candle, entrusting the city of Messina to the intercession of Eustocia Smeralda Calafato
. “You who have been vigilant and careful protector of yours and our city, a maternal rescuer of your fellow citizens, continues to preserve us from any danger, to be guided by our projects, safe help in the solution of the many and complex problems that commit us every day in the service of our city; teaches us to overcome with your own humility and strength the opposite events and misunderstandings, and help us to make a city more and more human,” Basile.
Great participation of secular realities – through the diocesan interconfractorial center and the nobles of the arciconfraternitis -. Many before and after the celebration paid tribute to the body of S. Eustochia kept in the upper part of the church; The votive lamp fueled with the oil offered by the parish communities burns at the feet; The silver artifact created by Maestro Francesco Cosio is the gift of the Bonino Pulejo Foundation, which has always been linked to the religious reality of the Clarisse, as evidenced by the participation of President Lino Morgante in the two annual celebrations of January 20, Dies Natalis and August 22.