On Sunday 26 October, from the small church of Santa Caterina, a group of around sixty pilgrims, including groups belonging to the associations “Camminare” of Milazzo, “Gli Isotopi del Mela” of San Filippo del Mela and “Camminiamo per Michele”, after having received a small travel diary and the blessing from Father Carmelo Russo, creator and first promoter of the “Antonio 20-22” project, set off towards the sanctuary of Sant’Antonio, in Capo Milazzo. “Walking is democratic, it has no boundaries – said the priest – it is a performance of the heart, you just need to stay close and continue”. The first stop on the itinerary was a stop at the rectory of the Church of S. Maria Addolorata, to visit the photographic exhibition “L’Abbrivio”, set up by Antonio La Malfa and Mariagrazia Toto. The two artists explain to those present the genesis of the exhibition: from some ideas jotted down in an agenda, expertly immortalized by the artist’s shot, to the creation of the Cross curated by Maria Grazia Toto. “To understand which work could best express the idea of Antonio’s shipwreck” – says Maria Grazia Toto – “I tried to understand what the state of mind of that man was, thrown onto the coasts of Cape Milazzo, and I asked myself what he could have clung to in that precise moment in which he was defeated and shipwrecked. The right answer always follows the right question: to the Cross”. After a stop at the rectory, the group continued the march towards Monte Trino, to visit the Church of the Holy Spirit; the final destination of the journey was the Saint’s cave. From that place, set in the rock, Antonio “sets out”, turning towards a new destination that will make him the Saint that everyone knows. Before the final blessing, Father Carmelo reflected together with the pilgrims on Antonio’s personal history, on his “multiple shipwrecks”, “the many doors taken in the face” which remind us so much of our fragilities, failures, defeats. “When you prune the green branches, you bear fruit,” he said. The day inaugurated the third season of the Abbrivio – the journey in Antonio’s footsteps – marked and traveled for the first time by Jorge, the “pilgrim zero”, who left in June 2022 from Capo Milazzo and arrived in Padua after a journey that lasted three months. On that occasion, a delegation from Capo Milazzo also arrived in the Venetian capital together with the “Voca me” Cross created by the Milazzo artist Maria Grazia Toto. The following year, in conjunction with World Youth Day in August, the Sicilian section of the path of St. Anthony in four stages, from Capo Milazzo to Messina, was proposed to a group of young people. This year’s event is part of the second edition of the Regional Day of the Paths of Sicily in collaboration with Terre di mezzo Editore, a regional network that promotes routes through the beauty of local territories and the richness of traditions. These intentions, in particular, go very well with the “motto” of the Sanctuary of Capo Milazzo: “Hic Naufragium, Hinc Itineneris Initium”; in fact, Father Russo concluded, we are all pilgrims and sailors, sometimes a little lost, sometimes shipwrecked; but there is always a path that “takes hold”, even an inertial movement, a starting point, precisely, that gives us the strength to proceed.
John
John, founder of Odnako, combined his journalism degree with technical expertise to revolutionize global news consumption. Before Odnako's 2011 launch, he gained diverse experience across the media and tech fields, setting a solid foundation for his mission to provide comprehensive, unbiased news. His vision and leadership have since established Odnako as a trusted, innovative news platform worldwide.