Francesco Locatelli walked to Rome from Sotto Il Monte — his hometown and the birthplace of Blessed John XXIII. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
Posted on 04/26/2014 3:20:57 PM PDT by NYer
Francesco Locatelli walked to Rome from Sotto Il Monte — his hometown and the birthplace of Blessed John XXIII. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
VATICAN CITY — Sporting blisters and a pair of split sneakers, Francesco Locatelli finally made it to Rome on foot from his northern Italian hometown of Sotto Il Monte — the birthplace of Blessed John XXIII.
Locatelli’s backpack says “Sotto Il Monte (Bergamo) Rome by foot.” He left home March 29 and arrived after 27 days of walking. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
The journey took him 27 days and he says it was worth every painful step to make it to tomorrow’s canonizations of Blessed John and John Paul II.
“Such an important event… I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” he told me this afternoon in St. Peter’s Square.
Locatelli went through two pairs of shoes on his pilgrimage from northern Italy. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
“I went through two pairs of shoes, my legs are dying, I’ve got blisters from going up and down the mountains,” he said leaning on his walking stick. But “dedicating one month of my life is nothing compared to what these two popes have done.”
Doing a pilgrimage is also a life-changing event, he said. “I feel different. It breaks you out of your usual routine and changes you — when you make such a huge effort and see others exerting themselves, too.”
Locatelli said Pope John always felt like part of the family. “He comes from the same place I come from. I’m a farmer, too, (like the pope’s father was) and we grew up on top of the same land.”
He braved the wet and cold Italian springtime as he made his way from his home and along the famous pilgrim path, the Francigena Way.
He carried an official “pilgrim’s passport” that he got stamped along the route.
Parishes and hostels stamp the “passport” along the route. (CNS photo\/Carol Glatz) "},
The last two stamps? St. Peter’s Basilica on the left and the Rome pilgrimage office. (CNS photo\/Carol Glatz) "}]">
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Staying at parish shelters and hostels, he met several other pilgrims coming to Rome as well, including two women and a man who spent three months walking from Poland. “We met in Viterbo and came to Rome together; now I lost track of them,” he said, looking over the huge crowds streaming into the square.
I asked if he planned on walking back home. “No, no! Taking the train. My wife hasn’t seen me in a month!”
Ping!
I’m just very happy with the coverage on EWTN. Lovin’ it!
With the time difference, maybe I can catch some coverage tomorrow morning. We don’t leave for Mass until noon (Eastern).
He will need a new pair of shoes!
Actually the way people back then got to Rome was to go ON A HIGHWAY with a horse - because back then they didn’t have the Sierra Club to prevent them from building the highway.
The poor didn’t have horses. They walked.
Such a wonderful story. Thank you for posting it.
I was pleasantly surprised when I clicked on the story and saw the photo of a man who is not exactly twenty-something.
That’s impressive! Especially the guy from Poland (three months)!
God bless Mr. Locatelli!
They were, of course, better walkers than we are. John Marshall, the future Chief Justice, was a junior officer in Washington’s army. He once took leave and walked all the way from Valley Forge to his home in Virginia. When he got home , he was so ragged that the servants did not recognize him. It was said that he and Jefferson, his cousin, who he closely resembled physically, hated each other. Marshall was the type who played stick ball with kids, and Jefferson was not. But each had great charm, and his power on the court owed most to his ability to co-opt any Republican appointed to it.
Now how did I get off on that? Only to remind myself that our ancestors and their contemporaries were capable of amazing things.
Interesting anecdotes.
People are capable of amazing feats of strength and endurance in the course of daily life, if life is hard enough.
Good post. Thanks.
And I think of Washington’s army leaving bloody footprints in the snow, because they were so dedicated to the cause even though their shoes had long given out on them.
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