Scandale (Italy). On 14 September 2023, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the 30th anniversary of the birth of Holy Cross Hermitage of Scandale, Crotone was celebrated in the presence of the Archbishop of the Diocese of Crotone-Santa Severina, Msgr. Angelo Raffaele Panzetta; the Bishop emeritus, Msgr. Luigi Cantafora, founder of the Hermitage; priests, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, volunteers, young people, and supporters of the work. For the occasion, the Archbishop blessed the new chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph.
Here are some thoughts for reflection from the homily:
“The hermitage is a great place for the diffusion of the Word of God. Only the Lord knows how much the Word of God spread as it resounded in this place, producing in terms of grace, renewal, conversion, perseverance in people’s lives. For this reason, as it has been during these years, it must continue to be a place where the Word of God spreads out.
However, I think that this place is a sign of Jesus’ Easter for another important reason: because it is a place of fraternity. When the Word of God is lived and witnessed within a fraternity by the priests, Sisters, volunteers, and people who have given their lives for the Hermitage in these years, it generates life, fully showing its salvific value.
It is a place of service, because a structure like this could never work if the logic was simply a commercial exchange. A structure like this can work only if there are people who gratefully give a piece of their lives.
This is a place of discernment. Many passing through here have received light for their vocational discernment; they have discovered or rediscovered their own vocation. It is beautiful that, passing through or living here, some have discovered their vocation. This is also happening with regard to consecrated life and it fills me with joy. It’s great to see service structures helping people discover their calling.
As Pastor of this Community, I feel like proposing to the Hermitage, to the people who carry forward this Easter dream, to continue, to persevere in the good that has been achieved in these years.
May the Hermitage of the Holy Cross be increasingly a welcoming place in which wounded people can rediscover the beauty and tenderness of a God who takes care of us”.
The Hermitage of the Holy Cross is a place of spirituality born in response to the needs of the young people of the Province of Crotone and Calabria, of committed lay groups, and of people in search, to have a secluded place in which to find meditation, silence, prayer, and accompaniment on the path of spiritual growth.
The FMA Community, of the Southern Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel (IMR), welcomes and animates various groups who come to the Hermitage for retreat days and courses of Spiritual Exercises. Together with the priests, volunteers, and young people of the area, the FMA are committed to living a simple and moderate life-style, and to building a fraternity according to the Gospel.
