Work in the Garden

Around the village, there are a number of terraces, silent witnesses to long ages of labor and still used as vegetable gardens. One of them was cultivated by the parish priest when the town had one in residence, sixty years ago.

Still partially maintained by a valiant villager who is 94 years old, it deserved to be cleared and allowed once again to produce the fruit it is capable of.

After clearing and plowing this past winter, we now have the joy of harvesting the fruit of our efforts: lettuce, radishes, peas. . . Before long, Swiss chard, tomatoes and potatoes. And a little later: eggplant, white onions, squash and carrots. Deo gratias! !

But the work is not done, for as everyone knows, weeds are always with us. . .

More photos ->

Remodelling the Cellar for a Library

BEFORE

Under the rectory we had a storage cellar. In order to free up a room in the house, we have transformed it so that it now serves as the library. Thus we have a fourth cell in the house, so that we can lodge Brother Ansgar who is returning to be with us for the summer.

AFTER

As for the cellar, it underwent an astonishing transformation in the space of a few months. After the addition of a wall in the middle, the right side now serves as both library and chapter room. The left half includes a laundry room and a work area for household tinkering or repairs.

Before taking a more detailed look at all this, here are three photographs from the beginning of the labor, which had to be a bit furious and relentless. The ground was too high: the hardest and longest part of the work was removing 60 cm of earth and rock. .

A big power drill, and a lot of energy, got the job done, little by little.

In order to break up chunks of rock without dynamite, one must first find their weak points. A well-placed tool then allows one to blow up the big rocks which had appeared invincible..

And as the days pass, a pile of smaller stones accumulates, slowly but surely.

Unfortunately we didn't take any more photos than what you see here of the work while in progress. But you can see the final result:

The left side and the wall separating the two new rooms.

And the right side turned into a library and chapter room.

So we now have buildings for the common life (church, chapter room, refectory, library) which will be sufficient to welcome a few vocations which are currently foreseen.

On the other hand, we will soon need more than four cells. Several parts of houses adjacent to the rectory should be available for us to buy, and which we would then turn into new cells. Thank you for your generosity in helping us to acquire them.

First feast of St. Benedict at Villatalla

A dozen priests and seminarians joined the monks for the solemnity and to show their friendship and encouragement.
Among them: Canon Don Ivo Raimondo, provost of the parish and cathedral chapter of Imperia, as well as vicar forane for the territory that includes Villatalla. Honour to those to whom it is due: it was for him to pronounce the first panegyric of St. Benedict, during which he naturally evoked the radiant figure of the saint whom Paul VI named patron of Europe.
Also present were Canon Don Giancarlo Cuneo, pastor of Dolcedo and Villatalla; his twin brother, Canon Don Marco, who is a pastor in Imperia and our most faithful friend and advocate from the beginning here; Don Sandro Marsano, the previous pastor of Dolcedo who welcomed us last year to Villatalla; Don Maurizio Morella, a canon of the cathedral of Albenga; Don Francesco Ramella, newly ordained priest who celebrated his first Mass in the traditional rite in Dolcedo; our neighbour, Father Giorgio Maria Michero, Premonstratensian hermit of the community of Sant’Antimo founded by Father Andre Forest; a Polish deacon, Don Tommaso, recently incardinated in the diocese; a Franciscan of the Immaculate, Brother Egidio, who has come for a long stay among us. Not to mention so many friends and neighbours who made a point of coming and completing our joy.
A Solemn Mass (with deacon and subdeacon) was celebrated under the watchful eye of Don Marco, very familiar with solemn and pontifical liturgies in the Roman basilicas and other cathedrals in Italy.

A good number of residents of the town joined us in prayer, and after the ceremony they provided the aperitif and refreshments in the piazza of the church. A neighbour then let us use her house for an excellent meal provided and served by several families of the area. The celebration ended with solemn Vespers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Holy Mass of Bishop Mario Oliveri in Villatalla

This year, Bishop Mario Oliveri came to Villatalla to preside over the festivities of St Michael’s Day, patronal feast of the village and of the parish church. Because of liturgical obligations in his cathedral of Albenga which is under the same patronage, the feast was anticipated the day before, September the 28th.

The faithful met on Saint John’s Square at the entrance to the village. A statue of St. Michael enthroned was carried on the shoulders of four men. Behind the processional Cross held by the altar server, Don Sandro, pastor, led the rosary. At 4 P.M., the Bishop’s car entered the square. The rosary was finished with a Gloria Patri, the car stopped, the parish priest opened the door of the car and the bishop came out, wearing amaranth cassock and biretta. He greeted ecclesiastical and civil authorities, the little crowd squeezed up around him, and he blessed them all.

At once the procession began to make its way to the church, to the rhythm of popular songs. The cross opened the way, followed by the crowd, the monks, the clergy, the Bishop and the statue of the archangel.


Upon entering the church, with the sound of the pipe organs and the singing of the schola, the Bishop moved up the central aisle, again blessing the crowd left and right, then kneeling and reciting the prayers of the Pontifical upon arrival at the sanctuary. Then he took his seat to hear the welcome speeches from the pastor, Father Jehan and the mayor.

During the pontifical mass which followed, celebrated in the traditional rite, Bishop Oliveri pronounced a vigourous sermon on the importance of spiritual life founded on Catholic faith and doctrine, and he ended with words expressing benevolence and paternal friendship for the monks:
“Very dear brethren, You have now among you the presence of the monks. The goal of their life and dedication has been fully and well evoked a few minutes ago by dear Father Jehan de Belleville at the beginning of our meeting. They are a continual reminder of fidelity to the Lord. They are a continual reminder to always give our Lord the first place: He and He only. Everything else is secondary. Everything else must be used by us to walk towards the eternity of the Lord. Everything. The whole life of the human being has no other goal than to purify him, to prepare him to enter eternal life.
Dear Benedictine monks, thank you for having chosen this place for your consecrated life. I am happy to learn that you were welcomed here, as it should be, according to justice and charity. I am happy to know that you have the support of this small population so that you do not lack any of the small needs which always accompany man on his pilgrimage through time.
I am asking you, dear faithful : continue to support them. Please God that in this place they find a suitable environment, well adapted, to be able to grow and truly become a monastery able to give back the luminous testimony that the Lord is the Lord and that nobody else can take His place. Thank you! Thank you, dear monks.
I bless you and will accompany you with a huge joy so that in any need, you can find in me a father, you can find in me someone who understands you. And I pray the Lord that what you found in me, you may also find in all the priests of my diocese, in all the faithful and particularly in the faithful of this parish of Saint Michael The Archangel in Villatalla.
May all be blessed, and blessed you are if you are in friendship with the Lord”.


After the Mass, Bishop Oliveri visited the monastic house Santa Caterina da Siena, next to the church, and proceeded to its blessing.


Upon coming out, he greeted various persons and groups, for example the carabinieri who attended the ceremony.

Then Father Jehan accompanied the Bishop back to Saint John’s Square, where the faithful were waiting with tables of delicacies and beverages laid out by the ladies of the parish. Bishop Oliveri departed quickly, but left great joy in all hearts.


Thus on two days in September 2008, the Bishop of Albenga-Imperia has celebrated Mass publically in the traditional rite, first for the Franciscan contemplative sisters in Alassio, on the 23rd, and then on the 28th in Villatalla. But that is not all, because on October 26th, feast of St. Maurice and his martyr companions, in the co-cathedral of Imperia, he will again celebrate the ancient rite, and this time a pontifical Mass, during which seven Franciscan sisters of the Immaculate Conception will pronounce their solemn vows.

More photos ->

Consecration to Mary Immaculate

Particularly thankful towards the Most Holy Virgin Mary, whose obvious signs of particular protection they have had for two years, Fr. Jehan and Brother Toussaint are in Lourdes today, not only to observe the jubilee of the apparition and gain a plenary indulgence, but also to renew their Marian consecration and entrust to Mary’s Immaculate Heart the monastic work begun in Villatalla.

They want to follow the example of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (founded on August 2nd, 1970 by two Conventual Franciscan friars, Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli and Fr. Gabriele Pelettieri), whose founding charism adds to the three vows of religion a particular consecration to the Immaculate, according to the Marian spirituality of St. Maximilian Kolbe.
The most recent general chapter of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, which took place on Pentecost, decided to make provision, as an order, for the traditional Latin rite of Mass. All their priests (currently about 100) must from now on be familiar with it.
This decision — of great importance for their religious family and for the Church — together with the climate of humility which is felt among them, seems explainable only as a particular favor from blessed Mary.
Fr. Jehan, who spent more than six months in Rome in one of their houses, saw in this spiritual miracle obtained through Mary's mediation, a sign from Providence for the path he too should follow.

On March 10th, 2008, after the hour of Sext, Fr. Manelli gave Fr. Jehan a Miraculous Medal which he now wears visibly over his heart, as his brother Franciscans do. "Father Jehan taught us the Tridentine Mass," the Franciscan founder was able to say, "and we for our part give him the Miraculous Medal." And Fr. Jehan concluded, "It is unquestionably Mary who raised up the family of the Franciscans of the Immaculate; if it is the will of God that a new Benedictine family be born, they will be the Benedictines of the Immaculate." The reaction of the Franciscans was thunderous applause.

From now on, Franciscans and Benedictines are joined like two branches of a family under the mantle of the Immaculate in fidelity to their respective religious rules and to the liturgical tradition of Holy Church, notably to the ancient ritual of Mass from which "countless saints copiously fed their piety towards God".