OUR LADY OF TEARS OF SYRACUSE

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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Tears kept flowing from the statue’s eyes for a few days and were seen by the people that flocked around Antonia’s house. Filmed sequences of the plaque showed the phenomenon. The tears were collected and sent to laboratory to be analyzed. The tests showed that they were human tears. The Catholic Church declared the lacrimation a miracle. Now a church has been built in the area, where more than sixty years ago there were an unsurfaced square and a cluster of low houses.
I remember as soon as we arrived in Syracuse and parked our car at the end of the square, there were so many people in the square and around the house where the miracle happened that it was impossible for us to move on. As I wanted to see what was going on, my father, who was taller than average, picked me up so that I could see the happenings. I noticed a line of detached one-story houses on the opposite side of the square and people standing and looking at those houses. Suddenly, I heard a voice that sounded like stammering.
“What happened?” I asked my father. “Why is that person stammering?”
“That man has been cured miraculously. He couldn’t walk, but now he has left his wheelchair and is walking.”
When I returned to the same place many years later, the square and the low houses didn’t exist anymore. The plaster plaque portraying Our Lady had been moved inside the new church to be exposed to the believers.

This is an excerpt from A Hidden Sicilian History by Ettore Grillo
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

VISITING GORDON’S CALVARY

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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“When I got to the Garden Tomb, I was surprised at the silence in that place. I turned to the right and headed for the skull-shaped rock. It was a cliff with two big holes and a nose-shaped stone between them. To my eyes, it didn’t look like a skull. On the railing was a picture of the cliff. Looking at it, the whole cliff seemed to be skull-shaped.
“I turned left and walked to the tomb. Entering it, I saw three stone beds. One of them was a bit higher than the others. The ceiling of the tomb and the right wall had been plastered. I was alone inside the tomb. Turning my eyes to the wall on the right, I thought I saw Jesus’s face slightly imprinted on the wall. It was similar to that on the Shroud of Turin. I didn’t see the whole face but only some features like the eyes. At that time I felt that the real Holy Sepulcher was there.
“I got out of the tomb and looked for the winemaking press. I couldn’t spot it. So I asked a lady who was sitting on the bench. She got up and pointed out a pool where in the past the grapes were pressed by feet and the juice flowed into a smaller basin. ‘Do you want to see the real place where the Lord was crucified?’ ‘Yes, of course!’
“She led me to a rocky wall on one of the sides of the garden. ‘This cement covers the  crack in the rock caused by the earthquake that happened when Jesus passed away. Underneath our feet there is no rock but a wooden floor. The rock is hollow. Digging is in progress. Jesus’s blood fell from his bleeding body into the Ark of the Covenant. He established a new covenant between God and humans.’
“I was puzzled by her words. How is it possible that the Ark of the Covenant was below the cross when Jesus died? I thought. She noticed my doubtfulness, so she took out a pen and a postcard from her purse and wrote something. Then she gave me the postcard. ‘Do your research, and then you’ll find out that I am right.’
“Later, I checked her information. Actually an archeologist had been digging under the rock of Gordon’s Calvary. The aim was to bring into the light what was once called Zedekiah’s Cave, a vast underground quarry which supplied the stone for the Temple of Solomon. Therefore, nothing can be excluded. I still keep the postcard the lady gave me. Besides the name of the archeologist, she wrote, ‘Jesus loves you.’

This is an excerpt from The Vibrations of Words: second edition by Ettore Grillo
Ettore Grillo author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

THE CHARM OF THE MOSQUES IN TURKEY

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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Visiting Turkey, I have come across many majestic mosques with minarets so slender that they seem to want to touch the sky. But what impressed me was the sincere prayers of the Muslims. They pray five times a day, with great zeal.
In my hometown most of the congregation consists of old women, while in the mosques there are many young men that pray zealously.
Seeing them praying with such ardor, I wanted to pray with them. So I entered a mosque and asked a man to teach me how to pray. He said, “Our prayers are in Arabic, even though Arabic is not our mother tongue. All Muslims must pray in Arabic, for the Koran can’t be spoken in a language different from the original.”
“How can I pray?” I asked.
He answered, “Start your prayer by saying Allah Akbar (God is most great). However, if the imam is present, follow him. He will guide you.”
Then he gave me a few booklets about Islam. I accepted his gift gladly. I will read them when I come back to my hometown.

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
– Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

MARY’S WELL IN ZIPPORI (ISRAEL)

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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“Hearing his words, I hesitated about going to Nazareth with him or going to see this Mary’s well. The latter alternative prevailed. ‘Yes, I want to visit Mary’s well. Where is it? ‘It’s just three hundred meters away. Cross over that field, and you’ll find it. Good luck! After you see the well, you can take a bus to Nazareth. The bus stop is across the road.’
“I walked in the countryside, but I couldn’t find the well. I asked a man on the way. ‘Yes, it is down there. Some people drink the water of the well, but I’ve never done that,’ he answered.
“After passing by a garbage heap, finally I found the well! I got near to it and was welcomed by the warm greetings of several children. ‘Shalom! Shalom! Shalom!’ they all sang in one voice. ‘Shalom!’ I answered with a big smile.
“The children were splashing in the pool, jumping up and down. Actually, the well was a pool. The water had a bluish hue, which degraded into light blue and ended in whitish colorlessness by the edge where I was standing. At first, I guessed that the light blue color of the water was caused by the reflection of the blue sky. But soon I realized that the pool was too small and shallow to reflect the blue sky. The water didn’t seem to be stirred up by the children who splashed continuously. Its preternatural blue color remained unaltered.
“I took off my shoes and tried to keep my balance while I was walking on uneven, pointed stones. I sat on the edge of the pool and dipped my feet into the cool water. Then I washed my face and my head. There was an ancient wall on one side of the pool. A small blue rivulet fed the pool. I had never found any mark about this Mary’s well on the map. Nevertheless, I visited the well by chance. The sky blue color of the water and its atmosphere enchanted me. When I stepped out of the well, the children performed a Hebraic dance for me. I was happy to see their dance. I waved goodbye to them, smiling. Then I walked to the bus stop.

This is an excerpt from The Vibrations of Words: second edition by Ettore Grillo
Ettore Grillo author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo