Final Reflections

My journey to Sicily has come to an end.  Today, we made the long trip across the Atlantic.  I have a few brief final reflections.

1.  We all have made decisions that have had profound consequences on our own personal lives or the lives of others.  Vincenzo Farfaglia, Giuseppe Rinella and Frances Facone all made the decision to leave their homes for an unknown land.  Because of their decision, these two wonderful people met, fell in love, got married and had a family.

2.  Sicily is an intense land marked by centuries of a very complex history.  The Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the Spanish and World War II all have left an amazing impact on a very profound culture.  Thus, it is easier to understand the contrast between the fervor of Catholicism vs a noticeable anti-clericalism, and the friendliness of the Sicilians vs their horrid driving habits.

3.  Whenever we ask for a cannoli at a good Italian restaurant or bakery, we need to keep in mind that one cannoli is actually a cannolo.  Cannolo is the Italian language singular for the famous Sicilian pastery which has Arabic roots.  Cannoli  is the plural, such as when you purchase a box of cannoli.  Thus, "leave the gun and take the cannoli," not "...leave the cannolis" and "these cannoli were made by nuns who took a vow of silence," not "...these cannolis..."

Back to Reality

Today is our last day in Sicily.  We decided to return to the incredible beauty of Scopello.  Scopello is a small village situated in the national reserve of Zingero.  Here are some of the scenes.  Tomorow we leave very early in the morning for our flight back to JFK.  Some time tomorrow night, I will post a final reflection on my journey to Sicily.  

Beautiful Views from Scopello

Scopello is a small fishing village located west of Palermo on the Sicilian coast.  Here are some remarkable views.

Palermo in Depth

Today, Saro Pirrone, our tour guide, took us through the old part of Palermo. We saw some very beautiful churches. Here is a brief overview of our visit.


1. The Church of the Matorana
2. The Church of Gesu
3. The Palatine Chapel
4. The Palermo Cathedral
5. Restaurant - Antica Focacceria San Francisco started in 1834
6. The Massimo Theatre (scene of the shooting of Mary Corleone, Godfather III)

Cefalu

After our visit to Savoca, we made a visit to the famous town of Cefalu.  Here, in the center of the town, is a famous cathedral.  The art work is similar to Mondeale and the Palatine in Palermo.

August 15 is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  This Catholic feast day is celebrated with a lot of joy in Trappeto because it is the most important Marian feast day of the village. There has been a lot of celebrating since last night with a procession and fireworks. There will be a large boat procession tonight followed by more fireworks.   My sister had to leave us today.  It was great to have her with us.  

Tomorrow will be kind of catch up day.  Above all, we need to get some laundry done.  On Saturday, we will be doing a day long tour of the most important historical spots in Palermo.

Savoca

Yesterday we left behind Linguaglossa and Castiglione, and we made our way back to Trappeto which is located about 30 minutes west of Palermo.  During our drive back to Trappeto, we visited the beautiful town of Savoca which is located north of Taromina and south of Messina.  The views were amazing.  Moreover, this is the town where some of the Godfather I was shot.  On the bottom of the hill and in front of the town square is the famous Bar Vitelli.  Godfather fans will remember that this is where Michael Coreleone met his first father-in-law.  

Another Interesting Day in Sicily

Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe.  Early Monday morning the usual surrounding clouds had disappeared, allowing for a spectacular view from the our home in Linguaglosa.

After breakfast, we spent most of the day back in Castiglione di Sicilia.  We were able to search  family records, only to find out that any record keeping prior to 1921 was pretty basic.  However, we were able to locate my grandfather's birth certificate and the street address where he lived before immigrating to Connecticut.  The house where he lived is no longer standing, but we took a picture on the street where his house was located.

In the middle of the picture is Giuseppe Farfaglia.  Somehow we are related, but we do not know how.  We were unable to trace the family line, but we did find out that the last name Farfaglia is well known in Castigilione di Sicilia, but it is not a common last name.  Thus, I conclude that all of the Farfaglias are related, but we don't know exactly how.

Last night, I had dinner in Linguaglosa with an old friend, Nick Cornwall, who is on deployment off the coast of Catania.  Nick was a parishioner at Saint Helena's while in Navy flight school at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station.  He met and married his wonderful wife, April, at Saint Helena's when I was the pastor.  It was great to see Nick again.

A Sunday Visit to Castiglione di Sicilia

After offering the Extraordinary Form of the Catholic Mass in a private chapel located at the house that we are staying at in Linguaglosa, we were able to visit the town where my grandfather Vincenzo (James) Farfaglia was born .  The little town, located next to Linguaglosa, is called Castiglione di Sicilia.  We did find out that there are many members of our family in Castiglione.  We plan to find them tomorrow.  Stay tuned, more to come...

Palermo

For Godfather movie fans like myself, our tour guide drove us by the opera house in Palermo where Francis Ford Copola filmed the death of Mary Coreleone in Godfather III.  I hope to be able to get a picture later on during our trip when we return to Palermo.  

More importantly, after a delicious lunch in Termini Imerese, we were able to visit the famous Basilica of Mondeale and the Shrine of Santa Rosalia.  I was able to offer Mass at the shrine.  

An Amazing Day in Sicily

Today we traveled to Termini Imerese, the birth place of my great-grandparents on my mother's side. We spent about three hours at the local government office where the records are kept.  We were able to find all of the official information about Giuseppe Rinella and his wife Francesca Facone.  The most interesting of all of the things that we found out is the fact that my great-grandmother was actually 15 years old when she married Joseph.  It seems that she lied about her age and told the parish that she was twenty.  Amazingly,  we found the very house where she was born.  We have copies of all of their official records: birth certificates and their marriage license.  

It was quite moving to see my mother stand in front of the house where her Sicilian grandmother was born.  We could have spent two to three days in Termini Imerese digging up more information and even some relatives that might be still there, but we needed to move on and visit Palermo in the afternoon.  

Leave the Gun and Take the Canolis

Any reference to Sicily brings us Godfather movie buffs back to all of the famous lines.  But, so far no Mafia, but there are plenty of canolis.  The canoli is a famous desert which originates from Sicily. We will talk more about this later.  By the way, I have seen canolis all over the place, but I haven't had one yet.  It's too hot.  

Our trip was long, but smooth, except for the fiasco at the Palermo airport.  The baggage claim area is  very disorganized.  Other than that problem, everything has been beautiful so far.  My sister the sister joins us tomorrow.

We did not feel too tired today, so we decided to explore the west coast of Sicily.  We visited a small village south of Trapani and then we made our way to Marsala, the home of the famous Marsala wine.  

Going Back to Our Roots

This past December 24, 2012, I celebrated the 25th anniversary of my ordination to the Catholic priesthood.  I have seen this year, until December 24, 2013, as a celebration of this benchmark in my journey towards eternal life.  It is a year to give thanks to God for the awesome gift of the priesthood, to reflect on how I can be a better priest, and to take stock for the years to come.  At the same time, my Dad will be celebrating his 80th birthday this coming November 22.  The picture below is me offering Mass, this past June, at Saint Mary Major in Rome.  I said my first Mass at the same basilica on December 25, 1987.

In order to mark these two special occasions, last summer I suggested to my parents that we save up our personal money and make a trip to Sicily to visit our family roots, go through any historical documentation that we can find,  and see if we can find any cousins.  

My Dad's father left a little farming village called Castiglione di Sicilia when he was only 17 years old.  Vincenzo arrived to Ellis Island on May 25, 1921.  His name was changed to James.  He was processed through Ellis Island and went directly to Stamford, CT where he lived until he and my grandmother, Angelina Rice of Hamilton,  New Jersey,  retired to Florida.  

My grandfather was a tailor.  Upon arriving to Stamford, he found immediate employment and within three years he owned his own tailor shop. 

My Mom's grandparents left Termini Imerese when they were very young.  They were married in Sicily and they also settled in Stamford, CT.  My great-grandmother was already deceased before I was born and my great-grandfather passed away when I was around 3 or 4 years old. 

My great-grandfather was also known for his work ethic.  He grew vegetables and fruit in his backyard.  With a pushcart, typical of years gone by, he sold his produce in his neighborhood.  Before long, he owned three homes.  The rooms were rented out at an affordable rate to his children, grandchildren and relatives so that everyone would have a nice place to live.   

No one to my knowledge has written out a complete history of either side of our family, so during our trip to Sicily we will attempt to fill in the missing pieces.  

This blog is a simple way to allow family and friends to enjoy this rather fascinating trip back to Sicily.  I will do my best to document our journey, beginning Monday, August 4th, with a series of pictures.