Pilgrimage
to Monte Argentario
In the Steps of St. Paul of the Cross in
Photographs and Words
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Photos : Top left - Fr. Fernando introduces the Retreat of the Presentation
and top right - in the Crypt where early Passionists are buried. Centre
- on the steps of the Presentation Retreat. Right centre - the Novitiate
of St. Joseph and Left centre - a cell used by St. Paul. Bottom left -
in the hermitage of St. Anthony and Bottom right - in St. Joseph's with
Fr. Jose C.P.(ex-superior General) and the cook !
Pilgrimage -
Fr. Martin Coffey C.P.
Eight of us arrived in Rome on
September 12, Bernard Lowe, Martin
Denny, John O'Kane, Patrick Duffy, Tom
Scanlon, Charles Cross, Patrick Sheridan
and myself. We were joined by Frank
Keevins the following day. Fr. Ottaviano
and the community of John and Paul's
received us warmly. We celebrated
Eucharist on the feast of The Triumph of
the Cross in the room of St. Paul of the
Cross. For two days we walked the streets
of Rome and saw many of the places
associated with the life of Paul - the
Quirinale Palace where he was refused
an audience with the Pope, the basilica
of St. Mary Major's where he took his vow
of the Passion, the hospital of St.
Galicano where he cared for the sick with
his brother John Baptist, the basilica of
Santa Maria in Trastevere where he
preached his last mission.
Monday
September 15 we headed for
Monte Argentario. The community of Jose
and Sabrina welcomed us and
immediately made us feel at home. The
house, which was established by Paul of
the Cross, was simple and comfortable.
The breathtaking beauty of the location
set the scene for our four days together.
We had no fixed plan or programme but
soon decided to allow the Spirit to guide
us. The main activities of the day were
long periods of prayer and quiet followed
by faith sharing. Each of us remarked that
the beauty of the place and the gentle
presence of Paul spoke to us. It was like
coming home after a long absence.
For
four days we shared life together and
discovered once again the joy of being
Passionists. We spoke and listened and
gradually discovered that the
experiences of life had shaped us and
marked us with the sign of the Cross and
made us Passionists from the inside as it
were. On Monte Argentario we
experienced something very good. We
got a glimpse of a possible new way of
being together and of sharing our spirit
with others. Seeds of new life were sown
which we want to nourish and foster for
ourselves, for the province and for God's
people. At this stage there is no fixed
follow up plan but I know something will
spring to life.
Monte Argentario and
St. Paul of the Cross
In 1721, at 27 years of age, Paul Daneo
was on his way to Rome, by sea, when
he first caught sight of Monte Argentario,
a mountain set in the sea, connected to
the
coast by two
strips of land and a
place frequented by hermits. He felt
drawn to settle there. A year later he
returned and with his brother, John
Baptist, took possession of the hermitage
of the Annunciation. They remained for
one year before moving away to work
elsewhere.
In
1728 they returned to Monte Argentario
but finding the Hermitage of the
Annunciation occupied they moved the
other side of the mountain to the
Hermitage of St. Anthony of the Desert.
Here they settled with permission to
gather companions for the new religious
order Paul was planning. The hermitage
was very small and in 1731 Paul picked a
spot on the mountain for his first Retreat.
After
many difficulties the Retreat of the
Presentation was opened in September
14th 1737. As numbers expanded Paul
founded another seven houses in Central
Italy. By 1753 he wanted a new retreat on
Monte Argentario for novices. He picked
a site on the south of the mountain and
by 1761 the Novitiate of St. Joseph was
opened. In this house our pilgrims stayed
in 2003.