Abruzzo on GEO

On 15 November, on Rai3, between 4.30 and 5.30 pm the twelfth broadcast on Geo stage of the “With wings on your feet” path from Sulmona to Pescocostanzo.

Represented as a warrior with a sword Saint Michael psychopomp is the companion of souls in the underworld and is often present in pastoral tradition as a symbol of courage and power against evil, represented in Christian iconography by the dragon or Lucifer from which he separates remaining faithful to God. His the name Mi-ka-El in fact means “who is like God?“

In 1216 St. Francis went to the Sanctuary of Monte Sant’Angelo al Gargano stopping in prayer and drawing a simple TAU on the ground because in his heart he was not worthy to cross its threshold. In fact, his devotion to Saint Michael was great, as also reported by Tommaso da Celano in his “Second Life”: “He often repeated that blessed Michael must be honored in a more solemn way, because he has the task of presenting souls to God”.

The first stage in Abruzzo of the 25 which cover a route of approximately 500 kilometers from Lazio to Puglia, in the footsteps of Saint Francis towards Monte Sant’Angelo is Villagrande di Tornimparte whose parish church, a national monument, is dedicated to Saint Panfilo bishop of Valva and Sulmona, probably built around the year 1000. In the years 1490-94, Saturnino Gatti(1463 – 1518) painter, sculptor, figure, defined as the last great bastion of the artistic Renaissance in Abruzzo. he created a cycle of magnificent frescoes in the apse which includes a representation of Paradise while the Prophets and the scene of the Annunciation are depicted in the arch above the main altar. The capture of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the flagellation, the death on the cross and the Resurrection are represented around the apse. Imposing among all the images, and with all its expressive force, that of the Risen Christ, as well as the high quality figure of God the Father surrounded by a swarm of cherubs.