Histories

Monte Sant’Angelo –“The Mountain of the Angels”

The Ricucci / Ragucci family has it’s roots in the small Italian hilltop top of Monte Sant’Angelo – “The mountain of the angels” (sometimes written Monte S’Angelo).

Monte Sant'Angelo is located in the hills on the Gargona promontory, on the east coast of central Italy directly opposite Naples high above the Adriatic Sea. Nestled among olive groves at an altitude of 2700 feet (1/2 mile), the town offers beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and ocean. The town has been a pilgrimage site for centuries and was the final stop for many of the crusaders before boarding ships for the Holy Land.

The Sanctuary of St. Michael is the highlight of this small hilltop town. The sanctuary itself, with an octagonal 13th-century campanile, is rather plain on the outside. But from the small courtyard on the right, a flight of stone steps leads down to the crypts and cave grotto, which feature a magnificent pair of 11th-century bronze doors made in Constantinople. This is the entrance to the church built on the site of the cave in which Michael first appeared in 490.

St. Michael the Archangel first appeared at Monte Sant'Angelo in 490. According to tradition, a local nobleman named Elvio Emmanuele lost the best bull of his herd. After much searching, he found it kneeling in a cave. Unable to approach it, Elvio shot the bull with an arrow, but the arrow turned around and struck the man instead. Bewildered (and presumably bleeding), Elvio went to see his bishop, who ordered three days of prayer and fasting. At the end of the three days, St. Michael the Archangel appeared to the bishop and said:

I am Michael the Archangel and am always in the presence of God. I chose the cave that is sacred to me. There will be no more shedding of bull's blood. Where the rocks open widely, the sins of men may be pardoned. What is asked here in prayer will be granted. Therefore, go up to the mountain cave and dedicate it to the Christian God!

The bishop, however, began to worry about his own sanity and dismissed the vision. Two years later, the Christian city of Siponto, part of the bishop's diocese, came under attack by the pagan city of Odoacre. Again St. Michael appeared to the bishop, this time promising to save the city of Siponto. Immediately, a violent storm engulfed Odoacre, saving the people of Siponto. In thanksgiving, the bishop led a procession to the top of the mountain but did not dare to enter the cave. Soon, Michael appeared to the bishop a third time, ordering him to enter the cave. He said:

It is not necessary that you dedicate this church that I have consecrated with my presence. Enter and pray with my assistance and celebrate the Sacrifice. I will show you how I have consecrated this place.

The bishop then entered the grotto, where he found an altar covered with a red cloth, a crystal cross, and a footprint on the ground. The bishop thereupon commissioned a chapel to built at the entrance to the cave and did not consecrate it because Michael had already done so. The church came to be known as the Celestial Basilica.

St. Michael made another appearance here in 1656 during a great plague. The local bishop invoked St. Michael for protection, and the archangel appeared to him. The plague then ceased, and the mountain shrine became more popular than ever.

The sanctuary has been a popular place of pilgrimage for many centuries: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Bridget of Sweden, St. Gerard Majella, St. William of Vercelli and six popes (including Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II) have made the pilgrimage here to ask for St. Michael's protection.

For more information and a tour of the town and Sanctuary of St. Michael use the following link: http://www.gargano.it/sanmichele/english/index.html

Most pilgrims to Monte Sant'Angelo stay overnight in nearby San Giovanni Rotondo, where the shrine to Saint Padre Pio can be found.