Next Tuesday, 22 February, the phases of the reconnaissance of the remains of Fra 'Nazareno, started last October, will end. On this occasion, the remains of the Servant of God will be buried in the new tomb, built inside the church of Our Lady of Consolation, in Is Molas.
A strictly confidential ceremony, without faithful, which will begin at 4 pm, in the presence of the Archbishop of Cagliari Giuseppe Baturi and the vice-postulator of the cause of beatification, Father Roberto Sardu, guardian of the convent.
On Sunday 27 February, at 10.30, a solemn mass will be celebrated on the 30th anniversary of the death of the Capuchin friar of Pula. On the same day, from 9 to 16, the Italian Post Office will be available for postcards and postmarks.
LIFE - Fra 'Nazareno, aka Giovanni Zucca, was born in Pula on January 21, 1911. After spending his youth in his country, he moved to Africa, where he opened a restaurant business. He was a soldier on the front and was taken prisoner by the English army. Back in Sardinia, he felt his religious vocation more and more strongly, and a particular attraction for the figure of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, whom he went to visit in 1950. Under the advice and spiritual guidance of Padre Pio he entered the Order of Friars Minor Cappuccini, where he worked as a cook, begging gardener, dedicating himself to assisting the poor.
His religious life was characterized by the most absolute poverty, by sacrifices and penances, by mystical experiences and by the exercise of various supernatural gifts, such as that of prophecy, the reading of hearts, healings, the spiritual struggle against evil powers.
The infirmary of the Convent of Viale Fra Ignazio first, his hermitage in Pula then, became the destination of incessant pilgrimages of the needy of all sorts. With the support of some benefactors and friends, he started the construction of the church of Is Molas, dedicated to the Madonna della Consolazione who spoke to St. Ignatius of Laconi, which he could not see finished. He died in Cagliari, in the Santissima Trinità Hospital, on February 29, 1992.
(Unioneonline / lf)
