The Poles of Montecassino
The Poles of Montecassino By Marco Respinti. Translated and edited by L. Pavese Cassino, Italy, in Terra di Lavoro (the ancient Liburia) , is the seat of the Historiale , a “living museum” that teaches us a precious lesson: good and evil never change, even in the extreme case of war. Not very far from there rises Montecassino, the heart of Europe, that is, the core of that Christianity that evolved into the civilization, the institutes and the institutions that bear the monastic seal of Saint Benedict of Nursia. There pilgrims may admire a sumptuously rebuilt abbey. The original was wiped out by American bombs on February 18, 1944, while its treasures were rescued by Bishop-Abbot Gregorio Vito Diamare (1865-1945) and German Lieutenant Colonel Julius Schlegel (1895-1958). Afterwards, Bishop Diamare said Mass for the rescuers and gave the Colonel a handwritten document of appreciation written on prized parchment, in accordance with the ancient Benedictine tradit