John MICHAEL Kunz

I was told that from San Giovanni Rotondo one of the places to visit is Monte San Angelo.  Padre Pio and many others over the centuries have gone there on pilgrimage.  So once again I became a pilgrim. It was a bus ride up into the sky with a magnificent view of the Adriatic Sea coast.  I was dropped in the middle of the town not knowing what I was supposed to visit.  I thought it would be obvious.  I searched a while and decided to have lunch.  The owner of the Ristorante told me the place to go was the Saint Michael Shrine just up the road.  So I set off.  The tradition states that St. Michael the Archangel appeared here 4 times beginning in the 400's A.D.  It still exists in the same form--a cave or grotto.  "The Sacred Grotto, for centuries has been the destination of pilgrimages, a place of prayer and above all of reconciliation with God.  In fact, the apparitions of the Archangel are a sign, an invitation to the person to bow down with reverent confidence before the Divine Majesty and realise God's personal love for us."  I stood in awe and silence in this most holy place.  You could feel God's love and Michael's strength right within the stones that held the prayers of the centuries.  Today I learned more about my middle name.  I snapped the front entry but no pictures were allowed inside the grotto.  So the one here is of a photograph.