Belloc Arrives in Rome

And so, on this day in 1901, Hilaire Belloc arrived in Rome just as he had sworn to do that day in St. Cloud outside Paris: on 29th June, the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. So does The Path to Rome come to an end and, alas, my reading of it. I shall miss it until next, God willing, I open its pages again on 4th June next year. I shall miss Belloc's musings, his humour, insights, low points and high, his stories, descriptions, determination and faith.

Going back to my last post. I said I would mention any key moments from the Italian section of Belloc's pilgrimage. I was thinking about this in relation to his low points. As it turned out, however, his walk through Italy was not quite as bad as I remembered.

Certainly, after Milan, it went badly. This was because of the rain. It rained, rained, and rained. Not only that but the weather was so bad, Belloc at one point got his directions mixed up and started walking north again.

Fortunately, the rain lasted a couple of days. Once it stopped, Belloc's days improved. So much so that it is in Italy that he experienced the best day (or evening) of his pilgrimage:

The fire-flies darted in the depths of vineyards and of trees below; then the noise of the grasshoppers brought back suddenly the gardens of home, and whatever benediction surrounds our childhood. Some promise of eternal pleasures and of rest deserved haunted the village of Sillano... 

Youth came up that valley at evening, bourne upon a southern air. If we deserve or attain beatitude, such things shall at last be our settled state; and their now sudden influence upon the soul in short ecstasies is the proof that they stand outside time, and are not subject to decay.

This, then was the blessing of Sillano, and here was perhaps the highest moment of those seven hundred miles - or more.

What a wonderful place Sillano sounds like! 

As for me, I feel lonely now. It's like a dear friend has said goodbye for a long time. We hope to meet each other again, but who knows what will happen before then? I'm sad, but I do feel very lucky to feel this sadness, as I know that I have been blessed by the presence of The Path to Rome in my life. Whether I read it again or not, I know that it will continue to be such a blessing. My prayer is that other people will have the chance to read it and be similarly blessed. May it be so. Amen.

St. Peter and St. Paul - please pray for me and this intention.