Matter creates thought or thought creates matter? Do I believe in God by faith or reason? Matter = Energy, energy = Love, Love = God

La materia crea il pensiero oppure il pensiero crea la materia?
Credo in Dio: per fede o per ragione?
Materia uguale Energia, Energia uguale Amore, Amore uguale Dio
Sul Corriere della sera del 4 Aprile2005, a firma del filosofo Emanuele Severino, nell'articolo di fondo, dedicato alla morte del Papa Giovanni Paolo secondo ed al grande richiamo da Lui esercitato su tutti i popoli della Terra, si legge: "Anche se si stenta a capirlo, la filosofia dell'ultimo secolo e mezzo è la punta d'acciaio che anima, dà forza, fa procedere il nostro tempo. Essa mostra che lo scavalcamento dei valori del passato è un processo inevitabile. Mostra che il sacro e il divino concepiti come dimensione eterna che domina il divenire e la storia sono impossibili."
Forse, se l'uomo del 2000 continuasse a fondare la concezione del Sacro su un puro atto di fede l'affermazione di Severino troverebbe anche un qualche fondamento. Ancora oggi il comune sentire ci dice che credere in Dio è una questione di fede. Se hai la grazia della fede crederai in Dio, se non hai la grazia della fede non crederai in Dio, perché la ragione da sola non potrebbe dimostrare, secondo filosofi e scienziati, l'esistenza di un Dio creatore dell'Universo. Anche le religioni conosciute, in primis la religione cristiana, hanno sempre affermato che credere in Dio presuppone un atto di fede, che prescinde totalmente da un percorso razionale, non nel senso di opposizione alla razionalità, ma nel senso di sovrapposizione alla razionalità, su un piano di conoscenza più elevato. In parole semplici la dottrina religiosa afferma che la conoscenza di Dio non è frutto della ragione, ma di verità rivelate
Io mi permetto umilmente di dissentire. Ho maturato la convinzione che la fede in Dio può nascere anche dalla nostra ragione, se è libera da pregiudizi e sovrastrutture mentali e si lascia guidare dalla ricerca della verità. Un aiuto concreto ci viene proprio dalla scienza che è oggi considerata, a torto, avversaria di ogni credo religioso . E' la Scienza (con la S maiuscola) che, superando i percorsi speculativi della filosofia, percorrendo i sentieri aspri della ricerca scientifica disvelatrice delle fondamenta della realtà cosmica, ci porta sulla via maestra delle verità filosofiche, morali, religiose.
L'essenza della realtà cosmica è fondata su tre categorie o elementi fondamentali: materia, spazio, tempo. Se fossero categorie definitive, ultime ed invalicabili si dovrebbe concludere che nulla è al di fuori della realtà materiale e tutto è in essa ricompreso.
Invece la materia non è da sempre e per sempre, lo spazio non è da sempre e per sempre, il tempo non è da sempre e per sempre.
La fisica del 20esimo secolo ci ha insegnato che i tre elementi fondamentali della realtà ( materia, spazio, tempo) sono provvisori, transeunti, fugaci e, come tali, aprono il discorso ad una realtà altra, una realtà oltre i confini di quella in cui viviamo. I greci antichi la chiamavano, con felice intuizione, metafisica che significa al di là della natura.
Lo spazio ed il tempo non sono categorie assolute, immutabili, come per secoli sono stati considerati. Lo spazio ed il tempo sono stati sempre considerati le colonne d'Ercole invalicabili della realtà materiale (galassie, stelle, pianeti) e dello stesso fenomeno della vita vegetale, animale, umana.
Einstein ci ha spiegato con formule matematiche che vanno sotto il nome di teoria della relatività che lo spazio ed il tempo si modificano con il movimento e la modifica è tanto più sensibile quanto più veloce è il movimento. I secondi, i minuti, le ore scanditi da un orologio sopra una astronave che viaggia a velocità vicina a quella della luce, hanno una durata molto più lunga dei secondi, minuti, ore scanditi da un orologio terrestre. Più esattamente possiamo precisare che il movimento dilata il tempo, per cui per velocità crescenti il tempo si dilata sempre di più e l'unità di tempo si dilata a tal punto da poter includere il passato , il presente, il futuro. L'unità di tempo entra nella dimensione dell'eternità.
Se il tempo si dilata per effetto del movimento, lo spazio, invece, si contrae, si riduce nella sua estensione. Col crescere della velocità lo spazio si riduce sempre di più, fino alla concentrazione di tutto lo spazio dell'Universo nella unità di spazio. L'unità di spazio entra nella dimensione dell'infinito. Naturalmente parliamo di velocità, come quella della luce, inaccessibili all'esperienza umana. Le osservazioni scientifiche di Einstein acquistano un grande significato filosofico perché modificano profondamente la concezione del mondo materiale con la dimostrazione che può esistere una realtà fuori del tempo e dello spazio.
La materia di cui è composto l'Universo, dalla stella più grande al virus invisibile, microscopico, non è altro che energia cristallizzata, imprigionata. Un sasso, un fiore, una farfalla, un corpo umano, una stella sono un concentrato enorme di energia, per così dire, "solidificata", materializzata, che può essere calcolata secondo la formula di Einstein: E=mc2. "E" sta per energia, "m" indica la massa di materia, "c" è la velocità della luce (300mila km/secondo) che elevata al quadrato ci dà un valore di 90 miliardi. Qualunque grandezza di massa materiale presa in considerazione va moltiplicata per un fattore pari a 90 miliardi di volte per cui l'energia prodotta anche per piccole masse di materia risulta in quantità enormi. Il processo di trasformazione energia-materia è un processo reversibile nel senso che l'energia diventa materia e la materia diventa energia. L'Universo intero è il risultato di trasformazione di una incalcolabile quantità di energia in materia. La materia è uno stato provvisorio derivato da uno stato originario e definitivo che è l'energia. Le scienze fisiche ci dimostrano che la materia ritorna allo stato di pura energia quando è messa a contatto con l 'antimateria. Caratteristica fondamentale dell'antimateria è data da cariche elettromagnetiche opposte a quelle della materia. Il nucleo dell'atomo della materia è elettropositivo e l'elettrone è elettronegativo. Il nucleo dell'atomo della antimateria è elettronegativo e l'elettrone è elettropositivo. L'interazione tra materia ed antimateria determina la scomparsa delle cariche elettromagnetiche del nucleo e degli elettroni, cancella la materia e l'antimateria (processo di annichilazione), libera energia allo stato puro. Risulta così provata la trasformazione della materia in energia.
D'altra parte l'energia sprigionata negli acceleratori dallo scontro di particelle a velocità vicina a quella della luce è in grado di creare dal nulla nuove particelle di materia, sia pure per tempi brevissimi. Risulta così provata la creazione di materia da parte dell'energia. In via definitiva, per essere ancora più chiari, possiamo dire che il passaggio dall'energia alla materia è un atto di creazione, il passaggio dalla materia ad energia è un atto di trasformazione.
All'inizio del discorso abbiamo detto che tre categorie sono alla base della realtà: materia, spazio, tempo. C'è chi afferma che si tratta di elementi a sé stanti, indipendenti uno dall'altro. Ad un esame più attento ci accorgiamo che lo spazio ed il tempo sono legati alla materia perché sono di essa attributi, funzioni. Lo spazio non è altro che dimensioni e distanze, mentre il tempo non è altro che movimento e cambiamento. Dimensione, distanza, cambiamento, movimento sono tutti attributi della materia. Sono presenti se è presente la materia, sono assenti se è assente la materia, compaiono quando compare la materia, scompaiono quando scompare la materia. Allora correggiamo l'affermazione fatta prima, cioè che la realtà è composta da tre elementi fondamentali. E' più corretto affermare che la realtà apparente è data da un solo elemento: la materia con i suoi attributi o funzioni che sono lo spazio ed il tempo. Il discorso si semplifica molto perché si limita alla materia come elemento unico fondante la realtà ( galassie, stelle, pianeti, vita vegetale ed animale). Abbiamo anche detto che la materia è uno stato provvisorio che nasce da una esplosione di energia (il Big-Bang primordiale), all'incirca 14 miliardi di anni fa. Insieme alla materia nasceva dal Big-Bang l'antimateria che decadeva più velocemente della materia lasciando quest'ultima padrona della realtà. Le ultime osservazioni di astrofisica sui rapporti tra forza gravitazionale e movimento delle galassie negli spazi cosmici hanno svelato l'esistenza accanto alla materia di una materia invisibile, di gran lunga prevalente ( dark matter o materia oscura), che riempirebbe gli spazi siderali e di cui ci sfugge la natura. Anche la "dark matter" condivide la stessa origine della materia che noi conosciamo?
Prima della comparsa della materia c'era solo Energia allo stato puro.
L'Universo, così come noi lo conosciamo nei suoi aspetti fisici e biologici, è destinato a tornare Energia, perché l'Energia lo ha creato. Punto focale del nostro indagare non è più la materia ma l'Energia. Siamo in perfetta sintonia con l'intuizione folgorante di Aristotele (2500 anni fa) che affermava: la realtà cosmica ha due aspetti fondanti, la Potenza (Energia) e l'Atto ( la Materia).
Può l'Energia rappresentare il principio fondante della realtà? No, perché non è autosufficiente, è illimitata ma non infinita, non è in grado di autoalimentarsi senza limiti, è soggetta alle leggi della fisica, è destinata a consumarsi quando compie un lavoro, a decadere, a terminare. Ha un principio ed avrà una fine. Procede in una sola direzione, perché quando compie un lavoro si esaurisce, non recupera lo stato precedente, non è reversibile.
Esiste, però, una entità che è autosufficiente, è illimitata, è in grado di autoalimentarsi perché più si manifesta più cresce, non è soggetta alle leggi della fisica, non è destinata a consumarsi, non decade, non termina. Non ha un principio, non ha una fine. Procede in tutte e direzioni, perché quando viene data, è restituita in misura accresciuta, arricchendosi all'infinito, attimo dopo attimo
Questa Entità è L'Amore.
Così come l' energia si presenta con livelli energetici diversi, anche l'Amore calato nella realtà vivente si presenta con livelli differenti in una scala che va dal livello più basso dell'egoismo assoluto al livello più alto dell'altruismo assoluto. In mezzo c'è tutta la gamma dell'umano sentire.
Solo l'Amore è inesauribile, non conosce usura, si moltiplica quando si divide, non ha un principio, non ha una fine, viola la legge spietata dell'Entropia che afferma la fine di tutte le cose materiali, sfugge ai vincoli della materia-spazio-tempo perché è l'Autore della materia- spazio-tempo. E' la fonte prima dell'Energia e del Creato. E' l'Amore che genera l'Energia e l'Energia genera l'Universo. L'Amore è infinito: è Dio.
"L'Amor che muove il sole e le altre stelle" ( Dante, il Paradiso, canto XXXIII, verso 145) è la geniale intuizione del sommo poeta che la conoscenza scientifica attuale ci permette di riscontrare come la Verità.
Se Dio è Amore infinito è inadeguato catalogarlo a seconda delle religioni, è inadeguato studiarlo secondo parametri umani, è inadeguato e non sufficiente parlare di liturgie, di dogmi, di riti, anche se ne riconosciamo l'utilità e la necessità pratica. Ancor meno adeguato è il parlare di inferno come realtà eterna, totale assenza di Dio, sede del male assoluto, dove si scontano le colpe del peccato.
Accanto all'Amore, come principio assoluto ed infinito da cui tutta la realtà discende, non c'è spazio per il male assoluto che chiamiamo inferno. Il male è soltanto un allontanamento, una carenza, una perdita momentanea di quel valore supremo che è l'Amore, verso il quale tutto il Creato, prima o poi, ritorna. In realtà il peccato non è una colpa ma un errore e come tale non merita la punizione eterna, ma un percorso di illuminazione e redenzione.
Tutto ciò che emana dall'Amore infinito deve ritornare, prima o poi, all'Amore infinito, trascendente e non immanente.
La nostra vita è un tentativo, quasi sempre fallito, di scoprire l'Amore.
Sarà l'Amore infinito a portare tutto il Creato, nessuno escluso, in salvamento.
Sotto questa luce tutte le religioni, nessuna esclusa, acquistano piena legittimazione, ad una sola condizione. Che si possano riassumere ed esprimere in un unico valore infinito: l'Amore. Si tratta di una rivoluzione perché un valore affettivo, l’Amore , si trasforma in un valore ontologico definitivo.
Nel quarto secolo dopo Cristo Sant'Agostino affermava: credo ut intelligam ( credo per capire).
Oggi una corretta, razionale interpretazione del pensiero scientifico moderno ci permette di rovesciare i termini dell'affermazione: intelligo ut credam ( capisco, ragiono per credere).


Traduzione in inglese

On the newspaper “Corriere della sera”, fourth April 2005, in a leading article signed by the philosopher Emanuele Severino, dedicated to death of Pope John Paul second and great exercised attraction by him on all peoples of the earth, we read: "Even if it is hard to understand, the philosophy of the last century and half is the steel tip core that gives our time life, strength , and makes it go ahead . It shows that overcoming the values of the past is an inevitable process. See, the Sacred and the God conceived as a dimension that dominates eternal fate and history are impossible. " Perhaps, if the man of 2000 would continue to base the conception of the Sacred in a pure act of faith, Severino’s assertions would find some foundation. Even today the common feeling suggests us that believing in God is a matter of faith. If you have the grace of faith you believe in God, if you do not have the grace of faith you don’t believe in God, because reason alone can not prove, according to philosophers and scientists, the existence of a creator God of the Universe. Also known religions, primarily Christianity, have always said that believing in God requires an act of faith, which leaves apart totally from a rational route, not opposite to rationality, but laid upon it, on a level of higher knowledge. In simple terms, the religious doctrine says that the knowledge of God is not result of reason, but revealed truth.I humbly take the liberty of disagreeing. I gained the conviction that faith in God can rise by our reason, if it is free from prejudice and mental superstructures and allows to be led by the search for truth. Concrete help comes us from science that is now regarded, wrongly, as enemy of all religious beliefs. It is Science (with a capital S) that, beyond and above the paths of speculative philosophy, along the rugged paths of scientific research revealing the foundations of cosmic reality, leads us to the main way of philosophical, moral, religious truth. The essence of cosmic reality is based on three categories or elements: matter, space, time. If they were ultimate, and insurmountable Categories one should conclude that nothing is beyond the material reality and everything is included in it. Instead, matter isn’t without beginning and endless, the space isn’t without beginning and endless, the time isn’t without beginning and endless. They aren’t unchangeable. The physics of the 20th century taught us that the three fundamental elements of reality (matter, space and time) are temporary, transient, changeable, and as such, open to a perspective of another reality, which is beyond the boundaries of the one we live in. The ancient Greeks called it, with intuition, metaphysics, meaning beyond natural and cosmic reality we live in. Space and time are not absolute, unchangeable categories, they have been considered through centuries like. The space and time were always considered insurmountable Hercules’s pillars of material reality (galaxies, stars, planets) and of the same phenomenon of plants, animals, human life. Einstein told us with mathematical formulas, known as the theory of relativity, that space and time change with the movement. The faster is the movement and the more remarkable is space and time change. The seconds, minutes, hours marked by a clock on a spaceship traveling at speeds approaching that of light, have a much longer duration of seconds, minutes, hours than that one marked by a clock on earth. More precisely we can specify that the movement expands the time, so increasing velocity expands time more and more. Time unit expands so much to include the past, present and future. Time unit enters eternity dimension. If time expands as a result of movement, space, on the contrary, becomes shorter, decreases in its extension. Increasing speed shortens space more and more, until the concentration of entire universe space in space unit. Space unit enters the dimension of infinity. Of course we talk about speed, like that of light, inaccessible to human. The scientific observations of Einstein acquire great philosophical meaning because they change profoundly the conception of material world showing that there may be a reality beyond time and space. Matter the Universe is made up of, from the biggest star to the invisible, microscopic virus, is nothing but crystallized, imprisoned energy. A stone, a flower, a butterfly, a human body, a star are a huge concentration of "solidified", materialized energy, which can be calculated using Einstein’s formula : E = mc2. "E" stands for energy, "m" indicates matter mass, “c” is the speed of light (300 thousands kms / second) that, multiplied by itself, gives us a value of 90 billion. Whatever size of mass of matter taken into consideration should be multiplied by a factor of 90 billion times. Consequently produced energy by small masses of matter results in enormous quantities. The process of transformation energy-matter is a reversible process in the sense that energy becomes matter and matter becomes energy. Entire the Universe is the result of turning an incalculable amount of energy into matter. Matter is a temporary condition resulting from an ultimate condition that is energy. The physical sciences show us that matter returns back to the condition of pure energy when it is put in contact with antimatter. Antimatter key feature is given by electromagnetic opposite charges to ones of matter. Atomic nucleus of matter is electropositive, electron is electronegative. In the opposite way atomic nucleus of antimatter is electronegative and the electron is electropositive. The interaction between matter and antimatter causes disappearance of electromagnetic charges of nucleuses and electrons,it wipes out matter and antimatter (annihilation process), releases energy in its purest essence. It is proved in this way turning of matter into energy. On the other hand, released energy in the accelerators by means of particles clash at speeds approaching that one of light is able to create from nothing new particles of matter, even for a fraction of shortest time. It is thus proved the creation of matter from energy. At last, to be clearer, we can say that transition from energy to matter is an act of creation, the transition from matter to energy is an act of transformation. At the beginning of the speech we have said that three categories are the basis of reality: matter, space, time. Some people said that they are separate, independent from each other. For a closer look we realize that space and time are related to the matter because it attributes functions. The space is nothing but size and distance, while time is nothing but movement and change. Size, distance, change, movement are all of them attributes of matter. They are present if matter is present, they are absent when matter is absent, they appear when matter is, they disappear when matter isn’t. Then let’s correct earlier made assertion, namely that reality is made up of three elements. It’s 'more correct to say that the reality is apparent from a single element: the matter with the attributes and functions which are space and time. The speech is much easier because it is limited to the matter as a single basic reality (galaxies, stars, planets, plants and animals life). We have also said that matter is a temporary state that comes from an explosion of energy (the primordial Big-Bang), around 14 billion years ago. Together with the matter antimatter arose from the Big-Bang decaying faster than matter, leaving it in control of reality. The latest observations of astrophysics on the relationship between gravitational force and motion of galaxies in cosmic space have revealed next to matter existence of invisible matter, far predominant (dark matter), which would fill cosmic spaces, whose we don’t know nature. Does "dark matter" share the same origin of matter that we know? Before matter appearance there was only pure energy. The Universe, as we know it, in physical and biological terms, is conceived to return energy, because the energy created it. Focal point of our investigation is no longer matter but energy. We are in perfect harmony with the brilliant insight of Aristotle (2500 years ago) who stated: cosmic reality has two fundamental features, Power (energy) and Act (matter). May energy be founding principle of reality? It not may, because it isn’t self-sufficient, it is unlimited, but not infinite, it is not capable of self-feeding without limit,it is subject to laws of physics, it is destined to be consumed when it performs a work, to decline to an end. It has got a beginning and an end. It proceeds in one direction, because when it is working out, it doesn’t recover previous status, it isn’t reversible. There is, however, an entity that is self-sufficient, that is unlimited, that is capable of self-feeding because the more it shows itself the more it grows, it is not subject to the laws of physics, it is not intended to be consumed or ruled out, it doesn’t end. Neither it has got a beginning, nor it will have an end.
It proceeds in all directions, because when it is given it is returned by increased size, infinitely enriching, moment after moment This entity is Love. Just like energy shows different levels of power, also Love, descended in living reality, shows different levels on a scale that ranges between the lowest level of selfishness and the highest level of absolute unselfishness. In between, there is a wide range of human feelings and behaviours. Only Love is inexhaustible, It doesn’t wear and tear, It multiplies when you divide It, neither It has a beginning ,nor an end, It violates ruthless law of entropy which affirms the end of all material things, It escapes the boundaries of matter - space-time because It is the Author of matter-space-time. And It is the primary source of Energy and Creation. It is Love that generates energy and energy creates the Universe. Love is infinite: It is God. " Love that moves the sun and other stars" (Dante, Paradiso, canto XXXIII, versus 145) is a great poet intuition that current scientific knowledge allows us to recognize as the Truth. If God is infinite Love, it is inadequate catalog Him according to religions, it is inadequate to study Him according human parameters, it is inadequate and not sufficient talking about liturgy, dogmas, rites, even if we recognize the usefulness and practical necessity of them. Even less appropriate is talking of hell as a eternal reality, total absence of God, the site of absolute evil, where people are serving the guilt of sins. Next to Love, as absolute and infinite principle which all reality descends from, there is no space for absolute evil that we call hell. The evil is only a removal, a lack, a momentary loss of the supreme value that is Love, which whole creation, sooner or later will return to. In fact, sin is not a guilt but a mistake and as that not worthy of eternal punishment, rather a journey of enlightenment and redemption. All that comes from infinite Love must return, sooner or later, to infinite Love, transcendent and not immanent. Our life is an attempt, almost always failed, to discover Love. It will be the infinite Love that will bring the whole creation, without exception, in salvation. Under this view all religions, without exception, acquire full legitimacy at one condition. That we can sum up and express them in a single infinite value: Love.
It is a revolution because an affective value, Love, turns into an ultimate ontological, metaphysical value. In the fourth century AD Saint Augustine said: Credo ut intelligam (I believe to understand). Today, a proper, rational interpretation of modern scientific thought allows us to reverse the words of affirmation: intelligo ut credam (I understand, I reason to believe).

A migrant story: Biagio

I've been the unaware intermediary of a meeting between people who did not know with each other, though very close relatives, they were born and lived in distant lands separated by the ocean. Some years ago I received a letter from the United States that asked me to help find the family of origin of Biagio Bonanni who emigrated alone to America, still as a boy, about a century ago. With the decisive contribution of my cousin Iolanda Bonanni we were able to identify an important member of the family of origin, Rosina Bonanni mother in law of Iolanda’s son. A lovely touching story, full of deep feelings, which begins in Fiuggi and returns to Fiuggi and makes us realize that we are all citizens of a Global Village, as wide as our Planet. Rosina, her daughter Teresa and her son in law Luciano Giorgilli, asked me to write a piece for our newspaper, but I think it is fairer and more effective to tell the story first hand from the word of one of the protagonists of the story: Marylin Haffey, American grandchild of Biagio Bonanni who emigrated to America in the period from 1910 to 1912.

"Biagio Henry Bonanni was born in Fiuggi on 13 Dec. 1896 from Andrea Bonanni and Elizabeth Fiore and had 8 brothers and sisters. He left Italy to United States when he was very young, in search of a better life. He arrived at Ellis Island, New York. He was about 16.
A few years later he got married and had a son, Joseph. His wife died shortly after and Blaise moved to Minersville, Penssylvania around 1921. Minersville is a small city of coal mining. At that time it had about 5,000 inhabitants. Now there are 4,000. Minersville is very similar to Fiuggi. As you walk you are aware that you're going over hills. There are wavy hills and small mountains and is located on the Appalacchi mountain chain. There are a lot of trees and my grandson Christian often used to exclaim: "Look at the wooded mountains!" In autumn it is beautiful to see the leaves changing color. In winter when the trees are bare you can see much of the area with the coal black. It is an entire mining area. The houses are made of wood. They had pebbles outside and even the roofs are made of pebbles covered with tar. The houses are built in rows. Minersville was founded in the late 19th century. At that time many immigrants arrived in the United States. This place was a true melting pot of different races including immigrants from Lithuania, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Russia, Germany, Wales and other European countries. To represent each ethnic group different schools and churches were built. Local taverns were built too.
Life in those times was like that which took place in Fiuggi.

Minersville was a small town. It was a safe place to walk and to play. People went out shopping and visiting neighbors. Life was wonderful and the people were full of hopes and promises. There were shops at every corner where you could buy milk, meat, eggs, bread, vegetables, fruit. The Europeans had brought their customs with them. The city was prosperous and full of energy. European immigrants did not speak their native language. All those who came to the United States wanted to speak English because they desperately wanted to adapt to the new world. My grandfather did not speak Italian with my mother although she was his daughter. She recalled that she had heard him talk Italian only with his brother Antonio arrived in America after him. Biagio’s second wife, who was my grandmother was Polish. She did not understand Italian, and he did not understand the Polish, and so they spoke in English with each other. Imagine how many different ethnic accents circulated in Minersville. Biagio was a hard worker in the mining company. Later, however, he became co-owner of the coal company. The Pensylvania is very rich of anthracite coal, that was very useful for the production of heat. The majority of immigrants worked in mining, a grueling work. Many children used to die prematurely for inhaling the coal powder. They used to die of a disease called miners’ asthma or black lung (pneumoconiosis).
Visiting the cities around Minersville was like visiting the Ciociaria. Drive for a some kilometers and you can find a country of 300 or 100 inhabitants. The largest city is called Pottsville and has a population of 20,000 inhabitants. It 's the most important center of the area, like Frosinone. There is a hospital and some industries as well as larger stores for purchases. There was a train to transport coal and people. In fact, the station was not far away. Nowadays we prefer to move by airplane or by car. Biagio married my grandmother Stella Lipka, from Poland, the October 19th, 1928. He was 31 years (Stella was born in New Jersey, while her parents were born in Poland). They got married in a Italian church known as Santa Barbara, in Minersville. They had 5 children, 3 of them died very soon. They had two twin, called Genevieve and Joan who were born the September 18th, 1933. Genevieve married Stiney, an Austrian-Polish girl and had two sons, Stanley and Marylin, the narrator of the story. Biagio became a United States naturalized citizen only the 11th of December 1940. The picture that I hold more in my memory is about me as a very young girl who was playing and joking outdoor with Biagio. I was running and jumping and he was looking at me play. I remember that he loved to grow vegetables. As a child the garden looked so big to me. I remember I used to walk between the plants and watch him growing the garden. His greatest passion was fishing. We often went to fishing and to the campsite. My mother tells me that I used to throw rocks in the water and she reproached me because in that way I frightened all the fishes of the river. Biagio then silenced her because I was not doing anything wrong. I was his “Mariuccia”.
He was also fond of hunting deers and hares. I remember that as a child I ate the meat of deer. I’ve got still vivid memories of him flayng the hares and then he ate the meat stewed in a tomato sauce with “spaghetti”. He taught my mother to make pasta and sauce, as well as to make pasta with garlic and oil. He taught her even to make dumplings! He was a great cook. He brought “ciociaria” culture and traditions to America. Biagio didn't communicate much with words. In fact I do not remember me having many conversations with him. He was a quiet man. What I remember is the language of his everyday action that is the most important of all. And, that is, the love that I felt when I was with him. The love that I feel still today. I remember that I cried a lot when he died. I was just 9 but for me it was the most profound loss of my life. Since he died, I always felt a deep emptiness. I wanted always to go to Italy to discover where Biagio came from, where he was born, my Italian cultural heritage.
When Aunt Joan told me to call the phone number in Italy I was so excited.
At last the dream of my life was coming true! Imagine you the surprise and emotion I felt when Rosa answered by phone.
At last we discovered our Italian family. My mother, Aunt Joan, her uncle Joseph were not aware that Biagio had left behind a so big family. He had never told them. Imagine you our surprise and wonder. The brothers and sisters of Biagio are missing now, but there are their sons and daughters. Their children have their children in turn. Biagio and Antonio extended their family in America, the family finally met the one of origin. It’s difficult to explain in words the emotion we felt in our hearts. The two families separated by the Atlantic Ocean have been joined together! Biagio and Antonio left Italy in search of a better life. I am very grateful to them for accomplished sacrifices and their love. I am grateful that the circle is complete. Although we are separated by an ocean and 5000 miles, this is nothing compared to the tie I feel towards my Italian family and Italy.
I can only imagine how much hard life was for Biagio. He was so young, sixteen, but preceded Antonio. He traveled alone in a foreign land and left behind family and friends. He didn't ever come back to revisit his family and, on the contrary, started a new life. He married and generated children. Look what was and what made from nothing. What courage!
The greatest gift he did (to my mother, my aunt Joan, my uncle Joseph) was the life he gave us in America. He created a whole new generation in a new land. He sacrificed immensely himself. I have learnt to appreciate the fact that it does not matter wether you were born in America or Italy, wether you speak English or Italian; what matters is that all of us communicate through love, kindness and appreciation.
The greatest legacy Biagio gave his family left in Fiuggi is love. He went to America to earn money to send to Fiuggi. He gave both families, by ocean separated, a true opportunity. For this all of us are grateful to him.

Biagio died on 26th of April 1961. A night he went to sleep and did’nt wake up the next morning. He was 64 years old. Antonio died in 1963. Their children and their grandchildren still live.
Many details of the Henry Bonanni Biagio’s life are unknown. I just know what for all of us is important when you are only nine years old, that is, the love of a grandfather for his little granddaughter. The recognition of the sacrifices he made for his family in Fiuggi and gratitude for the opportunities of life that have been given us in America.
Sincerely
Marylin Haffey"

P.S. I make no secret of the fact that this story has touched me very deeply. Marylin's words are simple, sincere, full of genuine love for his grandfather Biagio, for Fiuggi, for Italy.
Special thanks and a warm embrace to Marylin for what she said.
I do think that people in Fiuggi can consider Marilyn a "Fiuggina" by election?