Transition stage: Barcelona – Sutri

The Mediterranean crossing can be done by plane, to save time. Iñigo de Loyola did it by boat, from the port of Barcelona to the port of Gaeta, south of Rome, but doing the route by boat takes us a whole day and, in addition, the port of destination will be Civitavecchia, which is not historical either. So we took the plane as a modern alternative.

From Barcelona we headed to Fiumiccino airport. At that airport pilgrims can decide to go to Rome and from there go to Sutri, first by train and then by bus, or from Fiumiccino take a cab or a private minibus and go to Sutri. After a journey of 80 km and an hour’s drive (2.5 hours if you opt for train and bus) you will arrive in Sutri.

From Sutri we will follow the Via Francigena, a traditional pilgrim route very well signposted and traveled by pilgrims coming from Canterbury and France, following what the bishop of that place did in the year 990.

Sutri is a small village, with stone houses and narrow streets. There are lodgings for pilgrims, some stores and a few restaurants, which always welcome pilgrims with open arms. The Ignatian pilgrim’s credential is as useful as that of the Via Francigena, so do not forget to keep putting stamps of all the localities through which you pass and receive in Rome the pilgrim’s certificate that is granted in the Vatican.

SUTRI

La Casa dei Libri – Via Furio Camillo 77 – Tel: +39 3494559282 – [email protected] – https://libri.bedsandhotels.com/#rooms

Casa Vacanze Salza – Via Ronciglione 38 – Tel: +39 338 8601088- [email protected]  

L’Accoglienza di Casa Vacanze Salza nel Borgo– Via Garibaldi 47 – Tel: +39 3388601088 – [email protected]  

L’Archetto – Piazza Cavour, 11 – Tel: +39 393 6660474 – [email protected]  

Casa del Pellegrino – Via dei Saturnali, 10 – Tel: +39 3384181886 // +39 3333447870 – [email protected]

Platea Cavour – Piazza Cavour. 12 – Tel: +39 3292136615- [email protected]

Nerone’s B&B – Via XXIV Maggio, 57 – Tel: +39 338 3935121 – [email protected]  

Maison San Francesco – Via Ponzio Aquila, 26 – Tel: +39 3358441683 – [email protected]

Maison della Cattedrale – Via Ponzio Aquila, 26 – Tel: +39 3358441683 – [email protected]

Le Terrecotte B&B – Strada Vicinale Pian Porciano snc – Tel: +39 0761 600879/ +39 0761 696576 – [email protected]

B&B il Seminario – Piazza del Comune, 37- Tel: +39 0761600751 – Tel: +39 3203119320 – [email protected]

Casa Vacanze Notti d’Oriente – Piazza dei Pisanelli, 25 – Tel: +39 3394651955 – +39 3284225196 – [email protected]

La Torretta Via Giovanni Andrea dell’Anguillara n.50 – Tel: +39 3387319488 – [email protected]  

Hotel Antico Borgo di Sutri S.s. Cassia, Km 46,700- Tel: +39 0761 586988 – [email protected]

Radici Etrusche Via Statilio Tauro, 35 – Tel: +39 3496496823 – [email protected]

Platea Oche. Piazza Dell’ Oca, 8. Tel: +39 375 592 4998. [email protected] – https://www.plateaoche.com/

Hotel Sutrium. Piazza S. Francesco, 1. Tel: +39 076 1600 468. https://www.sutriumhotel.it/

Goose house. Piazza dell’Oca, 12. Tel: +39 392 0649 298 // +39 327 8988 694. [email protected]

Luggage transport on the Via Francigena Viterbo Rome

Bags Free https://www.bb-booking.com/book/ Booking Bags Free [email protected]

Associazione Mediterraid Cammina. [email protected]  

Francigena Taxi (en italiano: +39 338 2868402; en inglés +39 331 6004 982)

www.viafrancigena-viterbo-roma.it

SUTRI

Sutri is a charming town located in the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of Italy. With a population of about 3,000 inhabitants, Sutri is located about 50 kilometers north of Rome and is known for its rich history and impressive cultural heritage. According to legends, it was founded by the Roman god Saturn, from which it derives its name. It is located in a very picturesque location: a small hill surrounded by gorges.

Sutri has origins dating back to Etruscan times, and its strategic location made it an important crossroads over the centuries. During Roman times, Sutri was a thriving settlement known for its theater and wall. Throughout the Middle Ages, it passed through various hands, including those of the Pope and different noble families. The town was also an important religious center, with numerous churches and convents built over the centuries.

Sutri is famous for several tourist attractions:

1. Roman Theater: Remains of an ancient Roman theater dating from the first century A.D., where performances and events were held.
2. The Etruscan Necropolis: A fascinating archaeological site where you can see Etruscan tombs carved into the rock.
3. Church of Santa Maria del Parto: A medieval church with impressive architecture and frescoes dating back to the 12th century.
4. Sutri Castle: Ruins of a castle offering panoramic views of the surroundings.
5. The Co-cathedral of the Assumption of Mary dates back to the Middle Ages and its interior is of pristine marble with gold details. Enter it to discover a most evocative place: the crypt of the cathedral.

More information at the tourist office. turistico@comune.sutri.vt.it

Following the outline of the stages of the Ignatian Way in Spain, we offer here some brief prayer notes to center the day in the presence of the Lord Jesus, on the road to Rome.

Notes: We begin our meditation by focusing on the goal of our pilgrimage with the opening prayer: “May all my intentions, operations and actions be ordered to show forth the glory of God and my life be oriented only to the praise and service of my Lord”. We desire guidance, we want to order ourselves to the greater good.

Grace: Lord, may I accept the setbacks, the obstacles in my path, and may I learn to trust only in You.

Reflection: Consider here the difficulty of a journey into the unknown. Ignacio, the Pilgrim, does not know what is going to happen, how he is going to overcome the obstacles that the disease does not cease to pose. The closed doors, the insufficient documentation, the lack of money… and yet, he keeps on walking. Life as a constant pilgrimage. We are pilgrims. Jesus walks through the Holy Land from Galilee to Judea and back again several times. On his journey he encounters problems, difficulties, rejections… even from his own people. Only his trust in his Father keeps him on the Way. How do I live my life of pilgrimage? How do I face the difficulties? What keeps me on the Way?

Scripture:

Matthew 13:54-58. Jesus is not accepted, and rejection blocks him in his mission.

Matthew 20:17-28. Jesus does not hide the difficulties of the journey. The disciples do not understand: they are looking for the final reward, after passing all the difficulties of the pilgrimage. Only those who put themselves at the service of others, forgetting themselves, the humble, will be able to reach the final goal.

Mark 4, 35-41. Fear blocks us and we do not want to continue walking in uncertainty, we do not trust God. Jesus, like a child in his mother’s arms, sleeps confidently.

Final colloquy: Ignatius invites us to deepen our friendship with Jesus. As one friend talks with another, comment with Jesus on the doubts, fears and difficulties you feel within yourself. Also be grateful and show your joy for all that you now see and understand. Finish with an Our Father.

We continue our Ignatian pilgrimage, now with St. Ignatius walking through Italy. We select here some episodes of his life in these lands, which he himself explained, collected in his Autobiography.

They had such a strong wind in stern, that they arrived from Barcelona to Gaeta in five days and nights, although with much fear of all because of the great storm. And all over that land they feared the pestilence; but he, when he landed, began to walk to Rome. (…) And when they arrived at a city that was near, they found it closed; and not being able to enter, they spent the night in a church that was there, rained down. (…) In the morning they would not open the city to them; and outside they found no alms, although they went to a castle that seemed near there, in which the pilgrim found himself weak, both from the work of the sea, as well as from the rest etc. And being no longer able to walk, he remained there; and the mother and daughter set out for Rome. That day many people left the city; and knowing that the lady of the land was coming there, he stood before her, telling her that he was only sick with weakness; that he asked her to let him enter the city to seek some remedy. She readily granted it. And beginning to beg in the city, he found many quatrines, and having been there for two days, he went on his way again, and arrived in Rome on Palm Sunday.

And all those who spoke to him, knowing that he had no money for Jerusalem, began to dissuade him from going, assuring him with many reasons that it was impossible to find passage without money; but he had a great certainty in his soul, that he could not doubt, but that he would find a way to go to Jerusalem. And having taken the blessing of Pope Hadrian the Sixth, he then departed for Venice, eight or nine days after Easter. He still had with him six or seven ducats, which had been given him for the passage from Venice to Jerusalem, and he had taken them, having conquered some of the fears that were put upon him that he might not otherwise pass. But two days after he had left Rome he began to know that it had been the mistrust he had had, and it weighed heavily on him that he had taken the ducats, and he thought whether it would be good to leave them. But at last he determined to spend them at length on those who asked him, who were ordinarily poor. And he did so in such a way that, when he arrived in Venice, he had only a few quatrain, which he needed that night.

Still on this road to Venice, because of the guards who were plague, he slept in the porticoes; and once it happened to him, in getting up in the morning, to meet a man, who, seeing him so bad, with great fear began to flee, because it seems that he must have seen him very discolored. As he walked on, he came to Choza, and with some companions who had joined him, he learned that they would not be allowed to enter Venice; and the companions determined to go to Padua to take a certificate of health there, and so he set out with them; but he could not walk that far, because they were walking very hard. Leaving him, almost overnight, in a large field, in which, while he was there, Christ appeared to him in the way he used to appear to him, as we have said above, and comforted him very much. And with this consolation, the next morning, without acquiring the certificate of health, as (I believe) his companions had done, he arrived at the gate of Padua and entered, without the guards demanding anything from him; and the same thing happened to him on the way out; which frightened his companions very much, who had come to take the certificate to go to Venice, of which he did not procure.

He kept himself in Venice by begging, and slept in St. Mark’s Square; but he never wanted to go to the Emperor’s ambassador’s house, nor did he make any special effort to look for a way to get through; and he had a great certainty in his soul that God would give him the means to go to Jerusalem; and this was so confirmed that no reason or fear could make him doubt. (…) One day a rich Spanish man met him and asked him what he was doing and where he wanted to go; and knowing his intention, he took him to eat at his house, and then kept him for some days until his departure was ready. The pilgrim had this habit since Manresa, that, when he ate with some people, he never spoke at the table, if not to answer briefly, but he was listening to what was said, and taking some things, from which he took the opportunity to speak of God; and, when the meal was over, he did it.

And this was the cause because the good man with all his household were so fond of him, that they wanted to have him, and forced him to stay in it; and the same guest took him to the Duke of Venice to speak to him, that is to say, made him give him entrance and audience. The Duke, when he heard the pilgrim, ordered that he be given a boat in the ship of the governors who were going to Cyprus. Although many pilgrims were coming to Jerusalem that year, most of them were returning to their own lands because of the new news that had come from the capture of Rhodes. There were still thirteen on the pilgrim ship, which left first, and eight or nine were left for that of the governors; which being about to leave, there came to our pilgrim a serious illness of fever; and after having treated him badly for some days, the fevers left him, and the ship left on the day he had taken a purge. The people at home asked the doctor if he could embark for Jerusalem, and the doctor said that, in order to be buried there, he could embark; but he embarked and departed that day; and he vomited so much that he was very light and began to be completely healed.