The beauty that the Lord dreams of

We are at the end of a terrible pandemic that has claimed so many victims, a social disaster as well as a health one, but it's finally over! People don't even know how to get their lives back in their hands and are thinking of entrusting themselves to a mother, to Maria Health of the sick. We are in 1600 and as an ex voto to thank after the plague the city of Turin decides to build a monastery on the hill and Camaldolese hermits begin to inhabit it. A long time has passed but the valley of tears that so often seems to be our world still needs to be transformed into a garden where a light breeze blows and where God can once again walk with man. Throughout history, monks have physically rebuilt Europe by reclaiming swamps and tilling uncultivated land as well as recreating social fabrics of fraternity and friendship, places of culture, refreshment points for the soul.

The Arsenal of Harmony is basically born of the same desire and it is not enough for us to have cleared the bush that almost prevented us from seeing the Tower of the Hermitage from the road. Now we want to guard this piece of earthly garden and make it unleash all the beauty that the Lord dreams of. Not only does the monochromatic pigeon live here with its little graceful verse, but there is an incredible variety of birds and birds from the majestic kestrel to the hoopoe that hides but makes itself heard, from the white wagtail to the jay that steals our cherries. Especially in silence, even the spirit can breathe deeply.

We are happy to have hosted for a few days a retreat of the animators of the catechism of the parish of San Gioacchino. They stopped for a while trying to look inside, to let their conscience work. They discovered that sometimes we make decisions based on the emotions, the sense of duty or the expectations of others and instead it is important to stop and reflect before making choices.


Maria Claudia Brunello
NP June / July 2021