Immacolata
Corraggio, President of Associazione Ponti di luce
Last summer (2008) I walked along the Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome in about three months. It was a really extraordinary experience! The places I walked through were beautiful, the landscapes so varied: plains, canals, lakes, woods, churches, pastureland, waterfalls, towns and cities, medieval villages, farms, beaches, cathedrals, streams and rivers, castles, fields ... I walked in fur countries and crossed the three borders, the Channel and the River Po, the Alpine and Apennine passes. Impressive and gentle landscapes, intensity and peace, relaxation and courage were my daily companions. And the beauty of numberless natural, architectural and artistic treasures was only a small part of the extraordinary wealth of this route. Along about 2,000 km and in about 100 days I met hundreds of men, women and children of all ages, of many countries. We communicated by using three languages and once voice: the voice of the heart. Many of them walled with me for a few hours or a few days, many welcomed me as their guest for the night, for dinner, for lunch, for a cup of coffee, for a refreshing drink, for a shower. they gave me presents; and they all opened their hearts to me and I, mine to them. I discovered a brother or sister in any man or woman I met. I found out that while walking along with my open heart in my hands and the smile on m face, each heart and door opened to let me in. And whenever I looked into their hearts I could see mine mirrored there. I saw difficulty I have to love the others just as they are, I saw the seeds of racism and prejudice lurking in my mind, I saw the difficulty I have to be a neutral witness, I saw my fears, my selfishness ... and thanks to them, thanks to you, thanks to the extraordinary meetings along the way, fortunately I could see them and partly heal them. I have got back home now and the hardest challenge lies before me, that is how can I transfer the experience I had into my daily life. Tarcisio, who walked with me from Martigny to Aosta, was wearing a T-shirt with these words printed on it: 'if you want to be the first, walk by yourself,; if you want to get far, walk togehter;4 It was a lesson I repeated to myself everyday; it was not easy to stick to, yet I must have learnt it, as I managed to get to Rome .... and now? Now I would like to do something to keep that lesson alive in my daily life, to help the pilgrims who will walk along the Via Francigena as I have done, just as I had help from my predecessors. I would like to do it by walking "together", because I wish to get far. Therefore, whoever you are, if you want to "walk together" along the paths of the earth and of life, you are welcome.
(first published in Via Francigena, January 2009, a publication produced by the European Department of Cultural Routes)