“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, `Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani,’ that is `My God, my God why hast Thou forsaken me?’ And some of the bystanders hearing it said, `This man is calling Elijah.’ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to Him to drink. But the others said, `Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.’ And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up His Spirit.
“And behold the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split…”Mt 27:45-51
The curtain of the temple was torn in two; the earth shook and the rocks split!
It was always said that the Angels, who had to stand by, helplessly, because they were obedient to the Father’s Will, when their Lord and King suffered cruel punishment and died on the Cross, bellowed out such an agonizing shout, it reached to the ends of the earth; the curtain of the temple tore and the earth trembled and the mountains shook.
There were reports of earthquakes and mountains splitting all over the world.
One happened in the charming historical coastal town of Gaeta, (Italy). Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples. A chapel was built in one of these fissures of the mountain. This mountain, split into two parts, is a very impressive sight bringing pilgrims flocking by their thousands to venerate our Lord here. “Montagna Spaccata” (Split Mountain) is widely believed to have split the moment Jesus died on the Cross on Calvary, thousands of miles off in the Holy Land.
According to the legend, at the time when the Saracens were overrunning Europe, a Turkish pirate, who did not believe that the rock had split at the death of Jesus, touched the rock and said, “If this is true, then let this rock become liquid.” As he spoke, the rock liquified and gave way to the imprint of his hand. You can put your fingers into the hand print today!
Split Mountain was instrumental in the vocation of St. Philip Neri when he came to take refuge here before he went to Rome. Contemplating the crevices of the mountain plunging into the Mediterranean Sea, his gaze was drawn towards the infinite, filling him with mystery and immersing him in God.
“This is a world marvel, horridly beautiful, which makes enraptured and thoughtful the visitors flocking here in any season from Italian towns and abroad, attracted by the mysterious, superhuman power that produced such a wonder… it is finally the phenomenon that always leaves perplexed and doubtful the most eminent geologists in the world, among whom one of the most learned stated: “natural, physical, geological laws are upset; the splits of the rock are not the product of an ordinary earthquake, which might have separated its numerous layers breaking their ties in the weakest points…The rock is divided in a diagonal way, and it is not opened in its weakest points but in the strongest and thickest”.” (N. Aletta).
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