I find this same profound sense of communion among the volunteers at our cultural center. It issues a call to prayer and, to some locals, an invitation to pause at the Penna Nera cafe for a cappuccino. The church’s campanile, or bell tower, embraces the town with sound each hour. Giuseppe and Rosa Colasante married at the church and had their five children baptized there. His mother, Rosa, insisted on speaking Dante’s Italian and Grandpa always slipped into the local dialect, but none of that rubbed off on me.ĭuring my visit to Torricella-Peligna, I did research in a small archival room of the Church of San Giacomo, which contained 300 years of baptismal, marriage and death records. You know, the usuals: zucchini, eggplant, oregano, parsley, tomatoes and so on. Like his father, Giuseppe, he played the violin and, when he raised a family, grew a vegetable garden. Nonetheless, his Italianism never left him. It was a period of rapid assimilation into American society. Regrettably, the fearful years of World War II caused my father to rename himself Leo Colsant and keep his beloved ancestral tongue to himself. The archives of the Italian Cultural Center give written and pictorial testimony to the hundreds of thousands of Italians who, like my father, worked hard to build a better life for themselves and their families in America.

Unfortunately, my father, Attilio Italo Colasante, didn’t share the gift of la nostra lingua with me, so I felt a little lost among the fluent Italian speakers during my stay. My desire to embrace my inner Italian was kindled earlier that year during a visit to my father’s birthplace in Torricella-Peligna, a small town in the magnificent Maiella mountains of Abruzzo. He, in turn, introduced me to the vast cultural riches of the center: its Italians in Chicago exhibit, art galleries, extensive library and archives, and so much more. I paid my first visit in 2015 and was introduced to Dominic Candeloro, a pensive curator with glasses that often slide down his nose. An oasis of italianità in Stone Park, the center is home to a hardy band of volunteers who truly live this calling. In my case, the catchy phrase opened the door to the Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia.

The cover of Fra Noi reads “Embrace your inner Italian”: words that inspire us to explore every aspect of our heritage and community.

Inferno la divina commedia