31st May 1943
Cartolina Postale

'Armi e cuori devono essere tesi verso la mèta: conquistare la vittoria.' MUSSOLINI

(Weapons and hearts must be turned towards the goal: conquering victory.)

The typewritten message reads, in part, 'The mail hasn't arrived yet, so you can imagine how worried and anxious I am to receive news after the bombing in your town. I don't know if my letters reach you regularly, at least I hope so so you will be reassured. I always advise you to be alert when they come to bomb you, try, if possible, to get away. Let me know the news about Goffredo. I often write to him. Olga has written me a letter and assures me that she is well, but she is anxious because of the constant alarms.'

It is noted that Avellino is only 16 miles north of Salerno. It was on the 9th September, just over a week from this correspondence being written, that Operation Avalanche was launched. The Allied landings near the port of Salerno heralded the invasion of Italy. There is no doubt that areas on the coast and set further back would have been 'softened up' in preparation for the landings.

The Shroud of Turin: Fr. Cardin described the great secrecy with which the operation was carried out in Sept. 1939. The Shroud was secretly transported from Turin by way of Rome, to be placed below an altar in the Abbey of Montevergine near Avellino under the cover of night. The secret was kept throughout the war despite a search of the premises carried out by German soldiers in 1943 following a bombing of Avellino. The relic was protected, said Fr. Cardin, as, upon hearing of the coming of the soldiers, the monks retired to pray at the altar. 'An officer', he explained, 'seeing them in prayer, gave the order not to disturb (them) and that was how the sacred relic went undiscovered.' The Shroud was returned to Turin in 1946.

Source: catholicnewsagency.com

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