In a recent article written by Professor Antonio Bini, author and close friend to the late Brother Vincenzo D'Elpidio entitled, "The Passing of Brother Vincenzo D'Elpidio, the Friar Seeker, Sower of Hope" tells of an extraordinary event that occurred after the death of Padre Domenico da Cese.
The following is an excerpt from this story along with pictures provided by Antonio Bini, with his permission.
Padre Vincenzo, "Had been a brotherly friend and later an extraordinary advocate for his (Padre Domenico da Cese) cause for beatification to which he was strongly committed, having begun this work ten years after Padre Domenico's death, in Turin, where he had gone to witness the exhibition of the Holy Shroud. Padre Domenico appeared in a dream to Brother Vincenzo imploring him to honor the request of so many devotees who had sent him money - as was used in the past - for the celebration of Masses. Brother Vincenzo went to the Shrine of the Holy Face where he verified the existence of two large boxes containing numerous letters still unopened addressed to the deceased Capuchin. He opened them, had some Masses celebrated, and asked permission to consult the letters which told of extraordinary facts or simple requests for help from Padre Domenico." Starting with this documentation the work for Padre Domenico's cause had just begun, he work tirelessly until his death on December 15, 2020.
(Seen above: Brother Vincenzo, Dr. Dirk Weisbrod and Sr. Petra-Maria Steiner.)
Brother Vincenzo drove to Rome to collect the pictures seen above of Padre Domenico that were used at the Solemn Mass of Commemoration on September 20, 2020 at the Basilica of the Holy Face in Manoppello, Italy.
Spring 2020, Antonio informed Brother Vincenzo of the work being done by Tamara Klapatch in the United States to promote the cause for Padre Domenico and to raise the awareness of the Volto Santo. It was at that time that Brother Vincenzo gave his approval, prayers and first blessing.
June 16, 2020, through Antonio, Brother Vincenzo gave his second blessing with much happiness for the work being done by Tamara and with the hope of one day giving his blessing in person, unfortunately that was unable to occur due to the Covid pandemic and then his passing. With heartfelt appreciation to Antonio, this office has a picture of his final blessing offered to Tamara.
May Brother Vincenzo's memory be eternal and his soul be reunited in Heaven with his dear friends Padre Domenico and St. Padre Pio.
For Antonio's full article please see Raymond Frost's blog at: holyfaceofmanoppello.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-passing-of-brother-vincenzo.html
Raymond did a beautiful job in helping Antonio and has wonderful information on the Volto Santo.