The Vincenza Iacano Miracle

She was an absolute beauty – inside and out, and the sweetest saint this side of heaven.  Her sparkling gray eyes framed the forever rosy cheeks on supple, smooth, wrinkle-free skin until her ninety-first year.

     Vincenza was never without  either a rosary, a cleaning rag or a ball or dough to be beaten down for the daily homemade  bread. (Later to be eaten warm from the oven with olive oil!)

  She and Salvatore were married in 1900 and within four years had three children.  There was great strife, struggle and unrest  in all of Europe at that time. Salvatore decided to leave Sicily and immigrate to the U.S.  Although it was almost an impossibility financially, his iron will and determination could not be deterred. For these peasants, coming to America was like being “ushered  into heaven” – the most prized possession one could hope for. Never in their wildest imaginations could they conceive the immense opportunities in business, education, and way of life that God would bestow on all future generations here in America with this daring move.

     Each Christmas, the cousins, aunts and uncles would gather at their small  but immaculate home and she would sing “Gesu Bambino”, with tearful eyes glistening from childhood memories.

  Three miracles followed Vincenza’s later trip across the turbulent Atlantic  which are elaborated in the dance-drama musical “Americana” Vincenza’s Miracle.  Her guardian angels  which made way for miraculous interventions follow  her children and grandchildren to this day.