by Br. Alexis Bugnolo
May 11, 2020 — 7:50 A. M.: Yesterday evening the ancient Volcano of Bolsena gave off ominous signs that a major seismic event will soon strike central Italy.
The Volcano which appears on all maps today, as Lake Bolsenna, is approximately 100 KM north of Rome, on the norther borders of the region of Lazio with the regions of Umbria and Toscany. It’s massive crater is the largest in all of Europe, but is now filled with water and is a much desired tourist destination on account of its natural beauty.
According to MeteoWeb.Eu, 12 minor earthquakes struck last night on the northern rim of the crater, round about the town of San Lorenzo Nuovo, from 6:45 PM to 8:03 PM with magnitudes ranging from 0.8 to 2.5 on the Richter Scale.
The Bolsena Volcano is important because it is usually the harbinger of future seismic events in Central Italy, being the first to sound the alarm months, weeks or days in advance.
I was in Bagnoregio in the Summer of 2016, when a series of minor earthquakes occurred on the northern rim of the Bolsena Volcano. Though they caused little or no damage, the people of Bagnoregio were terribly frightened. Not understanding why, I asked around, and everyone told me that when the Volcano of Bolsena becomes active in such a way as this, it is a sign of much worse earthquakes to come.
In 2016, the people of Bagnoregio were right to trust in this hand-me-down knowledge from their anceteros, because sure enough, weeks later, in mid August, a major earthquake struck central Italy destroying dozens of towns, some wiped off the map, and damaging buildings throughout the region of Umbria and Lazio and Abruzzo. The number of shocks went up to the thousands and continued for months, terrorizing Italians throughout central Italy.
The earthquakes of 2016 occurred, according to seismologists from the impact of the Tyrrhenian plate upon the Adriatic plate at the pressure point near Rieti. At the time the experts concluded the movement was so great that it would portend further earthquakes in Italy. Subsequently, they discovered that the Earthquakes had opened up a fissure in the ground beneath the city of Rome which could be physically measured running all the way from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the central mountains of Italy.
What was the meaning of it all? Italian seismologists had stated that Rome was spared in 2016, but that it would not escape, because the resulting pressures now in Central Italy were such that there would have to soon be an adjustment, that is, another major tectonic movement in the Rome area to compensate.
It remains to be seen, whether the minor shocks on the northern rim of the ancient Volcano of Bolsenna last night, simply forewarned about the 3.3 earthquake which struck north of Rome, this morning at 5:03 A M. local time (UTC +2), or whether they are an ominous sign of a soon to come major earthquake to hit Eternal Rome.
In the mystical visions of Saint Don Bosco he saw the City of Rome destroyed and thousands of dead everywhere. And he saw the Pope, who would restore the Church after the disastrous crisis of Vatican II, consoling the dead and afflicted.
Only God knows the times and places of such things, but it seems that they may be nearer than we have imagined.
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