Lorenzo' s Birth....

                                       excerpt from Child of Wonder

 

Giuseppina listened to the hushed cries from Lorenzo's room.  Though she had grown accustomed to his whimpering through the night because of bad dreams and nightmares, it still upset her to hear him cry.  Turning her head, she closed her eyes and circled her black rosary beads around her fingers.  With each familiar wooden bead which slipped through her nimble fingers, Giuseppina recalled that unforgettable Friday afternoon on October 13, 1917, when the dreadful curse began....  
           Relatives and family members had gathered in the Malcini house because Marianna was to give birth.  Arriving earlier, the town's midwife and her anxious aide raced back and forth from the bedroom into the kitchen fetching pan, water, and towels.  When they returned to the laboring Marianna with the necessary items, the midwife arranged them on the table next to the bed and proceeded with the delivery.  Shortly, a piercing shriek burst from the bedroom.
          The panicky midwife--her face white as death--rushed from the doorway shouting, "Le Fate! Le Fate!"  Stumbling, her frightened aide followed after her.
          Those in the living room made the sign of the cross.  Reluctant to enter the bedroom or to approach the newborn child, they, too, fled from the house.
          Giuseppina was riveted to the images of the painful events which brought her grief whenever they came to mind.  Momentarily, she held back the indelible memories, but soon they flashed before her more vivid and alive than ever....
          Blood ran from a gash in Tiny Lorenzo's head.  He lay wailing and kicking on the cold cement floor at the foot of the bed. With tear-filled eyes, Alberto picked up his newborn son, held a cloth against his bloody head as he placed the child on the pillow next to his hysterical wife who pushed the crying baby away from her.  Despite Alberto's efforts to calm his distraught wife, Marianna was inconsolable.  At that moment, Giuseppina  extended her hands, took the screeching infant from Alberto and cradled him in her arms before bathing his wound and hushing him to sleep with her soothing lullabies.
          "Le Fate snatched the baby from me," the midwife broadcast throughout Alba.
          "A bad omen," repeated others.
          "The poor child is cursed," whispered the townspeople whenever they spoke about Lorenzo or the unfortunate circumstances of his birth.
          Those in Alba and the surrounding towns and villages believed three invisible sisters dressed in flowing white garments and wearing bright red roses in their long golden hair were present at every human conception.  These three beautiful women, known as Le Fate, predicted lives of hardships and suffering for some newborns by dropping them onto the floor during birth while for other newborns they foretold lives of ease and happiness by filling the household with the fragrance of flowers and the sweet melodies of their lutes as they danced around the blessed child. 
          Concerning Lorenzo's future, everyone believed that the circumstances of his birth forebode a difficult life, one burdened with adversity and tragedy.
          Giuseppina remembered her many visits to the Church of San Giovanni, where she pleaded before the statue of the Blessed Mother for Lorenzo's burdens to be lifted from him and given to her to bear.  She recalled one visit in particular.  While gazing into the compassionate eyes of the Blessed Mother, incredulously, she watched the Mother's sky-blue robe turn a pale white, the diadem of stars on her brow become a crown of thorns, and what moments earlier was a serene smile change into an expression of deep sorrow as a stream of tears rushed down her cheeks. 
          The dolorous features of the Blessed Mother indicated to Giuseppina that Lorenzo's calvary would be a long and arduous one.
          Lorenzo's early years passed quickly before Giuseppina.  
          With displeasure, she watched Marianna reproach him and beat him at every opportunity.  If the bread in the oven did not bake well, it was his fault.  If it failed to rain and the crops did not grow, it was his fault.  If there was too much rain and not enough sunshine to make the earth yield, it was his fault.  The accursed Lorenzo was blamed for any unpleasant incident or any misfortune which befell the Malcini family.
          Giuseppina overheard the townspeople's disparaging remarks about the dwarfish Lorenzo's appearance: his long narrow ears and enormous dark eyes, his pointed chin and wide cheekbones, and especially his thick black eyebrows which lapped over his eyes joining one another at the ridge of his long thin nose--a fitting face for one doomed by Le Fate.
          "Madre mia, mia Maria," sighed Giuseppina.  And then as on  many a night, she fell asleep reciting the Rosary, trusting the benevolence of God and the power of her prayers to circumvent the terrible consequences of the dreadful curse placed upon her beloved grandchild.