Fr. Pompeo Di Spirito
Cuccaro Vetere (Salerno), 29 dicembre 1913
Salerno, 24 febbraio 1980
Missionario Coadiutore umile e buono. Di anni 67. Sepolto a Parma
Era nato a Cuccaro Vetere (SA) il 29.XII.1913. A vent'anni lasciò la sua famiglia, dove aveva lavorato da calzolaio assieme al padre ed al fratello maggiore, per entrare dai Saveriani nella Casa di Massa della Lucania.
Trascorso l'anno di Noviziato a S. Pietro in Vincoli (RA), l'8.XII.1935, nella Festa di Maria Immacolata, emetteva i primi Voti Religiosi, consacrandosi al Signore ed alle Missioni come Fratello Coadiutore.
Rimase a S. Pietro in Vincoli per circa vent'anni e percorse per la questua l'intera Romagna con un vecchio camioncino che per avviarsi aveva sempre bisogno della pazienza dell'autista: egli sempre calmo e sorridente affrontava lunghi ed estenuanti viaggi per portare a casa il "Pane della Provvidenza".
In seguito, per otto anni lavorò nella Casa Saveriana di Massa della Lucania:
"... parlava con entusiasmo di quegli anni, quando girava per le piazze del Cilento a proiettare i Films Missionari;, per tornare poi all'Istituto spesso con pochi soldi e con tante disavventure causate dal cattivo funzionamento del proiettore", annoterà P. Marcelli.
Trascorse gli ultimi otto anni nella Casa di Salerno cercando di essere utile ai Confratelli nei vari servizi di Casa. Si divertiva a guardare gli Apostolini giocare vispi ed allegri come passerotti negli ampi cortili della Casa. Sapeva il nome di ognuno, il paese di provenienza e di alcuni anche la vasta rete di parentela...
"Non trovo parole umane per caratterizzare un Confratello così dolce e così discreto come il Fratel Pompeo", osserverà P. Vito Scagliuso.
La mattina del 24.II.1980 è stato trovato morto nella sua camera: la chiamata del Signore lo colse mentre stava pregando prima di coricarsi, per un sopraggiunto collasso cardiaco.
Br. Pompeo Di Spirito
Cuccaro Vetere (Salerno), 29 dicembre 1913
Salerno, 24 febbraio 1980
Brother Pompeo Di Spirito died at the Xaverian House of Salerno on Feb. 24 1980, of heart attack. He was 66 years old, born on Dec. 29 1913 at Cuccaro Vetere (Prov. of Salerno, Dioc. of Vallo della Lucania). He entered the Xaverians at Massa della Lucania on April 8 1934, at 20 years old, after working with his dad and brother as a cobbler in the family. At the end of the year of Novitiate, he professed religious mission vows on Dec. 8 1935 as a brother. He remained at S. Pietro in Vincoli for over 20 years (1936-60), working mainly in the ìWorks of Divine Providenceî, driving an old truck which many times gave him some grief, throughout the small villages of the Romagna and Emilia. He worked long hours and undertook long trips, and would return to S. Pietro with an ever-present smile, knowing that he provided to the house the Bread of Providence.
Fr. Giuseppe Rinaldi was his rector in Salerno, reflects on Br. Di Spirito ís life: "He was a person who preferred to talk more through his serenity and his delicate care, than through words and great deeds. I remember him this way from Novitiate Year at S. Pietro in Vincoli. He was the man of trust of Fr. Ghezzi, the novice master. He would be in charge of trips, jobs, mission journeys, needed supplies. He used to sing the most beautiful songs of his region, with his sweet and attuned voice, and his ever-present mandolin, his faithful companion till his last days."
Br. Pompeo moved on to Massa della Lucania, where he served for 8 years (1961-70). Fr. Marcelli remembers: "He used to talk with enthusiasm of those years, when he would show the Missionary Movies in the plazas of the Cilento area. At times he would return with a few cents, and recall the adventurous misfortunes of a defective projector."
The last eight years of his life were spent at Salerno, close to his own town (1971-80). There, in the apostolic school, he would be helpful to the community through simple services. He used to love to watch the young students play in the play-ground, and would remember their names, their hometowns, and even their relatives. "I cannot find human words that would describe our Confrere Br. Pompeo, who was so gentle and discrete among us... His life was modeled on the concept of small things will become monuments of greatness when they are done for the love of God," wrote Fr. Vito Scagliuso.
In the morning of Feb. 24 1980 he was found dead, in his room: the night before he had suffered a heart attack as he prayed his breviary before going to sleep. Fr. Marcelli recalls: "The eldest Religious Sister who was in Salerno approached the cascade of Br. Pompeo and cried out: My brother, since childhood, you were the best of us all!"
May the Lord welcome him home.
