September/October 2004 Living Now
The Pilgrim’s Italy and France: An Interview with Colleen and James Heater

by Connie Hill

James (JT) and Colleen Heater are the authors of The Pilgrim’s Italy and The Pilgrim’s France and are working on The Pilgrim’s Spain and Portugal. They reside in Nevada City at the Ananda Community.

Connie: What enticed you to write the Pilgrimage books?

JT: It started with me in the 90’s. I traveled to Assisi and Rome on a pilgrimage. I’d never been out of the US. One of my stops was St. Catherine of Sienna’s shrine and after praying and meditating I had a profound experience of her presence. I thought it was just a good meditation, but 2 months later I had a similar experience in Sienna, Catherine’s hometown and knew then it was an experience of her essence. Then, Colleen and I decided to make our honeymoon a pilgrimage and since there were no comprehensive books on pilgrimage for Italy we decided to write one.

Colleen: We included suggestions for finding quiet places to meditate. In big basilicas there are side chapels where anyone can go to pray and find silence. We also share resources about staying in monasteries, which is a good budget way to travel, and also immerses you more in the vibration.

 

Connie: How could someone best use your book?

Colleen: Readers will find longer biographies of each saint to help build a connection. We had deep experiences reading about each saint and when you read one saint after another, you almost don’t need to go on pilgrimage. It’s a great tool. You can check the book for local shrines, even if you are just going to one place.

 

Connie: What are some of your favorite places?

JT: In Italy, mine is LaVerna, where St. Francis went on seclusion. It’s where he experienced the stigmata. He stayed in caves, but now there are lots of shrines where you can pray and meditate and feel his presence. You can stay at the monastery in La Verna.

Colleen: Assisi is one of our favorite places. It’s centrally located. It has St. Francis and St. Claire. It’s a really powerful place to visit. St. Francis Basilica is huge and has beautiful frescos. And San Damiano, where St. Claire lived for forty years, is just out of town.

JT: In France, Nevers is where Bernadette is from. She’s famous for her visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes. She left Lourdes when she was 22 and lived in Nevers until she died. It’s a great place for spiritual retreat. That’s one great thing about staying in monasteries. Often at night they lock you into the compound. You could walk around or go to the chapel and meditate at night. In LaVerna you can wander through the grounds and experience them differently than as a day tourist.

 

Connie: Who are some of your lesser known favorites?

JT: Margaret of Metolius is one of mine. She was born into an aristocratic family, and was blind and deformed. Her family locked her away for years. She’d receive communion and food and that’s all. Her parents heard about miracles happening at the church and left her there hoping she’d get cured but at the end of the day she was still blind and deformed so they simply abandoned her on the street. She stayed with various people and miracles happened wherever she stayed.

Colleen: Margaret’s story is one of the worst stories you can believe but wherever she stayed miracles happened. Her body is uncorrupted and sometimes people smell roses around her crypt. The Catholic Church does not call it a miracle officially, but the people do.

In our book we talk about how to meditate with the saints. On our honeymoon we found most pilgrims would just say a few prayers and leave, like spiritual tourists. We got so much when we tuned in with meditation and actually stayed longer. So we offer simple techniques to help people get into the vibration. We wrote this book for people of all faiths so anyone can get interested in a spiritual quest. People can do a small bit of pilgrimage and then be a tourist.

JT: Even if you only have a short amount of time, close your eyes, clear your mind and open yourself to the presence and blessings of the saint. The blessings were virtually always there for us. A big surprise was at St. Marks in Venice which houses the body of St. Mark--one of the 4 gospel writers. His crypt is hidden in the back of the basilica. There’s not even a sign, you have to ask. We both felt an incredible presence that said thank you for caring that I am here. It can take your travel to a whole new level.

 

Connie: What can people expect at the presentation?

JT: It will include slides from Italy and France and will focus on some of the experiences and the blessings to be had by anyone who goes out to look for them. We’ll pick a few shrines that are a good sampling and talk about those saints.

Colleen: Also, we’ll give a short explanation about how to meditate with the saints and perhaps lead a short sample meditation. And, people love to get tips for staying in monasteries.

 

Connie: Thanks Colleen and JT.

 

Colleen and JT Heater will present an evening talk and slide show on Thursday, September 23rd at New Renaissance Bookshop. Call 503-224-4929 or visit www.newrenbooks.com for more info. Contact the Heaters at www.innertravelbooks.com or 866-715-8670.


Connie Hill works at New Renaissance and is a local astrologer. She can be reached at 971-244-0567 ext. 2 or gmnite@yahoo.com.