Monacilioni, Province Campobasso, Molise, Italy

The village rises in a beautiful area of hills and valleys. The name comes etymologically from Castrum Monachi Leonis (Castle of Monk Leone). The area is geologically very unstable. In 1456 an earthquake utterly destroyed the small village of Catello, a few km from Monacilioni. A ruinous landslide in mid-19th century started a massive wave of emigration to Argentina and after 1918 to the States and Canada. In Montreal there is an association in the name of the patron Santa Benedetta, whose body is kept in the Parish church of Monacilioni. Another landslide in 1962 furtherly drove more citizens to leave for other destinations in Italy, Europe, Australia, Venezuela. Every 25 years, on the third Sunday in May, the urn with the remains of Santa Benedetta is carried in a procession.