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Chapter 6

Luigi’s, Guido’s, and Tterrassa’s biological mother

Little is known about Chiaria. What could be found out is from her brief diary she kept during her last days in the convent and the first years in the “free world.”

As it was written in her diary, it all started when she was brought in to the Our Lady of Knock convent. The convent was built in the late 1200s by an order of monks who wanted to help out in return for food, laundry (once a month), and comfort.

The foundation and walls were from a local quarry that the monks promised eternal salvation for those who worked in the evening and weekends—after church and tithing—to supply them with the stone.

The convent had three-foot-wide walls that were twelve feet high. This, according the nun’s architect, was to keep unwanted men from getting in to defile the nuns.

Two gates, one for those who came to worship with only (so they thought) access to the chapel and garden. This door was usually kept unlocked and attended by a novitiate who took in donations, mainly money that went directly to the Mother Superior.

The public chapel did have a small thick door for the nuns to enter, hidden behind the altar, making sure that they bowed down when they entered. The door was solid enough to prevent anyone from opening from the outside.

The back door of the convent led into the pantry. It was two doors, and one had to be closed for the other to be opened. The top floor had a very small chapel for the nuns only, lit by a skylight so God could see them praying.

There were twenty-three cells (rooms) for the nuns, based on their ranking in the order. The senior nuns had a toilet, sink, small mirror, and a six-inch-wide window. The lowest had nothing but a small light bulb.

“Offer it up and wait your turn,” was the normal response from the privileged nuns.

Over the years, the vocations were slowing down, so the Mother Superior was doing anything to enlist new young girls. The church’s plan was simple: get them early and make sure that the only thing they really know is the church and make sure that they are totally dependent on it for all their needs.

Chiaria was the only child of two cousins who discovered intimacy while living next to each other in town. This happened quite often as their parents partied hard and late at the Ima Jalla Aller. The cousins were kicked out of the small village due to the locals convinced they were living in sin. (Indeed, they were!)

Their parents saw this as a stroke of luck as they could then spend more time at the Ima Jalla Aller. Chiaria’s parents were unsure what to do until a priest and an altar boy were on their way to the Our Lady of Knock convent to make their monthly purchase of wine—some for the church—and spend the night.

They made a left two miles back. When their Asses tried to go right, they soon found out that they were hopelessly lost. They were found by the cousins who were searching for lost sheep. They invited the padre and the young altar boy to spend the night with them, letting them know that they only had one extra room, actually their daughter’s, who was told to sleep on the floor.

They met the five-year-old Chiaria as she just came back from milking the cow. The cousins were vocal about their hardships of keeping their farm going and trying to raise a “smarter than them” daughter.

The padre saw an opportunity to repay a debt to the Mother Superior at Our Lady of Knock convent. He realized that he would get at least two months of wine and room for bringing in a quiet, cute, and impressionable young lady.

The cousins jumped at the opportunity to maybe make it right with the villagers; they would see the cousins were indeed spiritual that they gave the young girl to the church.

The only other offer for Chiaria was from a traveling Bible salesman who knew a guy in Rome who specialized in working with aspiring young women at his health studio.

Chiaria was cute and vocal enough that he saw her potential for a good price since the buyers wanted girls who could easily, on cue, voice their pleasures with the buyers. The cousins turned him down as Chiaria ran from him, and the offer was not much—a yearly commission paid to the cousins when he came through again, minus costs and travel time.

They were seriously thinking about it, then the padre and the altar boy showed up.

Chiaria entered the convent by the back door with the padre and the altar boy.

No last name was ever recorded, and there wasn’t any paperwork that the Mother Superior would offer. The Mother Superior immediately took her in and told her that as the Mother Superior of the convent, that she will consider her to be Chiaria’s mother, and she would be honored to let Chiaria clean the convent, do the dishes, and do the weekly laundry. She would be rewarded in heaven for her work.

She grew to become a tall woman. Her equals in the convent didn’t appreciate her looks. Most of them joined because they were not marketable in the husband or health market and needed to feel wanted.

One warm day, Chiaria was praying, watching Dr. Philo (the Italian version of a talk show), and looking out the window from the small room on the third floor next to the chapel. This room was considered the TV room for the convent. It was on the third floor with no heat and no air movement in the Summer. The Mother Superior chose it as it would only seat two, making sure that their spare time was spent praying or more importantly, making income producing items.

The TV was given to the order by the bishop who was concerned about the cloistered nuns not be able to see the evils of the world. The bishop, by mistake, forgot to put a censor on the channels. They could watch Maury, Catholic Station, Evil Brides, Jerry Springer, Say Yes to the Speedo, and the Road Runner cartoons.

The younger soon-to-be nuns kept the extra stations from the Mother Superior, who actually knew about them and watched them after her novitiates were told to go to their rooms and pray for one hour and then go to bed.

The convent was located twenty kilometers from Pissaccotta.

Vocations had been in a serious decline before and more so after Vatican 2. The ninety-year-old Mother Superior became less stringent as fewer entered this in order to keep the women progressing through the vows: no more kneeling on broom handles, walking on their hands and knees to repent for any minor infraction, bread and water for Lent and to make sure her income stream from their winery, bakery, and scarf business wasn’t interrupted.

The young girls only knew the convent’s way of life and thought it would certainly help them stay in good graces for a higher place in heaven. The Mother Superior, taking all the profit, was slowly putting money in her private bank account in Switzerland so if she left the convent, there would be a nice flow of money to allow her to buy a beach-front property on the Baltic. She had never been to the Baltic, just liked the masculine sound of the name.

Chiaria was two years away for her final vows, since she was there since she was five years old. At seventeen, she was questioning the future of her life and the churches and the Reverend Mother who demanded a lot from her.

She did appreciate the Mother relaxing the rules of not being watched all the time and yet, making sure that she was in visible range from the fully vowed sisters (all four of them).

It began simple enough, as Jigalonio, the gardener, was working hard in the garden, thrusting his hoe deep into the ground and grinding it around to make the hole bigger for planting the nut tree. Novice Chiaria noticed him as beads of sweat were glistening on his shirtless body.

She was intrigued, as she saw very few men outside, either on TV or when the 300-pound food-service man brought supplies in weekly. Chiaria changed into her daily work habit and went outside to walk around the garden to get a better look. She knew that she would be cloistered in her room for a minimum of a month if Mother Superior found her outside and unescorted.

Maybe it was a simple case of being outside, walking around, unescorted, for the first time that was invigorating, or was it Jigalonio!

For the first time since entering the convent, she was feeling certain things that the Reverend Mother warned her about. She was warned that she would spend eternity in damnation if she didn’t immediately crawl back to the chapel and pray for six hours when these “feelings” were upon her, truly the devil’s doing.

Chiaria kept her head down just enough that she could still watch Jigalonio thrust his hoe. Jigalonio, being a practiced hoer, didn’t need to focus on the digging; he watched Chiaria slowly move around the garden, glancing at him. He also felt something moving, and it wasn’t the leaves on the tree.

He felt he had to say something to have her look up at him; he didn’t often see the sisters outside walking around, especially in the heat of July.

“Pardon me, Sister, is it possible for me to have a glass of water?” asked Jigalonio.

Breaking her code of silence for the sake of a “medical situation” (fear of him being dehydrated), she answered, “Of course, sir, please wait over at the table in the shade and I shall fetch you a glass.”

Jigalonio stretched out on the picnic table in the shade behind the windowless side of the convent, near the empty caretaker’s cabin, waiting for the good sister to come back.

“My back is terribly sore from all this dirt lifting. Could you take a few minutes and try to rub the sore areas?”

Chiaria, still accepting that she could speak due to a medical situation, said, “I am sorry, sir, but I have never touched a man before and will do it only since it is clearly a medical emergency.”

Jigalonio, seeing an opportunity to expand his conquest list, said, “You are so kind, Sister. The area that you are rubbing now is working well. I do have other areas in need of a kindly massage.”