Every September 14, the Sicilian town of Montemaggiore Belsito comes alive for the Feast of the Holy Cross. For more than two centuries, families from this small village have scattered across the United States and beyond, carrying their Sicilian heritage with them. Yet each year, descendants return to Montemaggiore to celebrate the Feast together, walking the streets, honoring their shared history, and reconnecting with a place that remains part of who they are.
For Gina LaPlante ’95, the 2026 Feast offered a chance to reconnect with her own Sicilian roots. However, when she traveled to Montemaggiore in September, she discovered something she never expected to find thousands of miles from home: her Sacred Heart sisters.
Among the visitors celebrating the Feast were fellow SHA alumnae Victoria Sclafani ’16, Ava Sclafani ’22, and Loretta Cucinotta ’21. The four women had never traveled together, and their Sacred Heart experiences spanned more than three decades. Yet when they met in Sicily, the connection was immediate.
They quickly fell into conversation and friendship. Then Loretta had a thought.
“Mrs. Clare would love that we are here together! We have to send her a picture!”
For Gina, the moment was deeply meaningful. Maria Clare ’95 is Gina’s SHA classmate and a beloved Campus Minister and religion teacher to Victoria, Ava, and Loretta. She had left an impression on these young women that reached beyond their graduations. Hearing them speak so fondly of her made Gina realize that, despite the years between them, they shared something profound.
They were SHA Sisters.
“I just don’t think there is anything like it in the world,” Gina reflects. “I graduated decades before these women, yet we clicked immediately. There is so much we share because we experienced Sacred Heart. It is a blessing to all of us.”
The women captured their unexpected reunion in a photograph in front of Con Me (“With Me”), a mural by local artist Roberto Collodoro that honors the people of Montemaggiore Belsito who left their homeland to build lives elsewhere.
At the center of the mural, a woman carries an open suitcase containing the village itself as a powerful reminder that no matter how far we travel, we carry our home, our memories, and the people who shaped us in our hearts.
For Gina, Victoria, Ava, and Loretta, that message took on another meaning.
They may have graduated from Sacred Heart years apart. They may have traveled different paths and gathered in Sicily for different reasons. Yet, they each carry a piece of SHA with them wherever they go. These women all agree that once you experience the SHA Sisterhood, you carry Sacred Heart with you wherever life may lead.