In 1949, J. Evola, after having returned to Italy following his injury
during a Russian bomb attack on Vienna, was staying in a hospital in
Bologne, when it occurred to a friend of his, a former exponent of the
RSI, Goffredo Pittoni, that he could need religious comfort. The
latter thus turned to Clemente Rebora, a poet from Milan who converted
to Christianity in the late 1920, who, as a matter of fact, paid a few
visits to J. Evola. Following one of those visits, Rebora confided by
letter to Pittoni that he had written to Evola offering him to visit
Lourdes.
This is Evola's answer:
"I am most thankful to you for taking the trouble to pay me a visit
and for being so kind as to offer me to visit Lourdes. As far as the
last point is concerned, I do not think that it makes sense, not
because I am prejudiced, but for technical reasons, so to speak, which
those who assume the point of view not only of faith, but also of
knowledge, could easy recognise.
I will point out that I would have to go to Lourdes to ask that, by
means of grace, my physical impediment is removed. Now, I have already
told you how little this means to me, and even if the ailment was much
more serious, a man worth of the name should not have to turn to the
supranatural for things of that kind. What therefore lacks, first, is
the basic premise, that of a burning desire of healing. If I were to
ask for a grace, it would rather be that of understanding the
spiritual meaning of what happened - whether the thing lingers on or
not ; still more, of understanding the reason why I continue to live.
I have already pointed out that, in the accident, there has been like
an enigmatic answer to my inquest - through taking risks – about
whether an end could be put to my terrestrial life. Then, I have to
say that among the Christian symbols, that of the 'Mother of God' is
precisely the one which speaks less to me, which is the most foreign
to me ; at last, that my whole psychic constitution leaves very little
possibilities for processes which imply emotional and affective
factors, starting with those which are based on 'belief' in general.
Given these circumstances, what would have to happen in Lourdes is
something similar to a mechanical, ab extra, action, which is hardly
possible, both in itself - and beyond this - compared to the spiritual
purpose by which every true 'miracle' is always accompanied. Were I
'healed' in this respect, it would not change anything in me; the true
problem, that is, the increase of the inner light, would not be resolved.
Having a duty to be absolutely sincere with myself, it is this,
Father, that I must tell you. In any case, I am most thankful for the
heart your proposal testifies to.
Yours devoutly.
J.Evola "