With our three-city tour in Italy from 21-28 July, 2001, a new page was added to the continuing efforts of our group to share the Exalted Mevlana’ s message of peace and brotherhood with all people. In the City of Udine, the first stop on our tour, we presented our sufi music concert and a Sema Ceremony composed by Hasan Çıkar in honor of the Prophet Mohammed, in the historic Church of St. Francisco. Because of the great interest they felt, the members of the audience had t aken their places hours earlier,and with no regard for differences in race, religion or language, experienced the intoxication of that shared breath. While the words of love for the Exalted Mohammed echoed off the church walls, the scene presented by the colorfully garbed Semazens (whirling dervishes) together with the ritual music of the choir left the audience with an unforgettable intoxication of the heart. And before going home many gathered around Hasan Çıkar in an effort to learn more of the philoso phy of the Mevlevi Way. \par \par After this wonderfully spiritual evening our second stop was on the shore of the Adriatic in the town of Rimini, where we presented this memorable scene of concert and Ceremony in an open-air theater to an audience of 1500. The last stop on our Italian tour was on the Austrian border at the skirt of the Alps in the town of Bolzano which hosted the program of the Exalted Mevlana’ s message of brotherhood. The weeks-earlier sold out evening was awaited with great expectation . After the concert and Ceremony Hasan Çıkar’s responses to the interest and questions of the Moslems and Christians there made obvious his position as spiritual guide on this path which embraces all cultures. After this 8 day tour our group returned to Istanbul and continues its services as the single representative responsible for presenting the way and thoughts of the Exalted Mevlana.
