 |
|
Stages
in the Good Friday procession |
|
January
17 (St. Anthony Abbot): children went through town
collecting wood for bonfires to be lit in the streets at night;
the next day, the ashes were distributed in the neighborhood
as a sign of cheer and blessing. 
|
| February
2: the feast of Candlemas, or the purification of
Mary, when candles were blessed. The ritual adage: “at
Candlemas, it is better to see the wolf instead of the sun”
(or “it’s better to have bad weather than good;”
compare Ground Hog Day in USA). |
| Mardi
gras (Fat Tuesday): St. Michael’s Brotherhood
in procession seeking alms. |
| Lent:
on the first Sunday, a piñata was broken; on the 4th
Sunday, St. Michael’s Brotherhood went in procession
seeking alms. |
| Maundy
Thursday: noise was made with wood rattles, which
stood for the earthquake that followed the death of Christ.
Then the Holy Sacrament was exhibited inside the Sepulcher
(which the faithful visited all evening long and the following
day. |
| Good
Friday: at dawn, a procession to Mt. Calvary. |
|
| Friday,
Saturday and Sunday after Easter: (forty hours):
the Mother church remains open but no services are held,
celebrated instead only in the church of the Immaculate
Conception, where the Blessed Sacrament is on exhibition.
Formerly, on the third day a procession took place around
the church of the Immaculate Conception at sunset. |
| Last
Saturday in April: pilgrimage to the Madonna dell’Incoronata
in the S. Andrea di Conza (AV) district. |
| First
Sunday in May: pilgrimage to S. Maria dei Santi
in the Rapone (PZ) district. |
| Sundays
in May: pilgrimage to the little church of the
Madonna della Foresta. |
| May
8 (St. Michael Archangel): procession (repeated
on September 29). |
| May
20 (S. Berardino-or St. Bernardino): mass celebrated
in the little church of S. Berardino. |
|
|
| May
25 (St. Canio): feast of the patron saint (repeated on
September 1). |
| June
1-13 (Thirteen days): prayers in the church of St. Anthony
until the Saint’s feast day. |
| June
13 (St. Anthony of Padua): feast and procession; formerly,
a lamb and kitchenware were raffled off in a fund raiser.
|
| Second
Sunday in June (Corpus Domini): procession through town. |
June
15 (St. Vitus): since the Saint was considered the protector
of work animals, tradition required circling his church with sheep,
cows, etc. The circles were in odd numbers (five or seven), and
during the process, the Rosary was recited; at every pause, these
lines were repeated: “St. Vitus, protect us from poisonous
snakes, mad dogs, the wrath of God, and gossipmongers”.
|
On the second Sunday, a fair was held in the saint’s name. |
|
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