| BENEDICTINE
SAINTS |
| In
the high Middle Ages, there were numerous monastic settlements
in the Calitri countryside, all observant of St. Benedict's
rule; the oldest was the abbey of Santa Maria in Elce, founded
at the beginning of the 9th century, toward the end of the
iconoclastic period. |
| In
the 12th century there was a major flowering of monasteries,
among which, along with others, S. Maria dei Santi [St Mary
of the Saints], was founded near the town of Rapone. It
was founded in 1131 by St. William of Vercelli. |
| The
Benedictines introduced the devotion to St. Benedict, St.
Egidius (to whom a church in Castiglione was dedicated),
and St. Desiderius. |
| Another
observant of the Benedictine rule was the female monastery
of the Annunciation, built in Calitri in the 16th century
at the behest of the noble woman Drusiana di Landolfo. |
| Below
St. Lucy's countryside chapel, there is a part of town that
slopes toward the Ofanto river called to this day Coste
di S. Benedetto [St. Benedict's Slopes]—maybe because
the area belonged in the past to a monastery of that order. |
| . |
Statue
of St. Anthony in the church by the same name |
|
Statue
of St. Vincent in the Church of the Immaculate Conception |
| . |
| ST.
MICHAEL, ST. ANTHONY ABBOT AND OTHER CULTS FROM THE MIDDLE
AGES |
| The
cult of St. Michael the Archangel goes back to the high
Middle Ages. It was introduced by the Longobards, who recognized
in the sword bearing angel the Christian equivalent of their
warlike divinities. |
| The
Sanctuary of San Michele sul Gargano, St. Michael's church
in Monticchio and the chapel of San Michele al Bosco near
the town of Rapone, were the goal of frequent pilgrimages
by Calitrians. |
| A
farmstead near Castiglione as well as the most ancient church
in Calitri, founded in 1333, were entitled to the Archangel. |
| The
"Lay Confraternity of Purgatory” or "Fund
for the Dead" was associated with this church, since
St. Michael, the protector of the faithful at the moment
of death, accompanied the soul into the afterlife. |
| A
church with several altars, dedicated to St. Anthony (known
as S. Antuono to Calitrians), was erected near the Buccolo
gate. This saint, along with St. Vitus, was considered the
protector of domesticated animals. |
| The
devotion for St. Anthony the abbot, who lived between the
3rd and 4th centuries, was fostered in the Kingdom of Naples
by the order of the Hospitallers, an order originally from
Vienne (France) that arrived in Italy as part of the retinue
of the Anjou sovereigns. |
| The
monks of the Vienne order used pork lard to rid people of
herpes (also known as St. Anthony's Fire). |
|
