Experience Sicily

Tag: feast

  • The Legend of Sant’Agata or Saint Agnes, Part 1

    Sant’Agata was a virgin martyr who died in 251 AD. Legend is that she was the beautiful daughter of a wealthy family from Catania (as depicted in the emblem, pictured, worn by followers during her feast). A faithful Christian, Agatha (or Agnes) swore herself to God. Important to know, during her lifetime, Christianity was illegal…

  • Cookie of the Beholder 

    Of course we know that for la Festa di Santa Lucia Sicilians eat Cuccìa (pictured top) and arancine (rice balls), purposefully avoiding wheat grain in recognition of the severe famine of 1624 that the patron saint of wheat, eyes, sight, and light helped resolve once she heard her devotees’ prayers. But what I learned from my friend…

  • Santa Lucia: They Called, She Responded 

    The priceless silver statue of Santa Lucia (in the photograph pictured) will be processed through the streets of Ortigia on December 13, her feast day. Devotees wearing green caps and singing “Viva Santa Lucia” in a call-and-response fashion, will carry her sacred relics. This age-old devotion is rooted in the ancient Greek Persephone/Kore and Demeter myth, which…

  • Let There Be Madonna of the Light

    Yesterday, during Day 12 of Savoring Sicily, we witnessed devotees of the Madonna del Lume celebrating their annual fest in Porticello. For 70 years, the fisherman of the village have venerated the Madonna of the Light, which is represented here by a sacred painting that is taken from the altar of the Mother Church each…

  • Stirring Sicily, Day 3: Madonna of the Cutters 

    This morning at sunrise, we walked more than a mile along with the devotees of the Madonna della Tagliata in Castelvetrano. It was very emotional and beautiful to be surrounded by local women chanting the Hail Mary (in Italian) and singing an Ave Maria. | STIRRING SICILY DAY 3

  • I am black but beautiful

    Nigra sum, sed formosa = I am black but beautiful… From the Song of Songs, 1:5. The Black Madonna of Tindari is celebrated today, September 8. Black Madonnas, which are found throughout the Mediterranean basin, are venerated in localities where ancient goddesses such as Artemis, Isis, Venus, Persephone, Cybele, and Mater Dea were worshiped for centuries.…

  • The Madonna della Milicia 

    As you may have guessed, this first week in September in Sicily is bursting with feasts dedicated to the Madonna and the divine feminine. There’s a reason for this: It’s the end of the harvest season, and who do you want to recognize after a time of abundance, but Mother Earth for providing you with…

  • Super Saint Maria (of/to) the Rescue

    This weekend culminates the month-long, annual celebration in Castellammare del Golfo of their Patroness, Maria SS. del Soccorso (Super Saint Mary of the Rescue). Last night they carried her statue through the town streets to the marina and brought her out to sea, where dozens of boats followed her path around the harbor. On Sunday…

  • Cefalù Celebrates Santissimo Salvatore

    August 6 marks Cefalu’s annual celebration of their patron saint, Santissimo Salvatore della Trasfigurazione (also known as Christ Pantocrator). The tradition stems from the UNESCO recognized cathedral, or duomo. Boasting a remarkable Byzantine-style mosaic of Christ Pantocrator (pictured), the cathedral was commissioned in 1131 by the visionary Norman King Roger II after his ship found…