Sicily Guide

My family has always been extremely devoted to the Patron Saint of Pace del Mela (Me): Maria SS. della Visitazione. My grandfather was the treasurer of the brotherhood named after the Madonna. July the 2nd is the day Pace del Mela, my hometown, celebrates its patron saint. It is one of the town’s main celebrations of the summer.

As a child I was awaiting for this feast so badly! I am called after the Madonna and remember feeling like everybody was celebrating me. There is a week-long events preceding the big procession on July the 2nd. The procession starts from the Parish Church in Pace Alta after the mass celebrated at 6PM. We used to have a big meal at my grandparents’ after the procession and then back to Pace Alta to celebrate with the music played by the municipal band and to wait for the fireworks late at night.

I am not particularly religious and I think that just a few are left who truly are, even in my hometown. Religion is lived as a tribal thing in Italy and even more so in Sicily. However, I miss the atmosphere around the event and the trepidation that my grandparents had in getting ready for July the 2nd. I will celebrate the 4th of July here in the USA for the seventh consecutive year now. Still a big celebration with fireworks…

Technorati Tags [ pace del mela | sicily | maria ss. visitazione ]

This entry was posted on Monday, July 2nd, 2007 at 12:01 pm and is filed under Places, Traditions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.