By now it is apparent to the reader that we are travellers rather than tourists. It’s a subtle distinction and may sound a little elitist. We love being off the beaten track as much as possible, enjoying the local culture and all that it offers. We rarely, if ever, join a tour group. When we eat out, we try to find places where the locals gather. When we eat in, we shop at the local markets and small grocery stores. And, of course, we definitely drink the local wine.
Sicily is a diverse island with a rich social and political history, so it is hard to be too prescriptive on such a brief visit. However, it seems fairly apparent that the priorities of the Sicilians are food, wine, family and the Church. The food is more diverse than other parts of Italy. The wine is excellent and affordable. Family speaks for itself and religion is ubiquitous. The sight of Mary, being carried down the main street by a band of prayerful adherents on a Tuesday evening was greeted by people coming onto their balconies to venerate the statue as it passed. Calatabiano was warming up for the feast of St Fillipo who, as legend has it, overcame Satan a number of times and survived. However, St Fillipo’s exploits took him to Hell, whereupon he was victorious but the soot from the encounter covered his body and statues reflect this by depicting him as black.
St Fillipo banners adorn balconies throughout the village. Clearly a martyr of great significance. St Lucia of Ortigia is quite another story. She dates back to the third century and her following is immense. Her feast day is in December, but the locals cannot have enough St Lucia in their lives, so the first Sunday in May is also her day. We are in Ortigia on this day. It’s the right place to be!
Australian Government Travel Advisories over the years have warned against joining crowds of people on the streets of foreign countries. This advice only makes them more alluring! We were amongst one million people on the streets in Bangkok in 2014 protesting their displeasure at the government. Chileans love a demonstration and we witnessed several against the cost of housing, the state of the economy, the environment, and even cyclists riding through the streets with placards in Santiago protesting about ….we’re not sure what. There was Viet Nam’s victory in the Asian Cup in 2006 that brought Sai Gon’s already chaotic streets to fever pitch with horns blearing and yahooing motorcyclists carrying the national flag. 2019 lobbed us into Leicester Square to be inadvertently involved in the biggest gay pride parade seen to that point in Britain. A more sedate Hindu procession in Ubud to bless the waters in 2022 was a sacred moment.
I digress from the main event today. We have no qualms about joining a religious procession in Ortigia to honour the favoured St Lucia. It’s a warm day and the Piazza Duomo is packed. The crowd is orderly, for this part of the world, so a negative Travel Advisory would be unwarranted. It is a festive occasion with police, military, bishops, priests and lay people dressed in their finery. The Archbishop leads the occasion from a balcony high above the piazza. His words are met with favourable acknowledgement by the gathered faithful.
The prime objective of the event is to transport a grand, adorned, gold statue of the saint from the Cathedral to St Lucia’s Chapel, a distance of 200 metres across the piazza. It takes 40 men in green hats 90 minutes to achieve this goal. Frequent stops allow people to reverentially touch the statue. It is a solemn occasion, but the various robes and hats worn by participants are intriguing. The are many green hatted men apart from those carrying St Lucia take their role very seriously. Controlling the crowd, creating a pathway for the procession, liaising with police and energetically skipping around the piazza to ensure the smooth running of the show. They could be leprechauns if they were in Ireland. Then there’s the more regally robed men in white, upright of stature, assuming a status of importance. I dub them Knights of St Lucia, whilst the Dames in black with more severe looks, have mournful faces. St Lucia died in the third century, so the mourning/grieving/celebratory process has endured with high levels of passion and emotion. St Lucia was only 13 years old when she met with an untimely stabbing for adherence to her faith. Glorious statues and paintings gruesomely feature a dagger in her neck. The golden statue depicts her riding triumphant on horseback, complete with dagger. It’s unclear whether she was riding when she met her fate? Perhaps not. Relics survive hundreds of years, carried in procession by another group of women appropriately clothed for the occasion. Her body has its own history and there are only a few of her bones in the small casket. Other body parts may be found in other places in Italy.
The occasion culminates in a flyover by two military helicopters. One has a human suspended by a rope. It’s unclear why until we realise it’s a unique, spectacular and dangerous way of blessing the crowd. It could be a priest whose specialty is sprinkling holy water from dizzying heights or a duly authorised military officer. It’s certainly not the Archbishop, his eyes are cast heavenwards like the rest of us. Hundreds of doves are released from the Cathedral terrace. A peaceful contrast to St Lucia’s demise.
Italians certainly know how to put on a great procession!
p.s. I forgot St Sebastiano from Calatabiano. A gracious older woman gave us a tour of the church with no accompanying English translation, but we got the drift. Her feature was a statue of St Sebastiano with a number of arrows piercing his body. He still had a smile on his face, and if you are an archer or an athlete, he is your patron saint!