Celebrating Saints
Being a Catholic country, it may not surprise you that saints are a big deal in Italy. Every day of the liturgical calendar, has a saint associated with it. Usually it is the day that saint passed away, but sometimes, a saint’s feast day is determined by the church. Many of the saints are obscure, but important all the same.
As previously posted, each village and town has their own chosen patron saint (or saints plural) which they honor. While each village has their own patron saint(s), there are common themes in how they celebrate their saint(s).
In August, we retreat to our mountain home in Abruzzo. Not only do we seek refuge in the much cooler temperatures and fresh, high altitude air; but, it is the one month that our village comes alive. Our town has deep familial roots and while most people have left for the larger, modern cities of Roma and Milano; they pilgrimage back to Roio during ferie (holiday) to celebrate. More than an extended family or ‘town reunion’, it is time to honor their saints.
From August 1 through 15 (Feragosto), our village grows from 50 or so inhabitants to 200 or more. The normally quiet streets are animated - countless kids on bikes and playing hide-and-seek (too hard to count because they do not stay still), young teens travel in packs reforming cliques from prior years, adults who once played together in the piazza now sit together during aperitivo and catch up on their lives.
Festivals abound and there is much to celebrate. We love this time of year when our town is a fury of activity. We marvel in the strong bound the Roiese share with each other while accepting that their familial roots run deep and we will never fully be considered one of them. However, we hold the distinct honor of being , ‘i American di Roio’. As such, we watch and participate in the festivities with care. It is important for us to be here during this special time each year to slowly ingratiate ourselves, reconnect and meet with generations of Roiese, and learn more about our special village on the mountain.
The days leading up to our Patron Saints Day celebrations find food vendors, toy vendors, small market days, evening music, and dinner served in the piazza. People watching is at its finest and even Elliot enjoys hours on end sitting on a sunny bench taking it all in.
On August 12th, as we move slowly from slumber to becoming fully awake, the village band marches past our windows in their first go around the town. They will come by three times and with each pass, more villagers following behind. We join them and head down to the piazza where they will perform a few more songs. Thus, Santo Fillipo Neri celebrations begin. The band leads the way to the church for mass and then Santo Fillipo Neri, in his statued glory carrying Baby Jesus, is carried out and strolled around the town. While everyone retreats home for lunch, the party reconvenes in the evening with live musical entertainment into the wee hours of the night.
August 13th, we awake to the band yet again. On this day they seem louder. Perhaps it is because we have only slept but a few hours. The booming bass drum keeping the beat pulsating like a heart beat with the flutes, clarinets, and trumpets provide the energy we need to celebrate another saint, San Rocco. Elliot seems to think the band is for him as he struts behind them prancing in a way I have never seen before. We all take our place on the sides of the road as we await San Rocco to emerge from the church for his annual stroll in the sunlight and mountain air. This passeggiata however includes generations of Roiese in historical costume, most noticeably, the women in peasant dress carrying flowers in copper pots on their heads. The last evening of celebrations brings carnival trucks and a Gianni Morandi tribute band, that again, has the village awake most of the night…including young kids.
To be in our mountain home, to witness family reunions and rich cultural festivities, is so very meaningful to us. Celebrating with everyone, each year, we very patiently become more than just ‘i American di Roio’. We delight in seeing returning faces (who remember us) and thrill in seeing the patron saints stroll down the streets as they have for hundreds of years. To witness a history so rooted, that has reoccured every calendar year for centuries, certainly hits deep into your soul like the pounding of the band’s bass drum. While we are not catholic, celebrating saints has been planted in our psyches…and perhaps, every year, makes us more ‘Italiani’.
The band walking past our house.
Elliot enjoying the parade for San Fillipo Neri.
The parade for San Rocco returns to the piazza after returning him to the church. (Note: Wait for our little friend Francesco to bow and salute me and Elliot at the end. He loves Elliot).
Want to learn more about Patron Saints? Want to know when Patron Saint Days are celebrated in Italy? Thinking about celebrating a Patron Saint Day in Italy? Send a message to The Conciergist! We will gladly build an itinerary for you to include participation in a local village celebration.
