Feast of Sant’Agata in Catania

February 4 is the most exciting day, because it marks the first meeting of the city with the patron saint. Already from the early hours of dawn the streets of the city are populated with “citizens”. They are devotees who wear the traditional “sack” (a votive white cloth vest down to the ankle and tied at the waist by a drawstring), a black velvet cap, white gloves and waving a white handkerchief also stretched in thick folds. It represents the nocturnal clothing worn by the people of Catania when, back in 1126, they ran to meet the relics that Gisliberto and Goselmo brought back from Constantinople. But the original nightgown, over the centuries, has also been enriched with the meaning of a penitential garment: according to some, the white cloth dress is the revisitation of a liturgical garment, the black cap would remind the ashes of which the head was covered penitents and the waist cord would represent the hair shirt. Three different keys, each kept by a different person, are necessary to open the iron gate that protects the relics in the cathedral: one guards the treasurer, the second bishop, the third the prior of the chapter of the cathedral. When the third key removes the last mandate from the gate of the room where the bust is kept, and the sacello is opened, the smiling and serene face of Sant’Agata looks out from the bedroom in the growing blaze of the faithful impatient to see her again. Shimmering with gold and precious gems, the bust of Saint Agatha is hoisted on the silver Renaissance fercolo, lined with red velvet, the color of the blood of martyrdom, but also the color of the kings. Before leaving the cathedral for the traditional procession along the streets of the city, Catania welcomes its patron with the solemn “Messa dell’Aurora”, celebrated by S.E. Mons. Archbishop. Among the clanging of party shots, the fercolo is loaded with the precious casket with relics and carried in procession through the city.

The “giro”, the procession of day 4, lasts the whole day. The fercolo crosses the places of martyrdom and traces the events of the history of the “santuzza”, which intertwine with that of the city: the cathedral, the places of martyrdom, hurriedly, without stops, almost to avoid the sad renewal of the sad I remember. A pause is also made to the “marine” from which the people of Catania, saddened and unarmed, saw the relics of the saint leave for Constantinople. Then a stop at the plague column, which recalls the miracle performed by St. Agatha in 1743, when the city was spared from the epidemic. The “citizens” drive the fercolo among the crowd that is crowded along the streets and in the squares. In four thousand or five thousand they pull the heavy car. All strictly wear the votive sack and in small steps, in the crowd, drag the fercolo that, empty, weighs 17 quintals, but, weighed down by Scrigno, Bust and loaded with wax, can weigh up to 30 quintals. At a cadenced rhythm and waving white handkerchiefs, they cry: “citizens, citizens, all devotees all, citizens, alive Saint Agatha”, a hymn that also means: “Saint Agatha is alive” in the crowd. The “tour” ends at night when the fercolo returns to the cathedral.

On the fercolo February 5, the red carnations of the previous day (symbolizing martyrdom), are replaced by white ones (representing purity). Late in the morning, the papacy is celebrated in the cathedral. At sunset the second part of the procession begins, which winds through the streets of the center of Catania, also crossing the “Borgo”, the district that welcomed the refugees from Misterbianco after the 1669 eruption. The most awaited moment is the passage for the way of San Giuliano, which due to the slope is the most dangerous point of the whole procession. It represents a test of courage for the “citizens”, but it is also interpreted – depending on how the “obstacle” is overcome – as a celestial sign of good or bad omen for the entire year. At dawn on day 6, the Fercolo with relics reaches Via Crociferi. It is the moment when the Saint greets the city before the conclusion of the festivities. Throughout the night, thousands of citizens in white coats defy the cold of the night, shouting “Viva Sant’Agata”, in a moment full of magic and spirituality. At this point, while suddenly the atmosphere becomes silent, the angelic song of the cloistered nuns rises. The origin of the text and music is lost in the mists of time, even if a legend tells that its author was a Sicilian named Tarallo, who composed it specifically for the cloistered nuns of San Benedetto. At night the fireworks mark the closing of the festivities. When Catania gives back to the bedroom in the cathedral the reliquary and the casket, the white bags do not smell more than laundry, the faces are marked by fatigue, the muscles hurt, the voice is reduced to a thin thread. But the satisfaction of having carried the body of St. Agatha in triumph through the streets of his Catania fills everyone with joy and repays those labors. It will be necessary to wait several months, the summer party of 17 August, or another year (the feast of February 5), to see once again smiling the good face of the saint who was a martyr for the salvation of faith and Catania.

The feast of St. Agatha is inseparable from the traditional parade of “candelore”, huge candles covered with handcrafted decorations, putti in gilded wood, saints and scenes of martyrdom, flowers and flags. The candelore precedes the fercolo in procession, because at one time, when electric lighting was lacking, they had the function of illuminating the passage to the participants in the procession. They are carried on the shoulders by a number of carriers that, depending on the weight of the candle, can vary from 4 to 12 men. The master goldsmiths of the fourteenth century had created the bust of Sant’Agata, a masterpiece of refined and precious art. But the people, always close to the patron, wanted to be present in the party with their own creations, works of craftsmanship that represented, in addition, associations of various categories of workers. Each of the 11 candles has a precise identity. On the shoulders of the bearers, it comes alive and lives its own uniqueness, which consists of several elements: the shape that characterizes the candle, the gait and the type of sway that is given to him, the choice of a march as a musical background.

The candelore always parade in the same order. The small procession of Monsignor Ventimiglia opens the procession. The first large candle represents the inhabitants of the district of San Giuseppe La Rena and was built at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It is followed by that of the gardeners and florists, in Gothic-Venetian style. The third in order of exit is that of the fishmongers, in late-baroque style with holy friezes and small fishes. His unmistakable pass earned the candelora the nickname of “bersagliera”. The following candle is that of the greengrocers, which instead has elegant steps and is therefore called the “Miss”. The butchers’ one is a four-tiered tower. The candies of the pasta makers is a simple eighteenth-century candlestick without scenery. The candelora of the pizzicagnoli and bettolieri is in liberty style, that of the bakers is the heaviest of all, adorned with great angels, and for its cadenza is called the “mother”. The procession closes the candelora of the city circle of St. Agatha, which was introduced by Cardinal Dusmet. In the past, the candelores were even more numerous: there were those of the shoemakers, the confectioners, the masons, until reaching the number of 28 in some periods.

TRADITIONAL SWEETS

During the holiday period, desserts linked to the tradition of the Catanese saint could not be missed. In addition to the famous calia e simenza, present at every party in Catania, some sweets are made for the occasion that have a reference to sant’Agata, such as the “Cassateddi di Sant’Aita” and the “Olivette”. These are characteristic and symbolic sweets related to the virgin of Catania. The cassateddi, or “Minni di Sant’Aita” refer to the breasts that were torn from the saint during the martyrs she was subjected to, to force her to abjure her faith. The olive groves, however, refer to the legend that she, chased by the men of Quinziano and now near the Palazzo pretorio, had stopped to rest for a moment. At the same moment when he stopped, he said to tie a shoe, an olive tree appeared out of nowhere and the young girl could take shelter and also feed on its fruits. Even today, to renew the memory of that prodigious event, it is customary to cultivate an olive tree in a flower bed near the places of martyrdom, and to consume these typical sweets made with real pasta during the holidays.

THE PLACES OF CULT

THE CATHEDRAL OF SANT’AGATA – Reliquary bust of Sant’Agata di Giovanni di Bartolo (1373, chapel of the Sant’Agata Chapel) – Casket of the relics of Sant’Agata, late fifteenth / sixteenth century with remaking of the eighteenth (sacellum of the chapel of Sant’Agata).

SANT’AGATA AL CARCERE – Church that was built in front of the prison where the patron saint of the city, St. Agatha was locked up during the trial, brought after her martyrdom, healed by the apostle Peter and where he breathed his last breath on February 5 251 AD – Outside the prison, to the left of the current access gate, a lava stone block preserves, according to tradition, the impressed footprints of St. Agatha.

CHURCH SANT’AGATA LA VETERE – Sarcophagus where the body of the young martyr is buried.

FESTIVAL PROGRAM OF SANT’AGATA 2018

Photo taken from the Circolo Cittadino Sant’Agata website
For more information:
www.festadisantagata.it
www.circolosantagata.it
www.cattedralecatania.it