Yes...another procession!

Yes….another procession!

Yesterday, September 19^th, was the festa di San Gennaro.  As you may or may not know, San Gennaro is the patron saint of Naples, where a vial of his blood is kept in the San Gennaro chapel of the Duomo.  Three times a year, a miracle is said to happen, when the blood that is dried up in the vial becomes liquid. 

I was there three years ago in May to witness this event.  I had no idea that the day I went into Naples with our friends to show them around was one of those miracle days.  We were in the chapel when suddenly the Bishop came out holding the vial.  He tipped it up and down to show the liquefaction of the blood.  There were maybe 30 people in the chapel and they all lined up to pay their respects to the saint. 

September 19^th however, is the day that most people associate with San Gennaro.  It’s his onnomastico, his name day, and all the Gennaros in Italy are feted on that date.  But we aren’t usually in Cervinara in September, that being the month when we prefer to be out traveling around.  We’ve been in Turkey, in the Czech Republic, in Slovenia…but never in Cervinara!  I had no idea that San Gennaro would be celebrated here with yet another procession.

A few days ago a big poster was slapped up onto our local “bulletin board”, announcing the festivities that would be associated with San Gennaro.  It turns out that he is not only the patron saint of Naples, but also of our humble little town.  There is a statue of him in the Santuario della Beata Vergine Addolorata, which is just down the street from us off of Piazza Elena and it was from that church that everything was organized.  There were special masses said all week, and then on the evening of th 19^th, at five o’clock Italian time (so it was actually 5:30!), the saint was led out of the church, down the stairs and mounted onto the roof of a car.  The car was preceded by a brass band, then a group of priests and deacons, a cantor and the Rosary women.  It was followed by all the faithful of the parish. 

This was a short procession for Cervinara; just up the hill to Ioffredo and the church of San Nicola, then back down to Piazza Elena for more celebrations.  There were no fireworks this time, and no concerts in the piazza…just a mass remembering this saint who was martyred by Diocletian and who was the first bishop of Benevento. 

I think this will be the last of the processions for the season….the weather is changing and it’s raining and windy more often.  Processions are events for the clear summer weather.  I may be wrong though.  There are certainly many more saints that could be celebrated and Italians are never unwilling to throw a party!  But I’m pretty sure that we’ll have to wait until next summer for the celebrations to start again.  In any case, congratulations to all you Gennaros and Gennarinos out there!  Yesterday was all about you!

Endings, and Beginnings

Endings…..and Beginnings           

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. 

I have been coming to Cervinara for 40 years now.  Not every year, and often only for a couple of days a year, but the Ioffredo neighborhood has welcomed me for a very long time.  As I’ve written before, there have been certain people who are institutions here, the foremost of whom would be Don Giorgio Carbone.  A couple of years ago he celebrated 50 years in the priesthood and the celebration lasted for weeks.  I first met him when he was a young man who was in his 4^th year of leading the church of San Nicola.  It’s hard to imagine this church and this neighborhood without him.

But all good things must come to an end, and Don Giorgio has retired.  He made the announcement at the beginning of the Immacolata festa and, while it didn’t really surprise anyone, it did leave most of us unsure of what to expect next.  Don Giorgio has had his share of health issues and the fall he took a couple of years ago left him weaker and more unsteady on his feet.  The 100 yard walk down to the church became harder to do and the requirements that come with leading a sizable parish became too onerous for him to carry on.  We all knew this day would come, but it left us all feeling a bit sad.

Last week we were introduced to our new priest, Don Giovanni Panichella.  He is a young man of 35, a local fellow who has been priest at the Santa Maria della Valle church.  Valle is a “frazione” of Cervinara, just a ½ mile or so from the Ioffredo/Castello neighborhoods, but it has its own traditions, festas, and customs.  Don Giovanni will now lead both parishes, a reflection of the need for more priests (or maybe women priests, or married priests!)  This will be a challenge that I am sure he is up to, as he has shown himself to be an energetic and dedicated leader, anxious to get to know his new parishioners and our ways.

One of Don Giovanni’s first projects was a prayer service on September 7.  Pope Francis had asked for a day of fasting and prayer for peace in the world and the two parishes united at San Nicola and spent 90 minutes in thoughtful contemplation of the needs of the world and of what we as individuals can do to help in the efforts for peace.  It was mostly symbolic, but the prayers and hymns were moving.  At the beginning of the service we were all given cards with my favorite Beatitude on it… “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”  As the service ended, we all placed our cards into a basket and then we moved outside to the small piazza in front of the church.  A small fire had been lit and all of the cards were placed into it, sending our prayers up into the heavens with the smoke they created.  I think of this moment as one where Don Giovanni made his mark as someone who is sensitive not only to the needs of his parishioners but also to the needs of the world.  We welcome him with open arms.

On another note of endings, there was an article in the paper last week announcing the closing of the Bar Castello, which has been around for decades.  It was a tiny hole in the wall, but the last watering spot for those hardy people heading up into the mountains in search of mushrooms and chestnuts.  It has been run for almost 50 years by the same man, whose wife ran a tiny market next door.  They are getting on in years, but it has also become harder for them to make a living in the business.  The article in the paper said that the Castello neighborhood was becoming a ghost town and that there were just not enough people to support those enterprises.  This saddens me, because it is the oldest part of town, the part that sits in the shadow of our castle tower, the part that is like a medieval village lost in time.  It’s not easy to live up there, where most homes are on skinny little alleys that cars can’t get through.  There is some parking on the main street but going down into the little boroughs can only be done on foot.  People want more comforts and conveniences, both of which are lacking in Castello.

But, just as all things must end, there are beginnings here as well.  Word on the street is that a young man from the neighborhood will be opening up a pastry shop.  It will be nice to be able to walk just a couple of hundred yards to get a good sfogliatella instead of having to get in the car and drive downtown.  I’m really hoping he is able to make a go of this new enterprise…it will be challenging for sure but I’ll do my part to make it a success.  Every cannoli that I buy will only be for the good of the neighborhood….it will be my civic duty to support him with regular purchases of biscotti and baba!

Yes, to everything there is a season; the old must give way to the new.  But it is my sincere hope that what comes next will respect what has gone before and that the traditions that have made this town what it is will not disappear with the new generation. 

La Dolce Vita

La Dolce Vita

There are moments in one’s life when you look around and marvel at how you got there; what odd circumstances coincided to put you in that one place at that moment and, whether for the good or the bad, those times are not easily forgotten.  Since my retirement and subsequent part-time move to Italy, I have had more than my share of those moments, most of them for the good.  I’ve found myself gazing up at rocky cliffs as I bobbed in the Ionian Sea, marveling at my good fortune.  And I’ve found myself ready to slit my wrists in frustration as we try to deal with Italian bureaucracy, which is the most byzantine of wacky disorganization as you can imagine.  And I’ve found myself thinking that this must be a movie set, because places so beautiful and unique really can’t exist. This week, it was the “movie set” moment, and all that was missing was Federico Fellini.

We were up in Formia, enjoying our annual visit with a life-long friend of my husband’s, his wife, and their best friends.  It has become a tradition for us to go up there and enjoy a few days of good company, great food and wine, and lots of laughs.  This year was no different.  We had spent the day touring around the area, visiting a sanctuary and the towns of Campodimele and Lenola, both of which boast of having the longest-living population in Italy.  We had a lovely stop off in Sperlonga, a beach town set on a cliff, overlooking the sea and a string of lidos miles long.  Its whitewashed buildings and narrow alleyways provide lots of photo ops.  All in all, it was a wonderful day.

That evening we went out for dinner at a small restaurant right on the water.  The sound of the waves slapping against the sand was interrupted by a nice jazz trio, and the food was fresh from the sea.  We didn’t think it could get any better.  Then, we were told that we were going to another friend’s for gelato.  Their friend Patty’s mother was born in Hartford, and she was anxious to meet the Americans from that town.  The descriptions began: Patty is tall and statuesque.  She was considered one of the most beautiful women in the area.  Men came all the way from Rome to court her.  Now in her 60’s, she was still a striking woman.  She loved to entertain.  Every night at her villa was a party.  The stories went on. 

And so, we left our restaurant and headed to Patty’s, anxious to be introduced to this fascinating woman.  We drove through a narrow “cancello” (a wrought-iron gate) and into a curving driveway lined with palm trees that were over 100 feet tall.  The villa came into view as we entered the parking area.  It was classical in design, with detailed moldings both inside and out.  It was in a sad state of repair, with the façade still pockmarked with bullet holes, scars of WWII fighting.  The villa, only lived in for a few weeks each summer, was like a beautiful woman left untended for way too long.  Its beauty shone through the ravages of time, but it would never again be what it once was. 

As we got out of the cars we saw that the side yard was illuminated with dozens of lights strung from tree to tree.  True to her reputation, Patty was hosting a party; about a dozen people were gathered around a big table, a  grill was being manned by a young fellow and all sorts of meats were sizzling on the fire, wine was flowing like water and conversations were flying back and forth. It was well after 10 pm and they were just getting started on their evening meal.

Patty came flying over to the six of us, arms outstretched in warm welcome.  She was dressed head to toe in white linen, and her long black hair curled around her shoulders.  Her makeup was impeccable and her mani-pedi obviously recently done.  We were brought into the fold and given seats, drinks, and snacks.  The other guests were a hodge-podge of fascinating people; a renowned surgeon, an author, a couple of teachers, a salesman….each one offering a unique presence to the evening.

That is when I looked around for Fellini.  Among the huge palm trees and the flowering oleander, as the meat grilled and the jokes were flying, as the cigarettes were smoked and the desserts brought out, I could only wonder at the odd circumstances that brought this descendant of Pilgrims and Puritans to this place and time.  Each guest was a character, each palm tree a set prop, and each story a piece of dialogue that coalesced into entertaining scenarios. 

I will never experience such an evening again.  There will never be the same set of circumstances where this American, warmed by good friends, good wine and good food, would step into such a unique setting and be able to sit back and listen to the repartee and funny stories.  If Fellini were still alive, he would have appreciated the setting and the scenario, and would have written it into a movie about La Dolce Vita that I am living. 

Familiar Faces

Familiar Faces   

Coming back to Cervinara year after year has made us part of our little local community.  It is expected that we will be present at the various functions and festivals that are scattered throughout the summer months, and when we weren’t here for most of them, people began to ask where we were.  Today while having my first cappuccino with my husband at the local bar, several people commented on our long absence and how  they were glad to see us in our usual spots.  For some, the wrinkles were a little more pronounced, the bellies a little bit bigger, the hair a little bit whiter.  For others, their weight loss and poor color marked health problems that are worrisome.    But the biggest changes always come with the little ones.

Last night was the Festa dell’Immacolata, where the statue of the Madonna comes out of our church and is paraded through the streets all through the town.  She is accompanied by dozens of people, young and old alike, dressed in costumes and representing everything from angels, to wise men, to the Holy Family.  Unlike other processions, this one covers all the neighborhoods, not just Ioffredo and Castello.  It starts at the church and proceeds up the hill to the end of the inhabited area, taking detours down small alleyways and into dead end corners, then back down the hill into Valle, then downtown into Salamona and back up through Ferrari, and into the church again.  This is a slow march that takes over three hours and it is a challenging one that I don’t do.  

But I was out to view the removal of the Madonna, and I joined the procession for the first two legs of the walk, and it gave me the opportunity to see all the children and how they have grown.  The first ones I noticed were the angels.  They were all children from four to sixyears old, dressed in shiny white robes with garland wings.  I knew all of these little ones and had seen them grow from pacifier-sucking toddlers into sweet young cherubs.  The little girl who used to flirt with the bar customers by peaking out through the Venetian blind slats, chubby little Salvatore who has strung out some as he’s gotten taller but who still has bowed legs from carrying around so much extra weight, little Ilaria with her black pony tail looking so proud to be following the group….they all made me realize the passage of time and the years that I have spent here.

Then there was Marta, who was dressed as a young Mary.  Last year she spent hours coloring in the tiles of our courtyard with sidewalk chalk; last night she was a dignified young lady.  And there was Margherita, who last year danced around the piazza at the concert, unconcerned about what anyone else thought of her; she was a bit more reserved this year and it made me sad that she was more concerned with her “image” than with her love of the music.  And there was the blond boy, whose first communion I saw two years ago.  Last night he was kicking around a soccer ball and I swear I could see the first sign of a mustache on him!  I don’t know all their names, but I know their faces and their changes, and it makes me feel good that I am able to see them grow and progress year after year.

I have had a hard time being here this year, away from my first grandchild.  He’s four months old now and I am missing him terribly.  The daily photo updates help, but when I look at how quickly my little friends in Cervinara are changing, I realize just what I am missing.  We will continue to come here; it is our home away from home.  But I don’t think we’ll be staying for quite so long in the future.  I always love to see the familiar faces, but there is a special little one back in Connecticut now that I just won’t be able to stay away from for long!