On the day in which the church celebrates the liturgical feast of San Nicola, on December 6, in Gualtieri Sicaminò the functions take place only in the church with the ritual prayers, Eucharistic celebrations and the novena that marks the nine days preceding the feast. On December 3-4-5, some Gualtieresi, after the novena, gather in groups. Each of them, preceded by the so-called bettalaru (bearer of the saddlebag) and accompanied by the musical band, knocks from door to door through the streets of the town, asking for an offer of figs, walnuts and hazelnuts (they ask in dialect pussy and nuciddi). Thus one of the scenes described in the stanzas of the ancient hymn to St. Nicholas is recalled, which is sung before knocking: Long live Santa Nicola.

 

 

In this context, the traditional Hazelnut consists in throwing hazelnuts that the authorities make from the balconies on Piazza Duomo. The crowd on the street awaits the launch, over a thousand kilos of dried fruit with a woody shell hitting the heads of an audience made up of old and young people trying to collect as much as possible. For the little ones, the hazelnuts are distributed separately, preventing them from being thrown from above. The bond of this centuries-old traditional gesture with Saint Nicholas is due to the fact that the Saint is recognized as a dispenser not only of spiritual but also material graces. In fact, many wonders handed down by the faithful tell of the distribution of food in times of famine and his devotees turn to him for every occasion: hunger, pestilence, wars, earthquakes, natural disasters ... Hazelnuts are also an autumn fruit and a symbol of fertility already to the Roman times, who in the period of December celebrated the Saturnalia, feasts in honor of the god Saturn (god of sowing, considered a generous giver of the fruits of the earth). It is possible that tradition and devotion to St. Nicholas have been mixed with ancient pagan elements of Roman tradition.

 

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