Little songs in honor of the Most Holy Mary

The people of Scicli repeat every year the miracle of the Canzoncine, an unusual sung procession that fills the streets of the town declared a World Heritage Site. Hundreds of people participate in the procession through the city streets, accompanied by the musical band. In the Canzoncine there is no statue, there is no image of the Madonna di San Bartolomeo, but her imagination and foreboding. At the limit between the sacred and the profane and always very popular in Scicli, the "Canzoncine" transform a usual religious procession into a rite of devotion and fun. It is celebrated with two processions and there are two Canzoncine dedicated to the Immaculate Conception: the one linked to the church of Santa Maria La Nova, which is usually held on 7 December, and those linked to the church of San Bartolomeo which takes place the following Saturday on 8 December . Around 19 pm people spontaneously gather in front of the Church: the town band is present, someone distributes the lyrics of the song to sing and others bring wine or grappa to warm up. The procession crosses the streets of the town center and stops in front of the churches and votive shrines it meets. People sing, sometimes screams, a prayer to the Virgin Mary, "more vague than the dawn, more white than a lily". For about two hours the same formula is repeated, the procession parades through the streets and interrupts the journey to sing.