Feast of the Madonna del Lume of Porticello
The festival is linked to the cult of Santa Maria del Lume which according to a legend was brought to Porticello following the discovery of a painting of the Madonna del Lume by some fishermen who found the painting in their nets during a fishing trip. The picture was taken to a church dedicated to the Madonna but at night, the picture miraculously moved to the place of the current church.
The Feast of the Madonna del Lume in Porticello (from the site REIMAR
The devotion of the community was officially sanctioned and recognized in the nineteenth century when, thanks to the economic commitment of the fishermen of the village, the church was built for the cult of Maria Santissima del Lume, which definitively supplanted all the other previous local cults dedicated to Sant' Antonino and San Nicola.
With regard to the start date of the celebrations, in the form in which we know them today, there are no certain historical sources; however, as reported by Sorgi, many local fishermen recall the procession of the simulacrum held in 1837, on the occasion of the cholera epidemic. By means of this procession the community invoked the cessation of the epidemic. The salvation of the town was therefore attributed to divine intervention and, as a sign of thanksgiving, the festivities were celebrated in honor of the Madonna del Lume.
The festival, organized thanks to the funds raised by the local fishing community, aggregated in the Maria Santissima del Lume Celebration Committee, begins on the first Sunday of October, at the end of the main fishing season of the year; the community therefore thanks for the income and yields of the hard work of the cycle just ended, and invokes the success of future fishing seasons, through a propitiatory celebration.
The celebrations begin with playful moments that involve the whole community, such as the race of the boats and the game of the antenna in the sea, and continue with the procession through the streets of the town. On this occasion the moment of the discovery of the sacred picture is recalled: the simulacrum is in fact placed on a fercolo carried on the shoulders of the fishermen, and placed outside the church where the devotees can touch the effigy and exhibit the children in the presence of the sacred image, in order to receive blessings or to give thanks. This is how the procession starts through the streets of the town, until it reaches the navy and the port of Santa Nicolicchia, the place where the picture was found, where the procession comes to an end and the fireworks explode.
On the eighth day of the feast, a second celebration is held which includes a procession by land of the faithful who reach the chapel of Capo Zafferano on foot, located just below the lighthouse, and a procession by sea in which all the boats of the navy, following the fishing boat carrying the simulacrum of the Madonna del Lume, they head, by sea, towards the same chapel, where the bishop's homily is recited. The vessel charged with carrying the effigy of the Madonna is chosen by drawing lots. These celebrations also end with a fireworks display.
An important element, which testifies once again to the solidity of the bond between the seafaring community and the Madonna del Lume, is that on the day of the festivities the fish market is always open and on some occasions the simulacrum has been carried in procession up to the market, whose spaces have been set up with festive decorations.
The Cult of Santa Maria del Lume (from Wikipedia)
With the title of Holy Mary of the Light or Most Holy Mother of Light a Catholic Marian devotion is expressed which derives from a revelation of the Madonna to a seer which would have occurred on November 21, 1722 in Palermo.
Father Giovanni Antonio Genovesi, a priest of the Society of Jesus, a zealous missionary who died in 1743, revered by the people of Messina as a saint during the scourge of the plague, decided to consecrate the labors of his missionary work to the Madonna to whom he was very devoted.
So, together with the crucifix, he decided to bring a canvas image of the Madonna with him. Undecided about her title and image, he thought of asking the Madonna directly the way she wanted to be venerated. But considering himself unworthy to make such a request, he wanted to ask for the particular grace through a noble and pious woman who had become a religious. One day, after communion, intent on thanking the Lord, he fell into a state of ecstasy. Here is how the seer described seeing her: … A group of seraphim surrounded her… they supported on her head… a triple diadem. Her virginal head was adorned with a long robe, a sash of hers encircled her hips, from her shoulders hung gracefully a blue cloak. She would have particularly affected: The extraordinary affability and grace that the august face of the Virgin effused... it increased even more the joy of seeing the Great Mother not alone, as at other times, but carrying in her left arm her Divine Son in the form of a happy and smiling Child.
The seer reported that, when she asked Mary why she showed herself, the Madonna would have reminded her of the prayer addressed to her by Father Genovesi, and would have pronounced the following words: I want to be painted on a canvas as you see me and, as He spoke thus, He bent down to keep a soul from falling into the pains of hell. The woman recalled that Father Genovesi had asked that the hearts of sinners be represented in the painting in the act of presenting them in some way to the Virgin. Our Lady consented to this wish of hers by showing her just that. The seer reported: ... and behold (always in the same vision) an angel appears on his knees next to the Virgin who, holding a basket full of hearts in his hand, presents them to her on the left side, where the divine little child, who was in the arms of the Mother, one by one he takes them and, no less with looks than with contact, inflames them with charity. In the end: "... see now - repeated the mother of God - how I let you see me, exactly as I want to be painted, and in this way I want to be evoked with the name of "Most Holy Mother of Light"[1].
The following expression would have been repeated three times, adding that anyone who had evoked it with this title would have been crowned with every grace and blessing. The picture was painted in Palermo, in the presence of the seer and father Genovesi. It was the year 1722.
The diffusion of the cult of Maria SS. del Lume in the world (from the site “Santa Maria del Lume” Parish Archpriesthood of Linera
Maria SS. del Lume is celebrated:
- in Linera (CT): the third Sunday of November (Sunday before the solemnity of Christ the King);
- in Palermo (at the Novitiate): the last Sunday of July;
- in Palermo (church of S. Cristoforo): the second Sunday of September;
- in Porticello (PA): the first Monday of October;
- in Presinaci di Rombiolo (VV): the third Sunday of September;
- in California and Wisconsin: the first Sunday in October;
- in Mexico: the Wednesday before Pentecost Sunday.
The Madonna del Lume is the protector of:
- Artisans (Palermo);
- Fishermen (Porticello);
- Electricians (Mexico).
Churches dedicated to the Madonna del Lume in Italy:
Parishes in Italy:
- Cesta of Copparo (FE);
- Linera (CT): Mother Church;
- Lumen (RC);
- Melara (RO);
- Naro (AG);
- Palazzo Adriano (PA);
- Pellaro (RC);
- Porticello (PA).
Churches in Italy:
- Baucina (PA): Church of the college;
- Cesta of Copparo (FE);
- Favelloni (VV);
- Fiumara di Piraino (ME);
- Grottaglie (TA);
- Lumen (RC);
- Palermo (3): at the Cassàri, in Corso Calatafimi, in via S. Cristoforo;
- Pellaro (RC);
- Sambuca of Sicily (AG).
Text source: indicated in the individual chapters
- Insights on the cult of Maria SS. of the Light:
- “Santa Maria del Lume” Parish Archpriesthood of Linera
- Santa Maria del Lume
- Feast of the Madonna del Lume (REIMAR)
- Sorgi, Orietta: Fishing and its tutelary deities: the cult of Maria Santissima del Lume in Porticello / Orietta Sorgi It is part of: Saints at sea: rituals and devotion in the Sicilian coastal communities / edited by Ignazio E. Buttitta, Maria Emanuela Palmisano
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Information contributions: Web
Photo: Google
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