Feast of San Sebastiano Martire - Palazzolo Acreide

The feast of San Sebastiano, celebrated by the Christian church on January 20, is repeated in Palazzolo Acreide on August 10. The rite supplanted the feast for the Madonna dell'Odigitria which was celebrated on that same date. The celebrations begin the previous evening, when the seventeenth-century fercolo of the saint, hidden from view of the faithful for the whole year, is revealed. At 13 pm, the fercolo and the relic, carried by devotees with bare shoulders, go out among the cheering crowd. In the town this festival is linked to a common and heartfelt act of suffering; the barefoot women follow the fercoli accompanied by the band and thousands of devotees and the bearers of vara, afflicted by the intense heat of a summer day, cross the streets of the town, leading the vare even for steep paths. The sacrifice for the Saint increases when the vare reach the ascent of Via Fiume Grande, where the great steepness of the alley induces the porters to move in a small space, to form a human chain. The saint, as repeatedly confirmed by religious rituals, is associated with saving and healing powers. In the church and along the way, numerous babies and children are, in fact, stripped and offered in the sense of protection and invocation of grace. Another evening procession closes the celebrations in honor of the saint, which actually last with moments of fun in the village for the whole week. (Text source: Sicily Region REI data sheet)

The feast of San Sebastiano, celebrated by the Christian church on January 20, is repeated in Palazzolo Acreide on August 10. The rite supplanted the feast for the Madonna dell'Odigitria which was celebrated on that same date. The celebrations begin the previous evening, when the seventeenth-century fercolo of the saint, hidden from view of the faithful for the whole year, is revealed. At 13 pm, the fercolo and the relic, carried by devotees with bare shoulders, go out among the cheering crowd. In the town this festival is linked to a common and heartfelt act of suffering; the barefoot women follow the fercoli accompanied by the band and thousands of devotees and the bearers of vara, afflicted by the intense heat of a summer day, cross the streets of the town, leading the vare even for steep paths. The sacrifice for the Saint increases when the vare reach the ascent of Via Fiume Grande, where the great steepness of the alley induces the porters to move in a small space, to form a human chain. The saint, as repeatedly confirmed by religious rituals, is associated with saving and healing powers. In the church and along the way, numerous babies and children are, in fact, stripped and offered in the sense of protection and invocation of grace. Another evening procession closes the celebrations in honor of the saint, which actually last with moments of fun in the village for the whole week.