THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY IN ABRUZZO ABRUZZO
Antonio Egyptian hermit, born in Coma around 251, also known as St. Anthony the Great, St. Anthony of Egypt, but also St. Anthony's Fire, St. Anthony of the Desert, Saint Anthony the Anchorite, lived at first in a plague of the Thebaid desert in Egypt and then on the banks of the Red Sea, where he led anchorite life for more than 80 years. He died in 356 hundred years old.
was the holy temptations of the devil appeared to him in all those looks angelic, human and bestial. In art it is depicted surrounded by provocative women (the symbol of temptation) or pets (such as pork), whose patron is popular, but also appears with the stick in the shape of the hermits T, 'tau' last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and then alluding to things past and destiny.
; The cult of Saint Anthony Abbot is still very much rooted in the Abruzzo region and is particularly widespread in rural areas and mountain villages. Sant'Antonio Abate has been one of the leading figures of popular religiosity.
Venerated as a protector of animals (his image was a time when all the stalls of the farmers) is invoked for the health of livestock and the body, especially against the "shingles."
for its farming culture festival (Jan. 17) opens the cycle of the year and is still an important day of the calendar that indicates day of the year in addition to the works to be done and the work to be carried out in the countryside.
The spirit of this ancient festival, which is connected to the other parties Abruzzo fires in winter, before or after the winter solstice, he still lives.
The years go by and the struggle with modernity and traditions. But the day of the Holy continues to be a "day of fire", which won and memory forgetfulness is telling to children and to remember that older people and customs of the communities of the past, because they do not astray definitively the meaning and beauty.
Many small towns come to life before the people and the places prepared piles of wood columns or rods which, once lit, illuminate corners and squares, to give light to the facades of palaces and churches in many villages of Abruzzo: the "fires of Anthony ". A key element of the traditional feast of the saint, recognized as the one who won devils and flames of hell. In some countries, groups of masked young men running from house to house to "sing S. Antonio "impersonates a holy hermit, there's often a crowd of devils, tempting the girl and the angel that brings comfort.
The spirit of this ancient village festival stands in Abruzzo, and in some centers is of particular importance.
A Petri Fara Filiorum , prov. Chieti, you burn the farchie , gigantic columns of rods that are raised in front of the church of Sant 'Antonio Abate and burned at the top. In the fascinating spectacle of the flames flickering in the dark colors of the sunset, the village celebrates with visitors with songs and music folklore Abruzzo, good wine and traditional food. In the nearby church dedicated to Saint Anthony is celebrated on the religious function that culminates in the blessing of the FARC in the presence of the statue of Santo.Prima that the fire consumes them completely, the FARC are deprived of the top glowing and reported in individual districts, where the party goes on in an atmosphere of joy and hospitality that characterizes the entire event.
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A SCANNO celebrates Anthony Baron. The legend of "the most blessed de Sancto Antonio Baron Dear Miss Li" , is one of the most interesting documents of the oldest vernacular poetry in Abruzzo. The work of a cleric who had spread, as shown by clear signs of oral tradition, in the whole area of \u200b\u200bAquila, the poem has come down to us in Casanatense Code 1808, designed by Vittorio Monks on it traced the origins of language and thematic framework Literature italiana.Databile to the early fourteenth century the law entered in the register of the poets of the occasion, especially those belonging the pastoral world and has a lot of prayers based on the use of companies that begging, on the Feast of the Holy, are still the Abruzzo.
A Scanno, who was among the most prosperous economic centers herding, the memory of this old poem is so much more alive than St. Anthony, Abbot, or called away in January, is said Barone, also in order to distinguish it from the Holy One of June, said the lily, and which pays a spectacular evening of 17 festa.La January, early, Di Rienzo family that once owned most of the flocks wintering in Puglia, instructs you to lie outside the door of his aristocratic palace of one or more large cauldrons copper, filled with steaming sagne ricotta.I devotees, after hearing mass in the nearby church of Sant'Antonio Abate, start with the priest leading the procession to the house Di Rienzo. Here, after the religious proceeded to bless the food, with a special formula that recalls the very opening words of the medieval chant, everyone uses, returning home a ladle of soup consuming devotion. If the seventeenth day fell on a Friday, cottage cheese, fatty foods deemed by the Church, was replaced by beans and olive oil.
The ceremony, also for the scenario in which the procedure is very picturesque and initiates the Carnival. At one time, immediately after the distribution of sagne, Corriere Carnival, riding a recalcitrant donkey, he spoke for the country, to the sound of the trumpet that were open the celebrations of the craziest time of the year. He was followed by the traditional masks that follow the ancient drama of religious origins, representing the hermits, the little brothers and episcopello, a child who impersonated the bishop for a day and carried out the functions.
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Pratola Peligna tradition has it that on the evening of January 16, it performs a "representation in characteristic costumes" by Sant 'Antonio and the devil, played Two brothers of the Holy Trinity, accompanied by musicians who sing of life, the temptations and the miracles of the saint and roaming the streets of the town until late at night. On 17 January for the feast of Sant 'Antonio in Pratola ancient custom is to bless the animals, after the service of Holy Mass at the Church of the Holy Trinity, the statue of the saint is carried in procession to Piazza Garibaldi in the center of country, where the priest gives his blessing to a colorful procession composed of pets
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An ancient festival surrounded by many legends, that of St. Anthony Abbot, which takes place at Atri 16 and 17 January. As in other small towns in Abruzzo on the evening of 16 groups of young people roam the houses and farms of the countryside singing "Lu Sand'Andùne", a song sung, a representation in which the devil appears, with a compartment of the groped Santo. After the performance it is customary to eat sausages, sausages, cheese, ham and drinking good wine.
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Oh what a lovely tea devezzióne
Chellonghe to Sant 'Anton!
What a party, how do I spending
ji Sante 'ste country! ... A
Collelongo the Holy Hermit is celebrated with a series of ceremonies whose main element is the food.
the evening before the January 16, seven families in the country, almost always carry one vote, or to outsource their devotion to the saint, put on fire a large copper cauldron, called in local dialect cottora, on which they boil large quantity of maize, previously held to soak. Because the grains swell cooking, the soup made from it is called the cicerocchi. The room in which burns the cottora is designed to accommodate visiting relatives and friends, and is decorated with long rows of oranges, baskets of eggs, dried fruit, in the midst of which stands a picture of Saint Anthony Abbot.
The operation of boiling begins with the blessing of the parish, which must be taken to go to each of the families participating in the ritual, and continues between the songs and the prayers of those present who alternate in the task of turning the corn into the kettle for by a long wooden spoon, as the transaction is considered a harbinger of prosperity and well-being. Anyone who comes to visit
cottora is greeted cheerfully and receives a compliment from wine and desserts. The host, on the other hand, approaches the cottora and running the content by reciting the words of hope and devotion. In this way you spend the whole night, while companies begging, accompanied by various folk instruments, including bagpipes are not lacking, from the nearby Valle del Liri, sing the Prayer of St. Anthony which tells the life, temptations and the miracles of the hermit of Egypt.
front of the church in an old chapel which houses a precious stone statue depicting Saint Anthony, for the occasion, is also decorated citrus, fruit and eggs, young people light up a big pile of wood, benchmark companies and devotees who gather around to sing the praises of the saint and spend the night in joy. At the first light of dawn begins distribution of cicerocchi: first of all a long line of girls, holding the head copper basins decorated with flowers and ribbons, he went to church to offer a large amount of holy cicerocchi, which are then eaten by the faithful devotion. In addition, families who have arranged for the preparation of cottora hasten, as well as to distribute cicerocchi to family and friends and anyone who requests it, even able to arrange the containers along the road, so that the pilgrims and travelers can tap into the ritual of food cooked maize.
past few years the girls who lead the church in cicerocchi gave birth to the picturesque valleys of the race riscagnate (that is decorated for the occasion), in which the award is decorated with more style and originality. The festival continues all day with popular religious ceremonies and in honor of the saint.
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Villavallelonga : The Panarda. Under the name
Panarda indicates, especially nell'Aquilano, a ritual of collective consumption of food which consists of a banquet prepared in precise calendrical celebrations.
The origin of the word is obscure, and probably to be found in Indo-European root pan in the sense of abundance. The most spectacular aspect of Panarda, at least currently, is in the amount of flow that can exceed the number of fifty and the label that requires guests to honor the board, eating all the food brought to the table.
The tradition is common to many countries, but where the rite is still fully expresses the concept of community celebration with a magical stay strong-back, is Villavallelonga, as a small village within the mountainous area of \u200b\u200bthe Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo . A document recalls that in 1657 that Pietro Paolo Serafini, according to family tradition, handing out a dish of beans in order to perpetuate a vow made by his ancestors in Sant'Antonio Abate. Popular devotion says that "many years ago a woman left a creature of the Serafini family groups in the cradle and went to fetch water from a fountain. On the way home he met a wolf that took her into his mouth. He called St. Anthony and the wolf left the child. The woman promised the Holy Fire at the festival, which is the Panarda. After the promise has been passed down by inheritance. "
Currently, families are forced twenty, and every year, without fail, on the evening of January 16, setting up a grand feast that lasts all night. In the room where the banquet is held is prepared an altar on which stands the image of Saint Anthony Abbot, in the midst of these wreaths and ornamental compositions consist of fruit, eggs, cakes. When all the guests took their seats at the table of the Panarda, or the head of house, reciting the rosary, litanies, and finally sings the Prayer of St. Anthony, after giving the order to serve guests.
As for food, Panarda, along with a repertoire of dishes and local specialties, has fixed some foods that can not fail under any circumstances. They are: chicken broth and beef, the cauldron of stew, macaroni carats egg with meat sauce and sheep's called "letters," the sheep to cottora, beans boiled and seasoned, leavened dough fritters the ferratelle, which are packed with fruit wreaths and Panetta. The dinner lasted all night, and to enabling the guests to easily enjoy the course, either because the service is occasionally interspersed with moments of prayer and the singing of religious formulas, both because finally, at a certain time, the houses of panarderi companies are visited by begging. While the streets are burning huge bonfires of wood, groups of singers take to turn the streets and visit the houses where their arrival is expected and welcomed, and their performances are rewarded with food and money. The visits of groups and singers will last until the last hours of the night, after which the tables are rearranged and the last course is served: a plate of boiled beans, accompanied by a baker who is a special preparation of leavened dough that were added to the eggs. But before the
Panarda thanked all those present and sings with them the Our Father. Only after this last act, and of course after having consumed the beans, Panettiere and a nice glass of wine in honor of the patron saint, the guests leave the house, giving each appointment for the coming year.