Italia Day 10 - Militello

Thursday started slowly because we knew we had a big day (& night) ahead of us. While we were staying in Catania I had planned to catch up with my ex-boss P, who was visiting her husbands Sicilian family. To our surprise & joy, the timing coincided with the Festa di Santa Maria della Stella in Militello - a small town about 1hr inland. P invited us along & we were happy to accept the invitation.

Militello is a small place without many accommodation choices, but P managed to find us a gorgeous B & B - Porta della Terra. After a few nights in hostels, we were super excited to have such a beautiful room - with our own bathroom! The bed was huge & there was original artwork on most of the walls.

The floor was original - isn't it stunning.

And the view from the balcony was quintessentially Sicilian.

Looking the other way from the balcony was the church where all the festivities were kicking off - the Chiesa Santa Maria della Stella.

Soon after we arrived we could hear people gathering in the square. And then the bombs started to go off. Technically, they are some kind of firework, but they sound like bombs & I was very glad P had already warned me it was going to happen, or I might just have jumped under the bed & stayed there until the attack was over.

On the walk from the bus stop, P had briefed us on what to expect. At 5pm Maria would be brought out of the church & paraded around the town. Along the way, babies would be blessed, there would be some food in there somewhere & the night would finish around 2am with the fireworks display.

We rushed down to the church steps as we didn't want to miss any of the action. On the short walk we could hear more 'bombs' & the church bells were ringing constantly. It was really really exciting, and the fervour of the locals was infectious. This photo shows the crowd assembling on the steps & the smoke from the 'bombs'.

Right on 5pm Maria started to emerge from the church. She was welcomed with bursts of confetti & balloons.

The bells didn't stop ringing, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Soon the confetti died down, the balloons blew away & Maria emerged completely. She was stunning - solid gold & beautiful.

The people in the blue t-shirts are the die-hard supporters of Maria. Funny story - we found out during the night that there is another saint at the other major church in Militello - Salvatore. Salvatore's supporters wear red shirts - we saw a few during the celebrations, sitting back & comparing the festa with theirs, which had taken place a few weeks earlier. It was so interesting - almost like competing football teams - who would have thought such a small town could support 2 camps of separate saint supporters?

At first I thought the priest had it easy, being carried along with Maria. I soon realised that he didn't though. He was wearing full robes & the heat was blistering.

I had more sympathy for these guys - there were about 20 men on either side, carrying the Madonna. I don't know how much she weighs, but they were certainly struggling. However, I know they would consider it an honour, rather than a burden, to be involved.

After Maria was carried down the church steps & started on her procession, the marching bands came out - 3 in total.

Check out the guy in the second row on his mobile phone. The Sicilian relaxed attitude showing itself again.

One of the most interesting things to me was the number of young people in the super-committed group. Whenever Maria stopped they would start chanting 'Viva Maria', waving their flags & clapping. The atmosphere was amazing.

The blessing of the babies involved stripping them naked & holding them up for the Madonna to bless. Most of the babies were pretty unhappy - which I can understand. After all, how would you like to be stripped naked and manhandled by strangers, all of whom are screaming 'Viva Maria' at you? Wait, don't answer that :-)

After Madonna has done her thing, the babies are dressed in the t-shirt & after the parents donate some money to the church, they get their clothes back. The thing that struck me most during all the blessings was the priest's complete lack of interest in the whole proceeding.

Along with the marching band were these baton twirlers. These girls had serious stamina - they were still proudly marching with the Madonna at midnight - 6 hours later.

One of the many street decorations.

After a little while we left Maria & made our way to Nonna's house. Her street was decorated beautifully.

Here I am with P in front of a shrine set up in the street.

It was about now I realised my camera battery was about to die. With so many hours of the festa to go! So we have skipped ahead to about 9.30pm here - along the way Maria had been put down, converted to wheels & was now being pulled along by local children (with the help of some adults). She also lost the priest (who was walking ahead) & was lit up.

Notice that the crowd hadn't dwindled - this is about 4.5hrs into the celebration.

We eventually made our way back to the centre of town & admired the lights.

The photos make them look kind of tacky, but they really didn't feel like that on the night. They just showed more evidence of the devotion.

The lights reached down most of the main streets in town.

About now we headed back to one of the aunty's houses for dinner - pizza & fresh fruit from the garden. I have never ever in my life eaten figs so delicious. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos.

After dinner we made our way back to town to watch Maria making her way home - about 11.30pm now I guess.

Finally, she made her way back into the church about midnight. She is left on display for 8 days, after which she is locked away until the next celebration in May 2012. I didn't realise at the beginning of the festa that Maria is only brought out twice a year - the rest of the time she is kept behind locked marble doors. The doors need 3 keys to open - one is held by the church, one by the police & the third by the Council. Serious business. I felt even luckier that we had gotten to see her.

Once Maria was away, the counting of the money began (apparently they raised 10,000 Euro!). We started walking up to the hill above town for the fireworks display. It started while we still walking & we were quite disappointed. We needn't have worried though - we later found out that the first lot were just to celebrate Maria going home.

Over the next hour and a bit there were 3 separate fireworks displays - each bigger & better than the last. We couldn't believe how casual the whole thing was - there were no safety barriers & at least 3 or 4 grass fires started on the hill during the display. P & I joked about how much money you can save without the hassle of conducting a risk assessment - obviously they had used the money for better fireworks!

Attending this festa is the second highlight of my Italy trip so far. C & I were welcomed with open arms into P's Sicilian family & I feel so grateful that we were able to experience such authentic hospitality.

I highly recommend a visit to the festa in Militello next 8 September - I have never witnessed such devotion & fervour in Australia - not even at AFL matches! You won't be disappointed - Sicilians don't do anything with less than 100% passion!