Castel Sant'Elia. Feast of Our Lady of Castelluccio

Even today, the feast of Our Lady of Castelluccio is celebrated in Castel Sant'Elia with a church service and a celebration coinciding with the religious feast of the Ascension.

At the end of the ceremony, a reproduction of the image of Our Lady faithfully, is kept and guarded by a different family of Castellesi devotees each year.

According to tradition, the devil wanted the souls of Castellesi who, for the most part, worked in the fields above what was called "escaprment / gorge".

Not getting agreement, the Devil threw a rock that the Virgin stopped on top of her chapel. Hence the name Devil's Stone.

On the festive day bundles of dried reeds are placed near the chapel overlooking the square beyond the "ravine".

The festival consisted of a religious service wherein the priest officiating on the embankment and during the time of the blessing bundles of dried reeds are lit.

These would illuminate the entire valley, not allowing the Devil to get closer.

 


Written by:
Benedicta Lee

Born in Rome from an Italian mother and American father, she works as a freelance communications manager and designer in the tourism sector, a career and interest which she is pursuing with a...

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