Roccasecca dedicates to the saint a cycle of seminars and religious ceremonies between March and April called Tomistic Manifestations which begin on 7 March, the day that the church dedicates to St. Thomas.
In the nine days preceding March 7, at the mother church of the Annunciation, a mass followed by a novena in which the main events of the saint's life are remembered.
On the evening of March 6, the municipal area lights up in the light of bonfires and the torch of the tripod is lit near the ruins of the Aquino castle, a construction inaugurated in 1972.
The day of the festival starts already at 6.30 in the morning, when the musical band gathers in the square of Corso S. Tommaso al Castello which, to the sound of characteristic marches, walks towards the church of the Annunziata, where at 7 the first mass is celebrated.
The main appointment is at 10 with the liturgical ceremony accompanied by the songs of the Schola Cantorum, officiated by the bishop of the diocese and often by a cardinal, with numerous Dominican priests who come from all over to keep alive the link between this land and the their monastic order.
At the end of the religious rite, the procession begins, which winds along the narrow streets of Borgo Castello and through the main streets of Roccasecca center.
Along the way, the people on the side of the road and on the balconies throw flowers to the statue as a sign of homage. The statue at almost regular intervals stops at characteristic altars set up for the occasion, in order to allow the people who carry it to rest.
The morning procession ends in the church of S. Margherita in Roccasecca center, where Tommaso remains until the evening appointment with the evening mass. This is followed by a new solemn nocturnal procession with which the statue will return to its usual home of the Annunciation.
The return route winds along the panoramic Viale Paolo VI, which climbs up along Mount Asprano. This procession is very characteristic because thanks to the darkness of the night, people have to carry a lit torch which, combined with the oil lamps placed along the path, create a very suggestive scenic effect.
The arrival in the Collegiate Church, the fireworks and the final blessing of the parish priest with the relic of the saint conclude the day of the celebrations.
The evening procession was established in the 1960s to allow people who worked in the morning to participate in religious events and today it has become almost the most important and evocative.
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