Saturday, November 15, 2014

Norcia's Bonfire Night




Hey, English people! Miss the happy homely Bonfire Night of your childhood? Do you feel maybe a little guilty enjoying Guy Fawkes as a Catholic?

Well, boy, do I have the solution for you!

Rifaone!


Come visit Norcia for our Bonfire Night, December 9, The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, at the Chiesa di San Lorenzo.


Plus, ours has mulled wine and grilled wild boar!

"Festival of 'Faoni' and 'also known as' Festival of the Bells' (on which occasion the bells are operated throughout the country at the stroke of midnight)"

"Groups of volunteers loyal to the tradition each year, prepare the evening of 9 December, when the whole city 'and the neighboring villages glow in the majestic glow of pyres of burning juniper, big and beautiful bonfire 'animated by the ever-present folk songs of organs by happiness and carefree people around some heady glass of mulled wine', sweets and good food cooked on the grill.

"... The evening of December 9 is always a feast for all, a big party waiting for the midnight hour when all the bells of the city' move to announce the passage of the Holy House of Our Lady of Loreto.

"In fact, the sense of tradition, the inhabitants of Norcia and the Catholic tradition, is right here. The fires are lit to commemorate and illuminate the path of the angels who, back in December 9, 1291, being occupied Palestine from the infidels, brought safely the home of the Virgin Mary miraculously traslocated it up to a grove of laurels, in today's Loreto. But what other rites are intertwined around this beloved tribute is not easy to say.

"There are atavistic elements: you go to the more days' short of the year and you have to ward off the darkness has the upper hand on the light, the night the day, the frost on the heat. But there 's also the arcane. The fire is not always destroys, purifies. And finally, the spiritual elements. Fire and 'the symbol of love that comes down on Mary and the Apostles at the Last Supper, the disciples turning into preachers courageous and able to make himself understood by people from different countries. Symbols and rituals, forces of nature and good will ', everything is exalted in the earth truffle tonight. We all look forward to the preparation of these faoni and their power of 9 December!"

Now THAT's the Faith I'm ready to die for!

Here's the Festa's Facebook page

Here's my FB events page for anyone who wants to come. Ladies can stay with me, and we can find accoms for gentlemen in town.



~

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I am very jealous. I love bonfires. I can't think of any occasion in Dublin where something like this could happen with booze on tap where fighting/street toilets wouldn't happen. I don't know why we and the UK can't behave when drunk. Will you post photos after ye attend?

Sinéad.

BillyHW said...

Why is everyone dressed up like it's winter?

Hilary Jane Margaret White said...

We get winter here, William. It's one of the main draws. The hiking guy I contacted said he guides hikers in the mountains on snowshoe trips! And there's skiing and stuff.

Paolo said...

Northern Italy is cold - and they love bonfires in winter. I went to a big one for Epiphany, in Friuli. It was -15 and the mulled wine (and grappa) was very welcome. we certainly dressed for winter.

Hilary Jane Margaret White said...

Paolo,

I know, but it's almost irresistible to laugh and point when people in Santa Marinella are bundled up in parkas on September 15th when it's still 18 degrees out.

(Not making up the parka thing... she had the hood up!)

Anonymous said...

That sounds wonderful! Wish I could come.

Mar