The feast of the Madonna Annunziata

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THE ANNUNCIATED FEAST - THE SEPULCHERS  -  THE HOLY FRIDAY   -  TYPICAL DISHES  -  TYPICAL SWEETS
 


The Annunciation Feast

The cult of Mary in Bronte explodes in August in the centuries-old feast of Maria Santissima Annunziata, Patron of Bronte, that throughout  the centuries has protected the town from the lava flows and from the  devastating fury of Etna.

The brontese people  is devoutly tied by feelings of ancient and profound  religiosity to their patron saint to whom many times has prayed so that she would placate the  destructive fury of Etna.

The cult and devotion of Bronte to the Madonna has ancient origins: the Annunciated church existed already before the unification  of the  24 Farm-houses.

And it was in this occasion (1535 - 1548), that, by order of Carlo V, all the settlements and farmhouses had to be united in the ancient Bronte, that the church was rebuilt and enlarged, and, after the arrival of the statue towards 1543, the rising new city was put under the protection of the Annunciated Lady, giving to the inhabitants that had been, until then, spread in the old settlements, a new common identity.

From 1821, in the month of August, with great fervor and participation, the marble group of the Virgin Annunciated and the Angel Gabriel (work by A. Gagini preserved in the church of the Annunciated) is brought in procession in the streets of Bronte, over a  wagon  trained by oxen.

Tells the legend of the "barter" and of the "journey" of the statue of the Annunciated to Bronte and of the "new  identity" that the inhabitants of the 24 Settlements found in their Lady Protector.

The wagon and the oxen respect the tradition that reports as the Virgin statue

"Was  bartered by Greek pirates to some brontese shepherds  with some "albaggio" (rustic drape that was made then in Bronte).
These  shepherds asked a gentleman for a pair of bulls to transport the two statues to Bronte.

He gave them two wild, indomitable bulls  that, seeing the Virgin, bended down and  let themselves be meekly subdued; along the way the forest trees stood aside  to the passage of the wagon.
Arrived in Bronte the oxen made a circle as to mark the site where had to rise, more grandiose, the temple".

(Benedetto Radice, "Chiese, conventi, edifici pubblici in Bronte", Bronte 1923).

A  characteristic and touching moment of the procession is the recon­struction of the Annunciation with the flight of the angel ("a burata 'el’Angilu", see the web page in Italian).

The statues (Mary and the Angel) are placed at the center of Spedalieri squa­re and a child, dressed as the angel Gabriel, reaches slowly the Virgin from the sky, sliding along a steel rope whose extremes  are attached to two, close by palaces.

The Virgin Mary is there, dressed with all the gold given to her, during the centuries, by the faithful brontese citizens, while the Angel comes down in front of her, recites the Ave Maria, to announce the miracle of the birth of Christ and offers her a Lily.
 

The Angel's Flight

Images of Piazza Spedalieri during the Angel's flight ('A buràta 'i l'àngiru) in 1920 and in the 1950s. On the right one of the traditional "triumphal arches" in honor of the Annunziata built in Corso Umberto.

The Triumphal Arch erected in 1999, the flight of the angel of the same year and that of 1926 in an almost unrecognizable Piazza Spedalieri (photo kindly provided by R. Zerbo). Below, the Flight of 2006. The statue of the Virgin and the Angel is work by the Sculptor Antonio Gagini from Palermo (1543).

Festa della Madonna Annunziata, 1999: la volata dell'AngeloFesta della Madonna Annunziata, 2006: la volata dell'Angelo

«'A burata 'e l'àngiru» (the "flying of the Angel") is the highlight of all the celebrations of the Madonna Annunziata, the characteristic and touching moment with the traditional representation of the Annunciation: the statues (Mary and the Angel) are placed in the center of Piazza Spedalieri and a child, dressed as the angel Gabriel, slowly reaches the Madonna from above, sliding along a steel cable whose ends are anchored to two buildings. Above, images of the 2006 celebration: in the midst of an overflowing crowd the Angel descends in front of the statue of the Madonna, covered in gold donated over the centuries by the faithful of Bronte, recites the Ave Maria, to announce to Mary the miracle of the birth of Christ, and offers the Virgin a lily.

In times past the celebration was celebrated with great pomp every ten years; lately the statue has been carried in procession more frequently. In the last photo on the right is the Sanctuary of the Annunziata, one of the oldest churches in Bronte: it already existed before the forced unification of all the hamlets scattered throughout the territory into the Casale Bronte ordered by Charles V (1535). In fact, the church already appears in the marriage registers of 1505.
 

From 1909 to 1948

«The enthusiasm with which the people of Bronte celebrate the feast of Maria SS. Annunziata, the main Patron Saint of Bronte, is great; the enthusiasm with which the people willingly participate in the expenses is admirable; the joy that pervades the souls of all is extraordinary ...», wrote Il Propagandista on August 30, 1909, announcing the Feast of Maria SS. Annunziata-Bronte.

«At the sight of this immense enthusiasm of our people ... - he also wrote - and of the numerous concourse of foreigners who wanted to increase the solemnity of the celebrations with their intervention, we, eager to ensure that the glorious traditions of civility and courteous hospitality are not denied, recommend everyone to maintain even in similar circumstances the decorum and calm so necessary for our good name». A long and detailed introduction to finally recommend "the people" not to believe that "even on Christian holidays they have ample freedom to indulge in vices of all kinds and to abuse wine".
"This is a very pernicious opinion! - he concluded - Let us therefore moderate ourselves especially when there is a huge number of foreigners who are watching us and observing us closely".

Forty years later, on August 26, 1948, another Bronte newspaper, the fortnightly Il Ciclope (in the background of the photo on the right), announced the resumption of the Feast of the Annunziata, interrupted for 10 years due to the war of 1938.

Solemn celebrations at the Madonna Annunziata many years ago: in the first two photos, the Triumphal Arch of 1948 and the procession in 1999. Following are some traditional images of the Madonna Annunziata, Patron Saint of Bronte. From the left in the icons of Piazza Croce (from 1745), via Cornelia, via G. D'Annunzio and in the small Cappella della Timpa (Chapel of the Timpa) located in via S. Marco.
Classical iconography always refers to traditions and legends: it sees the Madonna who, to protect Bronte and its population, with the flagpole kills the Hydra with seven heads (the Storm, Etna, War, Earthquake, Sin, Plague and Hunger).

Translated by Sam Di BellaITALIAN VERSION

The Maria SS Annunziata Sanctuary      

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