You can’t have one without the other and in the most Catholic of countries you can still have a devil of a good time in Italy.
And particularly at Easter which is hoving into view, and especially in Sicily.
And we know that they see themselves separate from Italy.
Where the devil is let off the leash in Prizzi, Palermo, on Easter Sunday.
It’s a bit Sicily but we love it
The Abballu de daivuli is a procession on Easter Sunday on April 9 where people wear zinc masks and red robes.
The idea is that the villagers dress up as little devils and run through the streets.
To capture as many souls as they can until the afternoon.
After the meeting of the Virgin Mary with the Risen Christ, the devils are restrained.
And carried by angels to the Virgin Mary.
You’ll have a devil of a good time in Italy we’re sure you’ll agree.
All of which puts our rolling eggs down a hill into perspective.
In fact we could all learn a lesson from the Italians who do religious theatre like few on Earth.
And the Sicilians do the spectacle 0f death better than most.
With the Procession of the Mysteries in Trapani from 2pm on Good Friday, April 7, for 24 hours.
And that’s the longest religious even in Italy.
Twenty groups of statues (Sacred Mysteries made between the 17h and 18th centuries) represent the various stages of the Via Crucis through the city.
All roads lead from Rome
And if you’ve walked through the countryside of Lazio to Rome then you’ll know that the Campanile is the centre of any town.
And so it is the same in Valmontone 45 kilometres south of the Eternal City.
Where the procession on Good Friday takes on a typically theatrical role with performances drawing
inspiration from medieval times.
The ‘Sacred Representation’ of Valmontone is over a century old.
And it sees the actors recite texts based on the Holy Scriptures.
The story starts from the New Testament, continues with the reconstruction of the Nativity.
And it follows the events of Christ’s life.
The Via Crucis and deposition from the Cross concludes the procession.
Like a Madonna
No, not that one, but the original one.
And in Sulmona in central Abruzzo on Easter Day there is a statue spectacle to beat all.
On the morning of Easter Day in the Piazza Garibaldi, the members of the Confraternita Santa Maria di Loreto carry the statues of St Peter and St John in a procession to the Church of St Philip.
The church’s door then opens and the statue of the Virgin Mary is carried out, wearing a back cloak, a sign of mourning.
Halfway, she meets the statue of her Son, she dashes towards him, letting her cloak fall, revealing a bright green dress.
