Italian News

Sigonella Army Volunteers Donate Books to Catania Students

CATANIA, Sicily - On March 26, a group of U.S. Army volunteers from Sigonella visited the Catania Istituto San Giovanni Bosco School to deliver several boxes of books for children. Volunteers, who adopted the school a few months ago, also conducted a language interaction session aimed at helping the students improve their English speaking and listening skills. The books were donated by the base DoDEA school and included a wide variety of English titles for middle and elementary school students. The ongoing initiative has provided a great opportunity to strengthen the friendship between the Sigonella volunteers and the students.

Ancient Spanish Easter Celebrations Come Back to Life in Enna

By Alberto Lunetta/ NAS Sigonella Public Affairs

Easter Week in Sicily, known locally as “Settimana Santa,” is one of the most intense religious times of the year. Nearly all cities and towns hold solemn, sorrowful, and joyful processions celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Similar to Easter traditions across the island, Enna’s Easter week reaches its peak on Easter Sunday, April 21. But before that, the city organizes a mournful procession known as “Venerdì Santo” (Good Friday), the day of penitence which evokes the death of Jesus on the cross.

The Settimana Santa tradition comes from Sicily’s Spanish heritage. At first, during the Middle Ages, Easter celebrations were only held inside churches and mainly consisted of liturgical observances and ritual functions. But during the 16th and 17th centuries, Catholic authorities decided to openly recruit members of the public, in order to teach believers about the Passion of Christ and His Resurrection. To do so, colorful, spectacular, and solemn processions and religious dramas began to be performed in cities’ historic centers. Skilled artists and craftsmen carved life size wooden figures depicting Jesus, the Virgin Mary, saints, and religious objects that were displayed during Palm Sunday and Good Friday processions.

Participating in modern day commemorations will feel like traveling back in time when the Spaniards ruled Sicily. You will be impressed with the splendor of the traditional costumes, the decorations, and the intensity of the devotees. Every year, thousands of pilgrims swarm Enna to see hooded devotees belonging to different cities’ “Confraternite” (confraternities), walking slowly in procession through the streets of the historic center. City bands playing mournful melodies accompany them.

Confraternities are religious clubs resembling medievalguilds and date back to the period of Spanish rule. Over the centuries, these brotherhoods promoted and organized their city’s religious and charitable activities. In the past, they played a leading role in the social life of the town by providing spiritual and material assistance to the poor, sick, or incarcerated. In 1740, there were 34 confraternities who usually were miners or farmers. Today, there are only 16 and they include men belonging to all ranks and classes of society. The color of their dresses and mantels worn during the processions has a particular meaning related either to their own patron saint or to the role that they played in the past.

Procession Schedules

Good Friday (April 19)

1500: Unveiling of the Holy Cross and Eucharist at the Enna Cathedral

1630: Processions begin with the “Confraternity of the Passion” carrying the 24 symbols of Jesus’ martyrdom. The procession leaves the Church of Saint Leonardo and as the confraternity proceeds along via Roma, the other fourteen Confraternite join to include over 2,500 people, until they reach the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows where a statue depicting the Virgin Mary is preserved. Then, her statue is taken to the cathedral where an urn containing a statue of the crucified Christ was previously placed.

1900: The procession leaves the cathedral and reaches the Church of St. Paolini where a benediction is given with the Reliquary cross, which, according to the tradition contains a thorn from the crown of Christ. Eventually, the procession returns to the Cathedral around midnight.

Easter Sunday (April 21)

0700: Pasqua is celebrated with several holy masses at the church of S. Salvatore

1800: A “Paci” (peace) ceremony symbolizing the encounter of resurrected Christ with the Virgin Mary begins. Two statues depicting Jesus and his mother are from the churches of S. Salvatore and S. Giuseppe to piazza Mazzini, where the Paci is staged. As soon as Christ appears, the black veil covering the statue of the Lady of Sorrows comes down. At that point, the statues run towards each other and later are taken inside the Cathedral.

For more information, detailed schedules and guided tours’ opportunities, visit www.settimanasantaenna.it.

Traditional Sicilian Easter Cakes

By Alberto Lunetta/ NAS Sigonella Public Affairs

According to tradition, holy Easter week in Sicily is celebrated with traditional cakes, which are still prepared according to ancient recipes. These cakes, like other Sicilian holiday traditions, symbolically embody with their shapes and ingredients the religious meaning of the holiday.

The basic ingredients of the cakes are eggs, flour, marzipan, and ricotta cheese. In Christianity, the egg symbolizes Jesus’ victory over the dead.

The pastry’s shapes are tied to Christian icons like the lamb or dove. The lamb, one of the most important cake shapes because it represents the resurrection of Jesus, is known in Sicilian as “agneddu pasquali.” It is made of marzipan and the lamb stands in a meadow holding a red paper flag, which symbolizes the banner of the resurrection. Around the meadow are decorations of pearls of sugar and fruit, recalling the newborn spring season. You can find all kinds of lamb cakes displayed in the windows of the Sicilian patisseries.

The “colomba” is another traditional dove-shaped Easter cake that is made from flour, butter, and eggs and covered with a glaze of hazelnuts, almonds, and sugar. The dove recalls the first Christian symbols painted in the catacombs.

Another traditional Easter cake is the “cassata.” It is thought that the name comes from the Arabic word “quas’at,” which has two different meanings: round bowl (due to the original shape) or cheesecake. The cassata is made with ricotta cheese and marzipan. It is more richly decorated with candied fruits in Palermo than in other Sicilian cities.

Not to be missed are two other typical cakes: “cassateddi” and “cuddura ccu l’ova.” Cassateddi are small sweets usually shaped as a half moon. The dough is filled with ricotta, deep-fried, and then topped with sugar frosting. A “cuddura” is a ring-shaped cake with eggs placed on top of it. Its composition is a means of communicating respect toward a family. The number of eggs it contains and its overall size indicates the degree of devotion that the giver wants to express.

Chocolate eggs with a surprise inside has recently become very popular. One of the traditions that is becoming common is to buy a precious jewel and have it placed, by the factory, inside a chocolate egg.