SACRED & PROFANE in Religious Festivals, Southern ITALY.
During Holy Week, thanks to the ancient Spanish Influence, many ancient medieval rituals are to be found in Southern Italy.
Redemptive suffering is the Roman Catholic that human suffering, when accepted and offered up in union with the Passion of Jesus, can remit the just punishment for one’s sins or of another, or for the physical or spiritual needs of oneself or another.
Like an indulgence, redemptive sufferin does not gain the individual forgiveness for their sin; forgiveness results from God’s grace, freely given through Christ, which cannot be earned.
Flagellantism was a 13th and 14th centuries movement, consisting radicals in the Catholic Church. It began as a militant pilgrimage and was later condemned by the Catholic Church as heretical. The followers were noted for including public flagellation in their rituals. The distinction of the Flagellants was to take this self-mortification into cities and other public spaces as a demonstration of piety.
Initially the Church tolerated Flagellants and individual monks and priests.
By the 14th century the Church was less tolerant and therapid spread of the movement was alarming. Clement VI officially condemned them in a bull of October 20th, 1349 and instructed Church leaders to suppress the Flagellants accusing them of heresies.
The one being re-enacted in Calabria on the occasion of Easter time from time immemorial is that of the “Vattienti” from Nocera Terinese in the province of Catanzaro and it occurs during the day.
The ceremony begins with the procession of the statue of the Pieta, which depicts the dead Christ laid in the lap of the Virgin Mary. Shortly after the start of the sacred procession, the Vattienti t=retreat to prepare for the scourging.
The Faithful ones dress with a sg=hirt and dark shorts, covering their heads with a black cloth held by a crown of thorns. Each “Vattiente” is accompanied by a young bare-chested local boy, its legs covered by red cloth, his head also surrounded by a holy thorn. He represents l’Accioumu- Ecce Homo, behold the man, the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate when he presents a scourged Jesus Christ, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crown shortly before his Crucifixion. The “Acciomu” tied to a “Vattiente” with a rope, is carring a wooden cross covered with red cloth, the rope being a symbolic sign of communion with the Christ of the Passion. Before heading out for the penitential procession, the Vattienete prepared the tools of his flagellation: the rose, a small disc of cork, which, once impregnated with blood will be used to leave bloody stain on walls and doors, and the “Cardo” with inserted pieces of spiked glass, to beat and bleed the legs with it.
Meanwhile, in the Quadara (copper pot) water with rosemary is boiled, with which the “Vattiente” will wash its legs to increase blood circulation and then begins to strike them both with the “cardo”.
At this point, he begins his pilgrimage through the town’s streets to be reunited with the rest of the faithful who follow in the procession to the Pieta. In front of the statue of the Madonna and the body of Christ, all Vattienti renew the ritual of flagellation.
At the end of this touching ritual, the penitents washes the wound with water and the infusion of rosemary and wine, get dressed and join the procession.
The “Battienti” of Verbicaro instead go around at night, 7 times around the small village and outside the 7 churches. They start scourging them in the local political assembly room where they give their first blood to the fellow flagellants the “Vattienti” of Nocera Terinese that they will perform their flagellant ritual; the next morning during the day.
The “Spinati” procession instead takes place in Palmi, Reggio Calabria during the celebration of St. Rocco on August 16th.
The Spinati wear a cape of thorns, the “spalas” made of wild broom, as a penance to the Saint and an icon with his image tight against their body. The men wear only a pair of white trousers and are assisted by relatives.
Outside the Church of St. Rocco, at the end of the long 6 hours procession, the Spinati take off the cape of thorns amid songs, prayers and applause.
The procession of the "Serpari" of Cocullo, Abruzzi, takes place on May 1st in honor of St. Dominique abbott. All begins at the end of March when the "Serpari" go and capture the snakes in the surrounding mountain. They keep them for 15-20 days feeding them with live rats and boiled eggs, an ancient pagan ritual of Marsi, an ancient Italic population. St. Dominique is the protector from toothache, reptile bites and rabies.
This documentary took place in 1999.
Read MoreRedemptive suffering is the Roman Catholic that human suffering, when accepted and offered up in union with the Passion of Jesus, can remit the just punishment for one’s sins or of another, or for the physical or spiritual needs of oneself or another.
Like an indulgence, redemptive sufferin does not gain the individual forgiveness for their sin; forgiveness results from God’s grace, freely given through Christ, which cannot be earned.
Flagellantism was a 13th and 14th centuries movement, consisting radicals in the Catholic Church. It began as a militant pilgrimage and was later condemned by the Catholic Church as heretical. The followers were noted for including public flagellation in their rituals. The distinction of the Flagellants was to take this self-mortification into cities and other public spaces as a demonstration of piety.
Initially the Church tolerated Flagellants and individual monks and priests.
By the 14th century the Church was less tolerant and therapid spread of the movement was alarming. Clement VI officially condemned them in a bull of October 20th, 1349 and instructed Church leaders to suppress the Flagellants accusing them of heresies.
The one being re-enacted in Calabria on the occasion of Easter time from time immemorial is that of the “Vattienti” from Nocera Terinese in the province of Catanzaro and it occurs during the day.
The ceremony begins with the procession of the statue of the Pieta, which depicts the dead Christ laid in the lap of the Virgin Mary. Shortly after the start of the sacred procession, the Vattienti t=retreat to prepare for the scourging.
The Faithful ones dress with a sg=hirt and dark shorts, covering their heads with a black cloth held by a crown of thorns. Each “Vattiente” is accompanied by a young bare-chested local boy, its legs covered by red cloth, his head also surrounded by a holy thorn. He represents l’Accioumu- Ecce Homo, behold the man, the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate when he presents a scourged Jesus Christ, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crown shortly before his Crucifixion. The “Acciomu” tied to a “Vattiente” with a rope, is carring a wooden cross covered with red cloth, the rope being a symbolic sign of communion with the Christ of the Passion. Before heading out for the penitential procession, the Vattienete prepared the tools of his flagellation: the rose, a small disc of cork, which, once impregnated with blood will be used to leave bloody stain on walls and doors, and the “Cardo” with inserted pieces of spiked glass, to beat and bleed the legs with it.
Meanwhile, in the Quadara (copper pot) water with rosemary is boiled, with which the “Vattiente” will wash its legs to increase blood circulation and then begins to strike them both with the “cardo”.
At this point, he begins his pilgrimage through the town’s streets to be reunited with the rest of the faithful who follow in the procession to the Pieta. In front of the statue of the Madonna and the body of Christ, all Vattienti renew the ritual of flagellation.
At the end of this touching ritual, the penitents washes the wound with water and the infusion of rosemary and wine, get dressed and join the procession.
The “Battienti” of Verbicaro instead go around at night, 7 times around the small village and outside the 7 churches. They start scourging them in the local political assembly room where they give their first blood to the fellow flagellants the “Vattienti” of Nocera Terinese that they will perform their flagellant ritual; the next morning during the day.
The “Spinati” procession instead takes place in Palmi, Reggio Calabria during the celebration of St. Rocco on August 16th.
The Spinati wear a cape of thorns, the “spalas” made of wild broom, as a penance to the Saint and an icon with his image tight against their body. The men wear only a pair of white trousers and are assisted by relatives.
Outside the Church of St. Rocco, at the end of the long 6 hours procession, the Spinati take off the cape of thorns amid songs, prayers and applause.
The procession of the "Serpari" of Cocullo, Abruzzi, takes place on May 1st in honor of St. Dominique abbott. All begins at the end of March when the "Serpari" go and capture the snakes in the surrounding mountain. They keep them for 15-20 days feeding them with live rats and boiled eggs, an ancient pagan ritual of Marsi, an ancient Italic population. St. Dominique is the protector from toothache, reptile bites and rabies.
This documentary took place in 1999.
