By Joe Cirillo, La Nostra Voce
The feast must go on!
When faced with a rainout, those five words became the battle cry for ISDA’s Sacro Monte Lodge during this year’s “La Madonna Del Sacro Monte Feast” in Clifton, N.J. Under normal circumstances, rain during an Italian feast would be a disaster.
However, this year, the rain turned out to be a blessing in disguise!
The enthusiasm and participation for the event was at an all-time high in the feast’s 10-year history. Part of the fun, or madness — depending on your perspective — of planning the Sacro Monte Feast is organizing the grand procession of Our Lady of the Holy Mount. Each year, the procession gets a little bit bigger and a little bit bolder. This year was no different.
In 2023, the lodge made some special modifications to its statue carrier, allowing for more men to join in the effort of processing Our Lady throughout the grounds of the Holy Face Monastery.
In addition to the elongated carrier, the procession sported its newest addition, a 13-foot-high gonfalone sail, which is a heraldic banner used in processions dating from the Middle Ages that takes up to five men to carry. Now, the men of the lodge did not hog all the fun. The ladies of the Sacro Monte Lodge joined in with the children to escort the procession in votive dress as Our Lady of the Holy Mount and angels!
Now no Italian feast can be complete without the food. Old staples such as San Mango’s legendary capocollo sandwich, which is a specialty of the Sandu Manghesi; and sausage and peppers returned due to popular demand. However, the Sacro Monte Feast also sported new additions, such as fried zeppole, and an ice cream/Italian Ice truck for a little dessert!
However, as the feast approached, the weather report loomed with a forecast of heavy rain. The feast committee quickly sprang into action when it became clear the rain was unavoidable. The Mass was moved indoors, a tent was erected for the games and to eat. The procession route was shortened with the hope we could at least get in most of the festivities before the worst of the storm hit.
Unfortunately, the rain not only came, but came hard and came early! The heaviest rain fell during the grand procession of all things, and the lodge had to make a very important decision: do we cancel the procession? In the history of the feast, we were blessed with great weather, so this was entirely new territory. To our elated surprise, the answer was overwhelming, the feast must go on!
The procession launched through the storm and made it once around the monastery grounds before ending for the lodge’s traditional group photograph.
The turnout, all things considered, was great! People celebrated, ate, and played games as if it was a beautiful sunny day! Had the weather been different, there is no doubt in my mind that this would have been the biggest year in our history, and it makes me encouraged for the future!
In hindsight, it appeared La Madonna wanted to test our devotion to her feast, and hopefully, we passed the test. There is nothing that quite bonds people together like shared adversity, and this year had its fair share of adversity.
However, every challenge was met with a volunteer who stepped up to overcome it. When we sat down for our post-feast celebration dinner, our committee, or should I say brotherhood, grew so large that we were moved into a larger banquet room.
I could not help but think to myself that these are good problems — to see youth and growth in a world where nearly every other organization is shrinking.
This article first appeared in La Nostra Voce, ISDA’s monthly newspaper that chronicles Italian American news, history, culture and traditions. Subscribe today.
