Festa Grande di San Sebastiano a Melilli
Traditions
The Feast of San Sebastiano martyr in Melilli takes place in the first days of May.
The festival commemorates a miraculous event that occurred in May 1414 when the crew of a ship was miraculously unharmed following a shipwreck. The exceptional event was linked to the presence of a statue of San Sebastiano contained in a crate carried on the ship. According to tradition, when it was decided in which country of Syracuse the statue should be placed, suddenly the simulacrum became heavy for all those who tried to lift it except for the inhabitants of Melilli who carried the simulacrum of San Sebastiano in procession to the village, amidst songs of joy and religious hymns.
The feast of San Sebastiano in Melilli begins on the evening of May 3 with the procession of the silver reliquary: one arm holding an arrow.
The night between 3 and 4 May, the square and the main street are illuminated by day to welcome pilgrims who arrive on foot from neighboring villages and await the opening of the church.
At four o'clock on May 4, amidst the ringing of bells and firing of firecrackers the Church is opened. Around six in the morning, running, the nuri of Melilli arrive from the holy cross, and after the nuri of Sortino and Solarino, that is men, women and children dressed in white with handkerchiefs on their heads, red sash shoulder strap and on the hips, a bouquet of flowers in hand.
At ten o'clock we witness the triumphal exit of the fercolo, which is carried in procession through the streets of the historic center. The celebrations end on 11 May, when the simulacrum of San Sebastiano, after having walked the streets of the new expansion area, is kept in the basilica.
The May festival is also for many emigrants the occasion for a return to their homeland.
Dates and Scheduling
12 May 2024
08:00 Holy Mass.
10:00 Holy Mass.
12:00
ANGELUS - Festive ringing.
Holy Mass animated by the "Il Filo della Vita" Association.
18:00 Solemn Holy Mass presided over by the Parish Priest Giuseppe Blandino.
19:00 Procession of the Simulacrum of San Sebastiano in the lower part of the city.
21:30 At the end of the procession the artistic silvery fercolo of the Saint will be welcomed in Piazza San Sebastiano by a display of fireworks.
Upon returning to the traditional Basilica "CUNSARBATA" of the Simulacrum between shouts of invocation and requests for intercession.
Basilica di San Sebastiano
22:00 “Festival San Sebastiano”
Bandabardò & Cisco, Rosa Chemical e BNKR44.
Piazza San Sebastiano
26 May 2024
09:00 “On the streets of San Sebastiano” VI edition
Gathering of Motorcycles and Vintage Cars in Piazza San Sebastiano
Piazza San Sebastiano
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References
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