Feast of St. John the Baptist in Ragusa

The Feast of San Giovanni Battista in Ragusa is celebrated in the month of June, on the anniversary of his birth, and in that of August, the anniversary of his martyrdom.

In the month of June, a rich liturgical program is organized which culminates on June 24, the day of the nativity anniversary, with a holy celebration in which the bearers of the Fercolo take part.

The great Patronal Feast of San Giovanni Battista in Ragusa takes place in the month in August.
The solemn celebrations traditionally begin on August 19 with the opening of the niche of the Saint and the translation of the simulacrum, various cultural, artistic and sporting events, until the conclusion of the feast on August 29, the day of the martyrdom .
On the 27th the statue of St. John embraces his devotees again in the streets of the city until he arrives in a parish that will host him for a day with songs, liturgies, prayer vigils, to then return to the Cathedral in the evening of 28. August 29 is the main popular festival, with the city gathering around its saint with a kilometer-long procession of candles, whose legacy could be attributable to the illuminations that took place during the seventeenth century in Ibla. In it transpires silence, prayer and a great devotion visible in the barefoot faithful or with a red garment as a sign of a vote or grace received. They walk through the streets of the historic center together with the Holy Ark, preceding the statue that Carmelo Licitra delivered in 1861 to the fervent devotion of the people of Ragusa, taking the place of the ancient one for reasons not yet clarified.

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