Feast of the Most Holy Pietà
The feast of the Most Holy Pietà (popularly also Festa dei Lumineri , "Festival of Lights") is celebrated on the eve of January 8th in Cannobio as part of the patronage feast of the church Santuario SS. Pietà Cannobio .
During the festival, a reliquary , which according to tradition is said to contain one of the ribs of Jesus Christ (the so-called "holy rib"), is lowered from above and kissed by the believers. The reliquary is then carried in procession through the streets of the village to the pilgrimage site of Santissima Pietà.
The legend
Legend has it that on January 8th, 9th, 10th and 28th 1522 in Cannobio, in the inn of Tommaso Zaccheo, wonderful events took place on which the festival is based. A waitress, who was going to fetch sheets for the guests from the upper floor, noticed that blood had dripped from a small parchment painting of the Man of Sorrows with Maria and Johannes . The next day, a small blood-covered rib was found on the tablecloth below the painting, the proportions of which corresponded to the representation of Christ. The rib was placed in a chalice and brought in procession to the parish church of San Vittore, where it is kept in a valuable reliquary donated by Federico Borromeo in 1605.
The inn was later demolished to make way for a building dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo wanted to make the pilgrimage church dedicated to Santissima Pietà , where the painting and the blood-stained sheets are kept in a reliquary on the main altar.
The folk festival
The mundane aspect of the festival is the delightful sight of the town, which is only illuminated by the lights called Lumineri , for which grave lights are used today. The residents put them on all of the town's window sills. They can also be found in the narrow streets and on the boats that accompany the procession from the lake.
Web links
- Santuario SS.Pietà Cannobio (Italian)