Easter Sunday

Maria Santissima della Mercede, Messina, Sicily, Italy

Messina celebrates Easter with a procession of the statues of the Risen Christ and St. Mary of Mercy from the Church of Santa Maria della Mercede. At the climatic moment, announced with bells, band music, and gunshots, Mary's arms open toward her Son, releasing a flock of birds from her mantle. The event is called the Spampanati (Overblown) festival because of its floral costumes and decorations. Evening fireworks conclude the festivities. (Information from "Festa degli spampanati," www.messinaweb.eu/home.php?page_id=314&id=4. Picture of St. Mary's statue during the procession, with birds hiding in her mantle, from "La festa degli spampanati," Photoweb - Foto e video di Antonio Abbate, photoweb.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/la-festa-degli-spampanati/.)

Other communities also enact the meeting of Mary and the risen Jesus:

	S'incontru, Teulada, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy (The Encounter)
	Madonna che scappa in piazza, Sulmona, Abruzzo, Italy (Madonna who hurries in the square)
	Madonna del Santissimo Rosario, Lanciano, Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy
	L'Incontro tra la Madonna e Gesù Risorto, Ribera, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy (The Encounter)
	Madonna Vasa Vasa, Modica, Ragusa, Sicily, Italy (Kiss Kiss Madonna)
	L'affruntata, Briatico, Vibo Valentia, Calabria, Italy (The Confrontation)
	Nuestra Señora de Belén, Pilas, Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain

Also commemorated this date:

	Maria Waldrast, Matrei am Brenner, Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria. Statue found in larch tree, 1407.
	Madonna Rossa, S.Demetrio ne' Vestini, Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy (Red Madonna). At the Gloria during the Easter mass, the Madonna's costume changes from black mourning to red.
	Madonna di Monte Oliveto, Pedace, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy. Night pilgrimage to church; band music, bonfire.
	Santa María la Madre, Ourense, Ourense, Galicia, Spain (St. Mary the Mother). Procession.
	Virgen de la Bienvenida, Torre de Don Miguel, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain (Welcome Virgin). Romería.
	Nuestra Señora de la Rivera, Villar del Rey, Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain (Our Lady of the Stream). Romería.
	María Santísima Reina de Nuestra Alegría, Córdoba, Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain (Most Holy Mary, Queen of Our Joy). Romería, procession, picnic.
	Virgen de las Cruces, El Guijo, Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain (Virgin of the Crosses). Romería.
	Virgen de la Estrella, Valencina, Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain (Virgin of the Star). Procession.

Where We Walked ~~~ Mary Ann Daly