Figure 1.--The photo on the previous page shows the annual procession in the northern Italian village of San Michele de' Mucchietti. This is a little village about 50 km west of Bologna. This procession is quite different from others: it is a penitential procession that takes place on August 15th in the early morning. In that day the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. In the morning the procession leaves the parish church for a chapel in the country, bringing an image of the Virgin Mary. Many people participate and everybody is barefoot: people, altar servers (boys and girls), and priests. Today altar girls are very common in Italy. That was not the case 30 years ago. The Italian term for red striped robe is "tarcisiana". Is a vestment worn by altar boys and altar girls. Altar boys wear also cassocks and surplices, but in Italy usually altar girls wear only "tarcisiana". The white robes are albs, as those worn by priests. Older altar servers, that can't wear tarcisiana (to small), wear albs. Arriving at the chapel in the country, the Mass shown here is celebrated in open air.

This is an example of a local processiin and tradition. The photograph here was taken in the northern Italian village of San Michele de' Mucchietti (figure 1). This is a little village about 50 km west of Bologna. This procession is quite different from others: it is a penitential procession that takes place on August 15th in the early morning. In that day the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. In the morning the procession leaves the parish church for a chapel in the country, bringing an image of the Virgin Mary. Many people participate and everybody is barefoot: people, altar servers (boys and girls), and priests. Today altar girls are very common in Italy. That was not the case 30 years ago. The Italian term for red striped robe is "tarcisiana". Is a vestment worn by altar boys and altar girls. Altar boys wear also cassocks and surplices, but in Italy usually altar girls wear only "tarcisiana". The white robes are albs, as those worn by priests. Older altar servers, that can't wear tarcisiana (to small), wear albs. Arriving at the chapel in the country, the Mass is celebrated in open air. The origin of this procession was in 1855. In that year there was an epidemic of cholera. In the village of San Michele de' Mucchietti died many people. The parishioners asked the parish priest, Antonio Pensieri, for a penitential procession. The parish archive guards this attestation of Antonio Pensieri: "According to the petition of my parishioners, on Sunday 5th August (1855) I announced that on August 15th we should have had a penitential procession, in bare feet and with alight candles. On day 15th, at 6 a.m., everybody was ready, everybody barefoot, with candles."

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Created: 8:59 PM 6/13/2009
Last updated: 8:53 AM 6/14/2009