A great journey of shared faith and beauty, with religious and cultural activities located in different sites of interest, confirmed the “Marian Night” as a successful event capable of telling our most authentic identity in the sign of the Madonna of the Letter.
Promoted by the diocesan interconfraternal center chaired by Carmelo Bertolami in collaboration with the Archdiocese and the patronage of the Municipality, the event, now in its fourth edition, was coordinated by the vice-president of the CID Alessandro D’Angelo and recorded a large number of participants.
The Cid is a diocesan body that since 1993 has brought together the brotherhoods and pious associations of the Archdiocese of Messina and this year too it has given life to a special night inaugurated after the greetings of Msgr. Roberto Romeo, archbishop’s delegate for the Cathedral Basilica, with the placement of the golden manta on the Icon of the Madonna of the Letter. In the crypt, a photographic exhibition on the various editions of the festival and ancient uniforms of the Drummers of the “Fast Listener” were exhibited, it was also possible to visit the Bell Tower of the Cathedral which houses the largest and most complex astronomical clock in the world. The exhibitions of the artist Christian Mangano, the cartoonist Lelio Bonaccorso and Don Giuseppe Giunti have been set up at the Palacultura. The “Tableaux Vivants” dedicated to Caravaggio and offered free of charge to visitors by the Diocesan Interconfraternal Center are evocative, staged in the Sala Laudamo by Ludovica Rambelli Teatro, through 23 famous paintings recreated live in a succession of images of great visual and emotional impact.
At the Montevergine Monastery, Don Vincenzo Majuri, archbishop’s delegate for the brotherhoods, held the lectio “I greet you, Holy Lady: the Virgin Mary and Francis of Assisi”. At the church of San Giovanni di Malta, the visitors, welcomed by the delegate for cultural activities of the Cid Marco Grassi, admired in addition to the Shrine of the relics of San Placido and fellow martyrs, a valuable 18th century canvas (from the Messina school) of the “Madonna della Lettera tra Santi” recently restored and coming from the parish of Castanea; the relic of the sacred hair and an unpublished correspondence on the preparation of the Vara in 1902.
There was no shortage of musical moments entrusted to the municipal band complex of Motta Camastra, directed by maestro Alessandro Indiana, and to the drums of the “Tamburi dello Stretto” (Ets) association, chaired by Francesca Pintaudi. The paintings of the Madonnari di Sicilia have an impact; the artistic carpet, created by the “Amici dell’Arte” group of Santa Teresa and the Opera dei Pupi shows at the Rosario Gargano Museum, while at the Palacultura it was possible to live immersive experiences thanks to the virtual reality tours.
At the New Oratory of Peace, visit the historic Barette and votive candles of Vara; at the Catalan church “Missione Mariana” by the group “Our Father Father of all”; at the Shrine of Christ the King, the exhibition of ancient prints on the Virgin Mary by Franz Riccobono. Closing the “Marian Night” was the evocative and dazzling pyromusical show from the terrace of Palazzo Zanca, with the synchronization between fireworks and music, which gave rise to choreographies of great intensity.