There is an even deeper meaning in the message that Vara delivers to Messina on the day of the Assumption. In a year that celebrates the centenary of the resumption of the historic procession on August 15, the city finds itself living in a time marked by pain and mourning. And it is from this contradiction that the chaplain Father Antonello Angemi invites us to reread the meaning of the celebration: «In such a painful moment for the city, we are called to rediscover the essential: the Vara is not only a manifestation of the Messina tradition, but above all a sign of faith and hope, because even from pain one can be reborn», states the priest. The Vara, therefore, is not just folklore, tradition or entertainment.
Its most authentic dimension, according to Angemi, is the religious one: «This year we are called above all to the essential, he underlines, contained precisely in the mystery of the Assumption: even when we experience death, we know that it never has the last word. The last word is that of Christ, and it is the word of life.” Death, however, does not appear in everyone’s life in the same way: «Each of us experiences death – continues Angemi – there are those through mourning, those with suffering or illness, those with loneliness, failures, disappointments, fears, fragility and frustrations. They are different experiences, but they all put us face to face with the limit and, in some way, with the sensation that death can have the upper hand.” A particularly significant message for Messina, which once again finds itself dealing with pain and confusion. The reference is to the recent tragedies that have affected the community, in particular the death of Giulia Scimone whom the priest saw growing up in the parish in Ganzirri, the other victims of the road, of gender violence and those of the Pistunina tragedy.
«Messina is the city of rebirth – recalls Father Angemi -. It was destroyed by earthquakes and bombs and yet it has always risen again.” It is therefore from this perspective that the centenary takes on further value. The celebration of the resumption of the procession on August 15th becomes almost a metaphor for the history of the city itself: falling, going through pain, but finding the strength to get back up. Death and resurrection, therefore, are the two dimensions through which to read the Vara of the centenary. In the “Viva Maria” that accompanies the procession the priest identifies the synthesis of this hope: «That cry says that Mary is alive and therefore for everyone there is the possibility of being reborn, of starting over, of hoping». Hence the appeal to avoid divisions and exploitation: «In such a delicate moment Messina should rediscover a sense of community». In recent weeks there has been a lot of social controversy over whether or not to hold the procession; for Angemi “the city should have spoken with one voice, rallying around the pain to instill hope”. And he continues: «Life wins when, in the face of tragedies and bereavements, we remain with Christ and dive into his arms, to give meaning to our pain, when we manage to transform our wounds into an extraordinary opportunity for growth, maturity and change». Then he adds: “Faith does not eliminate storms, but it allows us to go through them without being overwhelmed by them. It does not always give us the answers we are looking for, but it makes us feel a presence that accompanies us.” And Vara’s message also passes through the gestures that accompany the procession every year: raising your eyes to look at Mary, running, tightening the ropes, pulling them. Not simple rituals, but gestures full of meaning.
“If we don’t lift our eyes to her when we are overwhelmed by pain and bewilderment to look beyond, we will never be able to nourish hope”, explains Father Angemi. And in this sense, “Vara forces us to raise our gaze, not to stop at the immediate reality of death, wars, conflicts and suffering, but to seek a further perspective”. And then the hands that tighten the rope: a physical, profoundly human gesture. Father Angemi links it to the Gospel: «Jesus touches the sick, comes into contact with human misery. In that rope there is the divine hand, the hand of Mary, the hand of God that touches us, heals us, saves us.” The rope becomes a symbol of trust: «Life wins when in the face of pain we trust in Christ and cling to Him, as we cling to the hawsers of the Vara».