A path that contains fatigue, hope, beauty, faith: the procession of the Madonna delle Grazie to Giampilieri Superiore is much more than a devotional act that is renewed: barefoot, in silence, praying, the steps moved by each of the inhabitants of the valley along those 330 steps that lead to the small sanctuary at the top, are an act of rebirth, the need for the children to rejoin the mother, who watches over them.
From the niche where it is placed on the accommodation on the Vara, the simulacrum preparation ritual made by Gregorio Zappalà in 1902, is the very essence of the village community. There is Caterina which brings the embroidered sheet to wrap the statue, which cannot be touched with bare hands; there is Emanuele grandson of the late Turi Bello Storico Campanaro, who after 47 years for the first time with his runs recalls the faithful to the procession; There is Filippo who coordinates the coronation and dressing, with the petroleum blue velvet cloak adorned with the many ex -gold vote. And then there is Giuseppe Capovara, for half a century behind Maria: he is the father of Simone Neri, subcapo of the Marina who died in the 2009 flood to save a child. Also for him who was among the bearers, dad Giuseppe every year is there to shout his living Maria!
At 8.45 pm the departure after the community prayer: the descent takes place without stopping, the effort is carved on the faces of the 50 bearers who encourage each other and must coordinate until the bridge arrival; The simulacrum weighs 800 kilos. The arrival of the procession in the Mother Church under the moved gaze of all. A feast of people, who also recalls many young people, a prodigy that is renewed in a warm but clear evening of July. Looking at the Giampilieri valley from the top of the small sanctuary, it seems almost impossible that death and destruction 16 years ago have come to there; But the compassionate gaze of the Virgin today as then encourages his children not to stop, because life is reborn from death. And the path continues tirelessly