In Reggio Calabria it is the day of the feast linked to the patron saint, the Madonna of the consolation: a ritual that repeats itself every year with unchanged devotion, also sealing the sense of belonging of the Reggio people. Thousands found themselves this morning at the Basilica of the Hermitage to accompany the picture of the lawyer in procession and patroness along the journey to the Cathedral.
The mayor Giuseppe Falcomatà expressed particular feelings and emotions. “We participate in the message of peace addressed by our Archbishop Mons. Fortunato Morrone. Indifference becomes participation for the good of the world and for our city. This procession, personally, has a load of particular emotions, is the last of a long political path as mayor of Reggio Calabria and servant of the city. I live it with particular participation. We are strongly linked and participate in the message that our Archbishop wanted to add to the Madonna and The peace and direct commitment of every citizen so that indifference becomes participation to change things in the world but also in our city “.
So the mayor of Reggio Calabria, Giuseppe Falcomatà, on the occasion of the delivery of the painting with the Vara, of the Madonna della Consolazione, during the procession that brought the Sacred Icon of the patron to the Cathedral.
“As every year – added the first citizen – we prepare to welcome our Holy Mother and we do it in the best way, making the city more beautiful, compared to what is already, organizing many events and activities, which allow citizens, the faithful and the many pilgrims who have reached its homage to the Madonna della Consolazione, to best live these days of faith. Our feelings of pride, the fears, anxieties. Rely on our patron saint, to her – he concluded – we ask for help not only personally but also for our splendid Reggio “.
Along the way, the meeting with the people and the traditional “stages”, before arrival in the cathedral where the painting of the Madonna della Consolazione will remain until Sunday 23 November: the Orthopedic Institute, the Polyclinic “Madonna della Consolazione” along via Cardinale Portanova. Following, the stop and prayer at the height of the gathered hospitals, for the assignment to Mary of sick and suffering. Immediately after, the stop in front of Palazzo Campanella for the tribute of the regional council. Then square of delivery, where the Capuchins, as per centuries -old tradition, entrust the painting of Mary to the metropolitan archbishop. The procession then traveled the Garibaldi Corso by stopping in front of the Municipality; Finally, the arrival in Piazza Duomo, sealed by the suggestive final “sprint” of the Vara, with the picture that entered the cathedral, accompanied by the bearers to the cry of “Viva Maria!”.