LECCE – After two years of reduced editions due to the pandemic, the Feast of the Patron Saints Oronzo, Giusto and Fortunato is back, scheduled from 23 to 26 August in a widespread manner in the city.
The municipal administration and the Archdiocese of Lecce have worked for the return of the patronal feast according to tradition, with various moments dedicated to religious rites (with the recurrence of the Oronziano jubilee year) and civil celebrations. In addition to the procession with which the market fair, the funfair, the concerts in the square, the preview of the Christmas fair of Santa Lucia in via Trinchese return, the musical events in collaboration with the Tito Schipa ai Teatini Conservatory, the theater in the vernacular and the market of flavors at the Villa Comunale with the novelty of a real fireworks festival in Lecce at the end of the three days and the confirmation – by popular demand – of the traveling band in the neighborhoods.
“We are pleased to be able to restore the tradition after the editions in reduced form caused by the pandemic emergency – declares the mayor Carlo Salvemini – and to be able to conclude the Oronziano jubilee with a complete party that will be spread in the city involving many places, from the center to the neighborhoods , from the marinas to the villages thanks to the joyful passage of the band. It means returning to normality also for the patronal feast, which passes through a rich calendar of civil initiatives and a series of measures to ensure that it is an organized, livable and decent party, easy to reach even by public transport. We want to experience this recurrence which is a ritual, not a ritual, with fullness, serenity and awareness. The rituals strengthen the memory and the feeling of belonging to places and people, while rituality is a formal and passive fulfillment. I thank the Curia who this year wanted to promote together with Artwork a series of cultural initiatives in support of the religious ones and I thank the councilors Foresio and De Matteis together with all the municipal offices who worked synergistically to the success of this three days “.
Religious rites
The calendar of religious rites, which has already begun with the undena, provides for the solemn enthronement of the newly restored silver statue of the patron saint on Saturday 20 August. Wednesday 24 August at 7 pm, a moment of community prayer in Piazza Duomo followed by a procession through the streets of the city with the simulacra of the saints. Upon returning, the traditional message to the city from Archbishop Michele Seccia.
Two appointments on Thursday 25, the eve of the feast: at 10 at the sanctuary of Sant’Oronzo fuori le mura, Seccia will preside over the Holy Mass at the end of which there will be the closure of the Holy Door opened last summer for the beginning of the Oronziano jubilee year, while at 7 pm in the cathedral church the archbishop of Lecce himself will celebrate the Eucharist with the gift of oil that feeds the votive lamp at the altar of the saint throughout the year.
On Friday 26 August, at 7 pm, in Piazza Duomo the solemn pontifical with the closing rite of the Holy Door of the cathedral presided over by Zalimir Puljic, archbishop of the Croatian city Zadar, who, according to experts, preserves a valuable relic attributed to the bishop and martyr Oronzo.
Thanksgiving mass will be held on Saturday 27 August in the cathedral at 7 pm.
The heart of the civil party
The market fair will fill the usual route with stands and stalls (via Cavallotti, viale Marconi, viale Lo Re, via XXV Luglio, via Costa), which will involve 210 operators, for which the eco-sustainable choice made in 2018 and 2019 has been confirmed. to ban the generators and supply the traders with energy with a special electrical infrastructure developed by the technicians of the Municipality. Less noise and environmental pollution, more decor and liveability.
In Piazza Sant’Oronzo, the sound box surrounded by the illuminations of Mariano Light that adorn the path was installed. On the sound box there will be performances of the great band concerts of the City of Francavilla Fontana (Br) directed by Maestro Ermir Krantja, of the City of Rutigliano (Ba) directed by Maestro Gaetano Cellamara and of the City of Lecce directed by Maestro Giovanni Pellegrini.
On Via Trinchese, in the stretch that runs alongside the Apollo Theater, the preview of the Fair of Santa Lucia, of the Nativity Scenes and of the shepherds also returns, an exhibition of the handicrafts of the historic fair, protagonist of Christmas in the city, for the benefit of tourists.
The popular party in the city
From 24 to 26 August, the Villa Comunale will host “Sapori in festa”, a local food and wine market, and the theatrical review in the vernacular by the amateur theater companies Corte dei Musco, Mario Perrotta Senior and Lu curtigghiu.
On 24 August, at the Chiostro dei Teatini, from 9.30 pm, the City of Lecce Award is scheduled with the delivery of thank-you plaques to the traders and artisans present in the city for 50 years and to the sports associations that have achieved important results during the year .
On 25 and 26 August, again at the Teatini, the young musicians of the Tito Schipa Conservatory of Lecce will be on stage with two concerts: “Enjoy Clarinet Family Ensemble” and “Giardini barocchi”, while on 24 August, in the garden of the former Conservatory of Sant’Anna, will be held the recital of theater, music and poetry terra d’Ulivi.
Piazza Libertini will host, on the evening of August 25, the concert by Enzo Petrachi & Folkorchestra. while on August 26 the national artist will be on stage Giuliano Palma.
As per tradition, this year there will also be the Livestock Fair in Frigole and the Leccese Pyrotechnic Festival which will close the celebrations with three batteries of fires, in the Masseria Grande district, half an hour after midnight, organized by three companies from Campania: Pyromagia srl from Pannarano (Bn), F.lli Pannella from Ponte (Bn) and L ‘Artificiosa F.lli Di Candia from Sassano (Sa).
The Luna Park in via del Mare will be active from Saturday 20 August until Friday 26. Not being able to extend it beyond the 26th due to the concomitance with the Serie A championship match of Lecce at home, the municipal administration has chosen to anticipate the ‘start as a signal of attention to a sector, that of the carousels, which has been completely stopped in the two years of the pandemic.
Introduced during the pandemic, it enters by popular demand in the civil program “When the band passed”, the tour of the Lecce band, in collaboration with Pugliarmonica, which touches all the districts of the city, including marinas and villages, to bring the party also ” home”. This is the route: on 23 August Torre Rinalda (at 5.30 pm, meeting point: piazza Gaetano Cuocci), Spiaggiabella (at 6.00 pm, seafront), Torre Chianca (at 6.30 pm, via Marebello, beaches), Frigole (at 7.00 pm, piazza Bertacchi) , San Cataldo (7.30 pm, Lungomare Vespucci), San Ligorio (8 pm, Piazza Ferrandi); on 24 August Vito Fazzi Hospital (9.15 am, square in front of the entrance), Villa Convento (10 am, via Martiri d’Ungheria), Borgo San Nicola (10.30 am, Baden Powell park), Church of San Pio (11 am) , Case Magno (11.30 am), Borgo Pace (12 noon, Santa Maria della Pace church), Casermette (12.30 pm, San Vincenzo de ‘Paoli church), Mazzini district (6.15 pm, piazzetta Verdi); on 25 August Leuca district (9.15 am, traffic light at the crossroads of via Leuca), Santa Rosa district (10 am, church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Santa Rosa), Salesiani district (11 am, San Domenico Savio church), Piazza Partigiani (12 noon) ; Stadium district: 6.30 pm, San Massimiliano Kolbe church and piazzale Cuneo, 7.30 pm, San Giovanni Battista church, 8.30 pm, San Sabino church and Piazza Madre Teresa di Calcutta.
Complete civil and religious program attached.
Below is the full declaration of Archbishop Michele Seccia: “It will be a special celebration for the Christian community of Lecce not only because after two years we try to savor the normality of the rites that have traditionally been held in this city for many centuries but, above all, because we are going to conclude the year-long journey, that of the Oronziano Jubilee in memory of the two thousand years since the birth of our Patron. A holy time during which we had many opportunities to get closer to the figure of Sant’Oronzo not only from the point of view of faith, experiencing the celebrations of reconciliation and the Eucharist and learning about the purifying function of the gesture of passing through the Door Saint of the cathedral and of the sanctuary outside the walls; but also by scrutinizing its history, tradition, art… thanks to cultural events organized by the diocese throughout the year. The last one last June, the Oronziano conference organized with the University of Salento, the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of Lecce and the Society of Homeland History. From the studies presented on those days it will be necessary to start again to feed historiographic research and renew devotion. But what devotion? Oronzo continues to teach us that following Christ is a serious experience, for which it is also worth giving up one’s life in order to obtain as a final reward the eternal embrace with the One who awaits us at the end of the journey of earthly life. This is what devotion is: our patron is not satisfied with hasty signs of the cross, a visit to churches, a kiss sent to the picture or to a saint. True devotion is achieved in the imitation of those who have had the courage to live and die with the gospel in their hearts. This year the diocese, considering the jubilee occasion, wanted to celebrate the patrons not only with the usual liturgical rites: Msgr. Pulijc, the archbishop of Zadar, a diocese in which (precisely in Nona) an important relic of Sant’Oronzo is kept and with him, in addition to the procession, we will proceed to close the two Holy Doors and at the same time the Oronziano Jubilee. But the diocese, in collaboration with ArtWork, has decided to offer the city, in the cloister of the ancient seminary and visitors also some cultural evenings that will accompany the different liturgies: an approach already tested last year with moderate results and that this year it is enhanced even more in the certainty that knowledge and beauty improve the life of the city. We will not forget the distant ones. Thanks to Portalecce and the generous collaboration of Telerama we will reach the elderly and the sick – with the web and TV, even those geographically distant from Lecce – by broadcasting the live broadcast of the procession of 24 August and the pontificate of 26 August. It is right that the atmosphere of the party and an opportunity to participate in prayer with those who will be in Piazza Duomo and on the streets of the city reach them too. I wish everyone peaceful days full of spirituality ”.