A Sicilian photographer from Sciacca saw our photos from the Madonna del Soccorso Society at the Fisherman’s Feast in Boston’s North End and shared these from the festival there. The old country tradition is a little different. The procession is always held on August 15th and it takes about 100 men to carry the large statue. They also walk barefoot from the Basilica through the streets and piazzas and to the Mediterranean waters. It is considered a high honor to carry the statue and you can see how they are literally on top of each other jockeying for position. The crowds are also much larger. The Sciacca church holds about 600 people and people still have to wait outside. (Photo credit: G. Pendola)
WOW !!!
Wow is right! I love our North End feast societies, but the guys in these photos are hard core. Kind of makes ours look like a minature version of the real thing.
What do you mean by hard core?Be more specific.
The article said 100 men carrying the statue barefoot … sounds hard core to me!
The people in Sciacca are dedicated to the Madonna. We have two versions of the way we Celebrate our Madonna one is not less important than the other. To organize the feast in Boston is a difficult undertaking. We work all year to make this the great event that it is today. The men carrying in Sciacca do a great job our boys in Boston also do a great and difficult job all year long.
I have seen this procession in Sciacca, it is very beautiful and the village is beautiful to. ” Viva ‘Maria ! ” madre del Soccorso ..
Madonna del Soccorso di Sciacca Procession – What is the actual church where the procession comes out of in Sciccia? We are trying to plan a trip over to Sciacca and wanted to see if we could coordinate it with the actual feast but we are having trouble finding out the churches name to get a hotel or villa near by in walking distance if possible… Any help or suggestions on where to stay or the name of the church, address etc… would be very helpful.