A Look at the 2017 Festa di San Vito Martire in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

Viva San Vito!
Photos by New York Scugnizzo

Photo essay by New York Scugnizzo

(L) San Vito departs the clubhouse. (R) The color guard beams with pride

(Above & below) The procession makes its way through the neighborhood

Members of the Congrega San Vito di Ciminna pose for a pic

Sauntering down Bay Ridge Parkway

Always happy to see young ones participating

Devotees sing hymns to San Vito during the procession

The Tony Neglia Band

A look at the Society standard

San Vito was warmly greeted at St. Dominic's Church

President Dom Quartara with the relic of San Vito

On display in the church, the relic was a gift from Ciminna, Sicily in 2011

Society youth serve as altar boys during Mass

San Vito is placed near the altar

Viva Sant'Antonio! A Look at the 2017 Feast of St. Anthony of Padua in Bath Beach, Brooklyn

Viva Sant'Antonio!

Photos by New York Scugnizzo

Photo essay by New York Scugnizzo

Saturday, June 10th: Sant'Antonio stands outside the Grumo Appula Society Clubhouse (8729 20th Ave.) in Bath Beach, Brooklyn 

(L) The society standard and (r) a detail of the processional cart 

(Above & below) A new gold chain is offered to Sant'Antonio 

The Color Guard led the way 

(Above & below) The procession saunters through the neighborhood

We make our way down Benson Avenue

Members distribute loaves of blessed bread

The church bells toll as the procession passes St. Finbar's

The procession stops to honor the NYPD outside the 62nd Precinct 

Officers of the Grumo Appula Society enjoying the festivities

Rick Macri's La Banda delle Feste Italiane

(L) Our buddy Salvatore gets in on the action. (Right & below) During the final stretch, members carry the statue of Sant'Antonio on their shoulders

Back at the clubhouse women sing a hymn to Sant'Antonio

After vespers, Father Barozzi celebrates Mass in the clubhouse

A Look at the 2017 Feast of St. Anthony of Padua in New Rochelle, New York

Evviva Sant Antonio!
Photos courtesy of Cav. Charles Sant'Elia

Thanks Charles for sharing your wonderful photos from Sunday's (June 11th) Feast of St. Anthony of Padua at St. Joseph’s Church (280 Washington Ave.) in New Rochelle, New York. Evviva Sant’Antonio!

After Mass, devotees pin donations onto the statue

Sant'Antonio was greeted with great fanfare

The color guard led the procession around the parish

(Above & below) The procession makes its way through the festival grounds

Our pal Charles visits the outdoor shrine

A look at some of St. Joseph's beautiful statuary

Feast of Sant'Onofrio

Sant'Onofrio, ora pro nobis

June 12th is the Feast of Sant'Onofrio the hermit, patron saint of weavers and jurists. He is also invoked to help recover stolen or lost objects and by women seeking successful husbands. Widely venerated across southern Italy, he is the principal patron of Centrache (CZ), Sant’Onofrio (VV), Petina (SA), Casalvecchio Siculo (ME), and Serramonacesca (PE), among others. He is co-patron of Palermo (PA) and Sutera (CL). In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to Sant’Onofrio.* The accompanying photo was taken at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Evviva Sant'Onofrio! 

Preghiera

O glorioso Sant’ Onofrio, nostro protettore, devotamente a Te ricorriamo e prostrati davanti alla Tua immagine, con affetto e con gratitudine, ti ringraziamo, ti veneriamo e ti invochiamo.

O Sant’ Onofrio, benedetto anche in terra lontana e straniera, nostro protettore nelle afflizioni e nelle debolezze, allontana da noi ogni male e fa’ che un raggio della Tua luce possa rischiarire la nostra vita.

O Sant’ Onofrio, Tu che sei vissuto nella solitudine del deserto, fa’ che anche noi sul Tuo esempio, possiamo affrontare con coraggio i dolori e i travagli della nostra vita quotidiana, rimanendo sempre fedeli a Dio, camminando sulla via della fede, della speranza e della carita’.

O nostro santo protettore, oggi e sempre imploriamo la tua speciale protezione sulle nostre famiglie, i nostri anziani, vicini e lontani, e specialmente sui nostri giovani.

O nostro amabile protettore, Sant’ Onofrio, con tenero affetto e tanto amore, chiediamo al Signore, tramite la Tua intercessione, di essere sempre protetti da ogni pericolo.

Per Cristo nostro Signore. Amen.

* The prayer to Sant’Onofrio was reprinted from the Committee Sant’Onofrio Centrachese di Toronto

Photo of the Week: The Interior of the Galleria Umberto I in Napoli

The interior of the Galleria Umberto I in Napoli
Photo by New York Scugnizzo

The Search for our Ancestry (XXXVII)

Original Records VS. Extracts  

By Angelo Coniglio 

More and more descendants of Sicilian and Italian immigrants who came to the United States in the Great Migration of the late 19th – early 20th century are researching their roots. In addition to the standard subscription websites like www.Ancestry.com, and free websites like www.rootsweb.com and www.familysearch.org, amateur researchers are reaching out to social media sites like www.Linkedin.com and www.facebook.com. These venues have a variety of specialized ‘groups’ which cater to virtually every interest, including genealogical research. 

Facebook, for example, has groups for ‘Sicilian and Aeolian Islands Genealogy’, ‘Italian Genealogical Records’, ‘Genealogy! Just ask!’, ‘RootsWeb Genealogists’, and more, even some Sicilian or Italian-language groups like ‘Amici della genealogia’. The groups can be ‘open’ for all Facebook users, or ‘closed’, requiring you to request admission.  The usual use of these groups is for a member to post virtually any question about his or her family, from the general, listing family surnames and asking to contact others researching the same names; to the specific, about an ancestor, born on a specific date, etc.; to posting of original records, and asking for help in translating the documents.

The responses are varied, but unlike many ‘social media’ conversations, are usually respectful, helpful and to the point. Others who have had the same problem may respond; experienced amateur and professional genealogists may answer with valuable information or suggestions; other users may send you private messages that only you and they may see, or make arrangements to contact you by email. Professionals may offer their paid services, but these are usually restrained by the group administrators, not generally ‘pushy’, and there is no obligation to use them.

A common type of post in these groups starts with “I have my ancestor’s birth certificate, but . . .” or, “I want to get my grandfather’s birth certificate.” 

In the 1800s or early 1900s ‘certificates’ were not issued to the citizens involved in civil registrations by Sicilian or Italian towns. Records of birth, marriage, and death were written in registers kept in the towns permanently. Many of these records still exist and have been microfimed by the Mormon church and made available for rental or free on-line searches. Otherwise, the original records may still be on a dusty shelf in the town offices.  I have previously described the wealth of detail contained in these records: names, birth dates, occupations and addresses of the principals and/or their parents and spouses; witnesses to the registrations; the officials involved; and signatures of literate ancestors.

When a person needed proof of a birth, marriage or death, he would request it from the town and receive, not a photocopy of the detailed original records, but an ‘Estratto Certificato’ (certified extract) of the original. In the case of birth records, for example, the extract would give only the name and birth date of the child, the town where it was born, and the names of the parents. It would leave out the age, occupation and address of the father (or his father) and the names of any witnesses (often family members) that were listed on the original. If the father had signed the original, the extract obviously could not include that signature; and so on. Because of the word ‘certificato’ in the extracts, many folks quite erroneously call them‘birth cerificates’, ‘marriage certificates’, etc.

However, if you’re looking for the most information available, your search should be for the image of the original Atto di Nascita, Matrimonio or Morte (record of birth, marriage or death). And if you’re paying a genealogist to obtain the record for you, be sure you know whether you’ll be getting (and paying for) the original record, or just an extract. Another option is to obtain a ‘copia integrale’, or verbatim copy of the original record. This will be a word-by-word transcription of the original, lacking only any signatures of declarants or witnesses. As a copy, the copia integrale may also contain transcription errors.

Coniglio is the author of the book The Lady of the Wheel, inspired by his Sicilian research. Order the paperback or the Kindle version at http://bit.ly/SicilianStory Coniglio’s web page at http://bit.ly/AFCGen has helpful hints on genealogic research. If you have genealogy questions, or would like him to lecture to your club or group, e-mail him at genealogytips@aol.com

Congratulations Benevento Calcio!

Benevento Calcio secured promotion into Serie A for the first time in its history Thursday, June 8th, with its 1-0 victory over Carpi F.C. during the play-off final at the Stadio Vigorito in Campania. Le Streghe, or the witches, as they are called, will join fellow southern clubs S.S.C. Napoli and F.C. Crotone in Italy’s top-flight next campaign. Amazingly, this was only Benevento’s first time in Serie B, thus making them the first team to ever win back-to-back promotions. We wish them all the best and much success. Forza Benevento! 

Ponderable Quotes from “Italy’s Knights of St. George: The Constantinian Order” by Desmond Seward

“Ferdinand II [1830-59] – known as ‘King Bomba’ by his enemies – was the greatest of his dynasty in Italy after Charles VII, a man of enormous personality and energy. History has been more than unjust in labelling this most Neapolitan of all rulers of Naples as ‘an unimaginative foreign tyrant’. He was the last of the benevolent despots, taking a keen interest in the industrialization of his country, which he made extremely prosperous. He was offered the crown of Italy and might have imposed his rule over the entire peninsula, but refused out of loyalty to the Pope. When revolution drove Pius IX from Rome in 1848 he took refuge with the King of the Two Sicilies.” [p.63]

“Ferdinand died unexpectedly in 1859 aged only forty-nine. It is curious to reflect that had so formidable and so devout a son of the Church lived out the normal span of years he might not only have saved the kingdom from conquest by the North but might also have preserved the Papel States and the Temporal Power of the Papacy. The new King – and Grand Master – was his ineffectual yet infinitely well intentioned eldest son, the twenty-three year old Frances II. Despite the support of his brave and beautiful young Bavarian wife, Maria Sophia, Francis was swept away by the Risorgimento. Garibaldi’s success in Sicily and the treachery of certain senior offices caused the King to abandon Naples in September 1860 to regroup his forces at the coastal fortress of Gaeta. So fervently did the new Grand Master believe in the story of the Labarum that he made his regiment carry the Constantinian cross on their colours. However, because of elderly and uninspired commanders his wholly loyal army was checked during the battles around the Volturno river the following month and before he could make a second attempt to recapture Naples the Piedmontese invaded his kingdom. During the ensuing siege of Gaeta, in the words of his latest biographer Pier Giusto Jaeger ‘the hesitant Francis II became a rousing orator and something of a hero’, while the courage of his Queen made her the most admired woman in Europe. On 13 February 1861 they reluctantly abandoned the hopeless struggle and left Gaeta and the Two Sicilies for ever in a French ship. Nevertheless, if its Grand Masters would henceforth live in exile the home of the Constantinian Order would continue to be Naples.” [p.63-64]

* Quoted from Italy’s Knights of St. George: The Constantinian Order by Desmond Seward, Van Duren Publishers Limited, 1986, p. 63-64

Photo of the Week: Main Entrance to the Galleria Umberto I in Napoli

Main Entrance to the Galleria Umberto I in Napoli
Photo by New York Scugnizzo

A Prayer for London

St. George pray for us
San Giorgio by Mattia Preti, Gozo, Malta

Enough with the empty platitudes and politically correct dogma, it’s time for some real solutions. How many more casualties will it take before something pragmatic gets done? We pray for the victims of the June 3rd terror attacks in London, England and their families, but those responsible in government, the media, etc. must be held accountable for their politically motivated negligence or nothing will ever change.

Prayer for Victims of Terrorism

Loving God, welcome into your arms the victims of violence and terrorism. Comfort their families and all who grieve for them. Help us in our fear and uncertainty, and bless us with the knowledge that we are secure in your love. Strengthen all those who work for peace, and may the peace the world cannot give reign in our hearts. Amen.

Also see:
• A Prayer for Manchester
• A Prayer for the Church Bombing Victims in Egypt
• A Prayer for Stockholm
• A Prayer for St. Petersburg
• A Prayer for Westminster
• A Prayer for Berlin
• Requiescat in Pace: Fr. Jacques Hamel
• A Prayer for Nice
• A Prayer for Brussels
• Solidarité

In the News

Reprinted from the June 2017 Craco Society Bulletin

Dr. Patrick R Colabella, CPA Ed.D, a founding member and active supporter of the Society, had his recently published book, How to Get Rid of Socialism get some very high level attention. 

The book which lays out Colabella’s innovative ideas for replacing the income tax with an automated transaction tax system, got him an invitation to the White House. 

On June 6th he will participate in a meeting to discuss tax reform with the Secretary of the Treasury, President Trump and Vice-President Pence. 

Pat is a CPA and an associate professor of accounting and taxation at St John’s University in New York and the chair of the Global Institute for Taxation. He is a recognized expert and advocate of fundamental tax reform and has made presentations before congressional committees on taxation reform in Washington DC and has contributed to the President's Tax Consultative Task Force in 2004. His body of work in tax reform extends to the governments of South Korea and Australia. He has appeared on numerous news and radio programs and served as a CBS Tax Tips expert. 

In 2016 he spent a semester in Rome teaching and also maintains a private practice in Brooklyn, Colabella & Company LLP. 

Read more about the book or order a copy from the website that Pat maintains: How To Get Rid of Socialism 

Feast of Sant’Erasmo Martire

Sant'Erasmo Martire, ora pro nobis

June 2nd is the Feast of Sant’Erasmo (also Sant’Elmo or Saint Erasmus of Formia), Bishop and Martyr. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Sant’Erasmo is invoked to help women in labor and those suffering from abdominal pain and intestinal ailments. Protector of Gaeta and Formia,* he is also the patron saint of sailors. Saint Elmo’s Fire, a corona discharge in the air caused by atmospheric electricity, is named after the saint and is considered a good omen by his devotees. In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to St. Erasmus. The accompanying photo of the saint was taken at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The picture below of the Castel Sant’Elmo (originally a church dedicated to Sant’Erasmo) atop the Vomero Hill was taken during my 2010 visit to Napoli. Evviva Sant'Erasmo Martire!

Prayer to St. Erasmus

O God, grant us through the intercession of Your dauntless bishop and martyr Erasmus, who so valiantly confessed the Faith, that we may learn the doctrine of the Faith, practice its precepts, and by this be made worthy to attain its promises. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Castel Sant'Elmo overlooking Napoli

* Originally part of the Terra di Lavoro Province of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Gaeta and Formia are now part of present day Provincia di Latina, Lazio

New Music: Fiery Genius

New music that may be of interest to our readers.

• Fiery Genius: Neapolitan Instrumental Music for Violins by Ensemble Aurora

Label: Arcana Records
Release Date: June 9, 2017
Audio CD: $18.99
Number of Discs: 1

Available at Amazon.com

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New Books (June 2017)

New and forthcoming titles that may be of interest to our readers. All are available at Amazon.com

• Politics and Performance in Western Greece: Essays on the Hellenic Heritage of Sicily and Southern Italy (The Heritage of Western Greece) (Volume 2) by Heather L. Reid and Davide Tanasi

Publisher: Parnassos Press - Fonte Aretusa
Publication Date: May 12, 2017
Paperback: $29.95
Language: English
Pages: 366

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• Global Tarantella: Reinventing Southern Italian Folk Music and Dances by Incoronata Inserra

Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Publication Date: October 15, 2017
Paperback: $23.25
Language: English
Pages: 232

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Click here to see more books