The Festival of Santa Rosa

There I stood, one of thousands of people shouting “Viva” watching the 2,330lb Macchina enter the Piazza Giuseppe Verdi, when I suddenly felt so small. The main event of the festival of Santa Rosa is the transportation of the five story Macchina through the corso, the main street in Viterbo. 110 Faccini carry the Macchina through the streets to the resting place of the body of Santa Rosa in the Cathedral. People traveled from far and wide to witness the unveiling of the new Macchina which is redesigned and built every five years. What a wonderful time to be in Italy… Not only was my first week the most important week of the year in Viterbo, but I was here for the unveiling of the new Macchina and I will be present at the Papa’s Mass on Sunday after he tours and blesses the many Viterbo churches. The pope has not been in Viterbo in many many years making this year the most blessed and most amazing year to be here!

Now to the beginning of the festivals. The first festival that I witnessed, on our first night here, was the procession of the minimacchina by the young boys of Viterbo. It was crazy only just arriving in Viterbo and having to make our way to the festival and understand what’s going on by ourselves. There were people everywhere but somehow we were able to secure a great spot on the corso to watch the entire parade and make friends with the Italians around us! They are truly wonderful and kind people. It’s as if as soon as they realize we are American everything is excused and they just want to talk to us. It is actually very nice to not have the Italian students here yet, I think that would just be too many people to try to communicate with and too overwhelming all in one week!! It will be fun when they come though so far we haven’t formally met anyone our age. Ok back to the story, the little boys were adorable, the minimacchina was definitely not as mini as I thought it would me, the boys had to switch about every hundred feet because of the crushing weight. As they passed us they were shaking and straining with the pressure. The boys age averaged less than ten so the sight of it was very impressive.

The second day we accidentally missed the historic parade because of faulty information but that was sort of alright considering we were all dragging our feet and falling asleep standing up. Instead we went home and our awesome roommate Teresa cooked us some amazing spaghetti. I also have to get used to writing in a journal every night. I have never been one to write my thoughts but I don’t want to forget a single second of this crazy life here.

Now for the Big evening!! After a very long day of touring with Stefano and sitting for orientation we all had to get ready for the actual festival for Santa Maria. I’ve been sick for the past few weeks and now have no voice and am constantly coughing and dealing with a runny nose so getting up and participating has been difficult but I was never going to pass up a once in a lifetime opportunity such as this. We knew we would never find a place to sit so we didn’t go down extremely early but walked the corso and waited on a doorstep until they told us we couldn’t stay there. The mood was amazing. The boys were cat calling to the women across the piazza and the women were likewise teasing them with flirty looks and bare shoulders. Everyone was pushing and talking and just buzzing with excitement and anticipation. The blessing of the Facchini didn’t even begin until 9 and from there the procession was very slow because of the many traditional practices and rests that they had to take. Every time the Macchina was set down the Facchini were given a 20-30 minute rest and the people at each stop were able to enjoy the massive glowing fiery statue. When they were done with the rest they would line up in their procession rows and by row they would be called in by shouting and run under the macchina and prepare to lift it once again. When it finally got to us the entire piazza erupted in a huge roar of cheers and moaning because of it’s massiveness and beauty. It was glowing with hundreds of oil lamps and adorned with lions, a symbol of Viterbo and flowers. This specific Macchina is called Fiori Del Cielo the flower of the sky. It is meant to represent the connection of the earth to the sky. It is a brilliant gold with glass flowers inlayed in it that glowed with the fire light. The base of the statue is a huge square adorned with large golden lions, farther up the twisting body was a yellow sphere that glowed from the inside, farther up are angels hanging from the body and then a bright red light from inside. The top of the statue is a blue ball which reminded me of a sky with stars shining through. Then traditionally the statue of Santa Rosa sits on top and looks down on the people. IT WAS AMAZING.

So there is the huge long and probably really boring description of our last few days… now for the Pope!! I’m excited to see him and still very overwhelmed with the amount of things to do here! If you guys have questions feel free to comment!! It really is amazing! I love you all