Associazione Sant'Elia

1/2

Contrada Sant'Elia - foto del 2023

Contrada Sant'Elia - foto del 2010

1ª Ciclo passeggiata Sant'Elia 2023 - mascotte

Contrada Sant'Elia - foto del 2023

1/9

Sant'Elia, a celebration that comes from afar

The festival in the Sant'Elia district in Locorotondo has its roots in a very distant time. The first historical evidence of the existence of a chapel in the Sant'Elia district is found in the notarial deeds of the sixteenth century, where we read of the existence of a church in the Sant'Elia district on the road that then led to Castellana, passing through Catuscio, Carrieri and Canale di Pile, current Canale di Pirro (From “Research for a history of Locorotondo” Liuzzi-De Michele - Cordasco).

Subsequently, the 1968 text by Baccari (Historical Memoirs of Locorotondo) mentions the church: "about one kilometer from Locorotondo, along the road that leads to Castellana, passing through the Calascione well, until eighty years ago you could see the ruins of an ancient church called Sant'Elia, from which Santo the district took its name. A few years ago some faithful have rebuilt the Church but at a distance of 400 meters from the original site".

In fact, what Baccari reports corresponds to the truth, since a historical document reports the voluntary donations and the names of the donors who allowed the construction of the church. The document reports names and amounts and documents that the collection of funds began in 1928 and the church was completed in 1938. As Baccari reports, "a few years ago some faithful rebuilt the church."

Therefore, in the 16th century a chapel dedicated to Sant'Elia was chosen and this determined the toponym of the district. How it was built and why exactly is not known. Oral testimonies tell of a devotee who in a dream had had a vision of the prophet who had induced him to build the chapel. And it was certainly a chapel, considering that the ecclesiastical document of the construction of the church speaks precisely of the expansion of the chapel and the construction of a small church.

The amounts are shown in the list of the 119 benevolent devotees: they range from a maximum of 20 lire to 1 lira. Among those there are also two priests and a monsignor: Don Michele Lisi, Don Angelo Recchia and Monsignor. Giovanni Mastro of Naples.

In 1938 the church completed its first expansion. a second expansion will be carried out in 1987, thanks to the donation of a portion of land by a devout inhabitant of the district.

On April 23, 1988, the asphalt road around the church was built.

Among the workers who carried out the work was also Mr. Michele Palmisano.

During the 1950s the church was a center of religious aggregation, with the priests who taught catechism with the children of the area.

Around this church the cult has always been deeply felt, so much so that every year a celebration was held in honor of the Saint. This festival occurred on the last Sunday of October and, considering the presence of chestnuts in this autumnal period, it was identified as the festival of chestnuts and new wine. There was a large boiler that cooked chestnuts" say the young people of the time who are now in their 80s.

Furthermore, the Saint's protection was particularly invoked when the weather threatened stormy weather. There was a person in charge of the bell who, as soon as the probable arrival of hail and bad weather was perceived, went to the church to pull the heavy rope and ring the church bell, in order to chase away the bad weather.

To carry out the celebration there was the collection of voluntary donations. Given the poverty of the time, farmers often gave offerings in kind instead of money: mainly wheat but also other products of the land. These were then sold and the celebrations were held with the proceeds. These were very simple: there were dances and what today we would define as cabaret, with the best at trying their hand at jokes. There are many games designed for the youngest: from the sack race to the maypole. Every year on the occasion of the festival the statue of the Prophet is carried in procession to the town gates, arriving in Piazza Marconi where it turns to return to the small church.

The adverse weather conditions which every year made the celebrations difficult due to the inevitable rain, in the 60s and 70s the festival was moved to the second half of September.

For many years it took place in this period. Despite the move, however, rain and bad weather have always characterized the feast of Sant'Elia.

So the newly formed celebration committee born in 2023 decided, in mutual agreement with the parish priest Don Adriano, to move the date of the celebration further to the second Sunday of July.

Many priests have served in this church: Don Peppe Luigi, Don Michele Lisi, Don Angelo Recchia, Don Donato Fumarola, Don Angelo Mirabile, Don Mimì Giannoccaro, Don Franco Pellegrino and now Don Adriano Miglietta.

The organization of the festival and the care of the church saw the active participation of the residents of the district who have such devotion towards the Holy Prophet. Over the years this devotion has remained unchanged, because it has been transmitted from generation to generation with the same intensity and simplicity that the local people can nurture.

Author: Miriam Palmisano

Saint Elijah the Prophet

Hagiography

Elijah (whose name means "my God is Yahweh") was born towards the end of the 10th century. B.C. and lived under the reign of Ahab, who had imposed the cult of the god Baal. Elijah appeared before King Ahab to announce three years of drought as punishment. Once the scourge struck Palestine, he returned to the king and to demonstrate the inanity of the idols he launched the challenge on Mount Carmel against the 400 prophets of Baal. When the flame miraculously lit up on the sole altar raised by Elijah, and the invoked water came down to put an end to the drought, the people lynched the idolatrous priests. But Elijah had to escape the wrath of Ahab's wife, Jezebel, a follower of the god Baal. Disheartened, he prayed to God to let him die. But after an angel, God appeared to him and Elijah understood that the triumph of good happens with patience, because God dominates time. The proud prophet, who wore a leather cloak over a rough apron tightened at his hips, as he wore eight centuries later, John the Baptist, of whom he is the prefiguration, returned among the people of God, but did not witness the full triumph of Yahweh. He died mysteriously in 850 BC, on a chariot of fire.

(Avvenire)

“And there arose Elijah the prophet, like a fire; his word burned like a torch”: Sirach (48.1) thus describes one of the greatest prophets in the religious history of ancient Israel. Yet not much is known about his life. He was born in Thisbe in the 9th century BC, at the time of King Ahab, and dedicated his existence to moving the people away from the worship of idols to bring them back towards the true and only God, consistent with the name given to him: Elijah in fact means : “The Lord is my God”.

Precursor of Saint John the Baptist

A virtuous and austere man, he wears a camel skin cloak over a simple apron tightened at the hips, thus prefiguring, eight centuries in advance, John the Baptist. Equipped with a warrior's heart and a refined intellect, he combines in his soul the burning fire of faith and zeal towards the Lord, so much so that Chrysostom defines him as "angel of the earth and man of Heaven". Centuries later, the Catechism of the Catholic Church will present him as a model of Christian life and passion for God, "Father of the Prophets, of the generation of those who seek God, who seek his Face" (CCC, 2582).

The clash with the followers of Baal

A striking example of Elijah's prophetic strength can be found in the first Book of Kings, chapter. 18, which narrates how at the time of King Ahab Israel was giving in to the seduction of idolatry: in fact, it worshiped Baal because it believed it gave rain and therefore fertility to the fields, livestock and the human race. Precisely to unmask this deceptive belief, Elijah gathers the people on Mount Carmel and places them before a choice: follow the Lord or follow Baal. The prophet invites over 400 idolaters to confront each other: each will prepare a sacrifice and each will pray to their own god so that he may manifest himself. The unequivocal answer is the Lord, "God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel" who burns the offering for the sacrifice prepared by Elijah on an altar made up of twelve stones, "according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Lord had given the name Israel." This is how the hearts of the people are converted, faced with the evidence of the Truth. Baal, however, remains silent and impotent because - and this is Elijah's teaching - "the true adoration of God is giving oneself to God and to men, true adoration is love" which "does not destroy, but renews and transforms." (Benedict XVI, General Audience 15 June 2011).

The meeting with the Lord on Mount Horeb

A new test, however, awaits the prophet: he, who has fought so hard for his faith, must escape the wrath of Queen Jezebel, Ahab's idolatrous wife, who wants him dead. Exhausted and afraid, Elijah asks God to die and abandons himself to an uninterrupted sleep. But an angel wakes him up and orders him to climb Mount Horeb to meet the Lord. Elijah obeys: he walks for 40 days and 40 nights to reach the goal, on a journey that is the metaphor of the pilgrimage and the purification of the heart towards the experience of God.

The sonorous silence

As prefigured, the encounter with the Lord takes place, but not in a sensational way: God reveals himself, in fact, in the form of a light breeze. It is a "thread of a sonorous silence" - as Pope Francis will explain it in the morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta on 10 June 2016 - which urges Elia not to be discouraged, to retrace his steps to complete his mission. And the prophet, covering his face as a sign of adoration and humility, obeys God's call because he understands its value: that of trial, obedience and perseverance. Once again, therefore, Elijah challenges Ahab and Jezebel who had usurped a farmer's land, prophesying terrible misfortunes to them until he leads them to repentance. The prophet also alleviates the suffering and misery of a widow, feeding her and healing her dying son. Once his mission is accomplished, Elijah disappears, ascending to heaven on a chariot of fire and entering the infinity of the God he had served with so much passion. His cloak will remain on earth, intended for the disciple Elisha as a sign of investiture.

Prophetic zeal

Today the religious order of the Hermits of Mount Carmel recalls this great Prophet in its shield-shaped coat of arms: it depicts an arm holding a fiery sword and a ribbon with the words "Zelo zelatus sum pro Domino Deo exercitum", that is, “full of zeal for the God of hosts.”

(Vatican News)

Tutti i video

Search video...