Great Summer Festival in honor of Maria SS. dell'Elemosina

A community celebration at the foot of Mount Etna

The Great Summer Festival in honor of Maria SS. dell'Elemosina is the most cherished event for the community of Biancavilla, a town in the province of Catania situated on the southwestern slopes of Mount Etna. Every year, on the last Sunday of August, the locals renew their centuries-old bond with their patron saint in what organizers call a "family feast," characterized by a massive turnout that fills the squares and streets of the historic center.

The history of the Byzantine icon

The cult is rooted in the very founding of the city. At the end of the 15th century, a group of Albanian exiles of the Byzantine rite, fleeing the Turkish conquest of Shkodër, arrived in the Callicari territory carrying a precious Byzantine icon of the Mother of God, painted in tempera on wood. According to tradition, the image was miraculously found tangled in the branches of a fig tree: a sign interpreted as a divine will to remain in that place, thus giving rise to Biancavilla. Devotion strengthened over the centuries, linked to the community's protection during Etna's eruptions and the earthquakes that struck Sicily. The icon was solemnly crowned on October 3, 1948, by decree of the Vatican Chapter.

The novena and the festival days

The festival is prepared by a solemn novena of nine days of prayer, during which ancient Marian orations (the Coroncina and the Supplica) composed by Provost Vincenzo Motta are recited, and each day at noon, cannon shots invite the city to pause for the Angelus. The final three days are the most intense:

• Thursday: Eucharistic day with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and an evening procession between Piazza Roma and Piazza Collegiata;
• Friday: A cultural and spiritual moment with notable guests;
• Saturday: Consecration of new members of the Maria SS. dell'Elemosina Association and renewal of memberships;
• Sunday: The Great Summer Festival itself, with the solemn Holy Mass and the procession of the venerated image.

The procession and the fireworks

The highlight is the procession of the icon through the streets of the historic center, accompanied by confraternities in traditional attire and city officials; by tradition, the mayor pronounces an act of consecration of the city to the Madonna. Upon returning to the basilica, the festival concludes with a striking fireworks display on the sanctuary's parvis, the repositioning of the Sacred Icon, and a final prayer.

Biancavilla and the Etna region of Sicily

Part of the rich calendar of patronal feasts in Sicily and the Etna territory, the festival of Maria SS. dell'Elemosina is a precious opportunity to discover Biancavilla, its Arbëreshë origins, and the artistic heritage of the Sanctuary Basilica, the spiritual heart of the municipality.