Our Lady of Graces Festival (with Peregrinatio)

A procession that enters the courtyards

In Santa Maria Capua Vetere, in the province of Caserta, the Our Lady of Graces festival is not limited to a single day: it begins much earlier, when the statue of the Virgin leaves the Franciscan church on Via Convento Madonna delle Grazie and begins its journey. For nine days, the Peregrinatio takes it from door to door, from courtyard to courtyard, reaching the parks and public spaces of the neighborhood, decorated for the occasion with drapes and bunting. It is one of the most deeply rooted forms of popular devotion in the city, and one of the few where the sanctuary goes out to meet the faithful, rather than the other way around.

The Peregrinatio, nine days through the parish streets

The process is simple and well-established. The statue remains for a full day at a condominium, a hallway, or a park indicated by the community; every evening, after the recitation of the Holy Rosary and Mass (usually celebrated at 8:00 PM), the bearers accompany it to the next stop. The streets involved change from year to year, drawing a different map of the parish territory each time: recent editions have included Via Convento delle Grazie, Via Perantoni, Via Giove Tifatino, Via Galatina, Via Antonino Pio, Via Molinari, and local neighborhood parks.

• Evening preaching is entrusted to the Friars Minor, who alternate throughout the novena.
• The visits primarily reach the sick and those unable to leave their homes: this is the original meaning of the Peregrinatio.
• On the final evening, the statue returns to the church in a procession, followed by the Night of Graces, a musical meditation by the Perfetta Letizia parish choir.

July 2nd, the day of the solemnity

The liturgical calendar sets the memorial of Our Lady of Graces on July 2nd, and that is the day the parish truly fills up. Holy Masses follow one another from the morning—in previous years at 7:30 AM, 10:00 AM, and 11:30 AM—until the solemn evening Eucharistic celebration at 8:00 PM, recently presided over by the Provincial Father of the Friars Minor of Naples and Caserta. It is not uncommon for the evening liturgy to also host a milestone in the life of the Franciscan fraternity, such as the institution of an acolyte.

The festival in the square

Once the Mass is over, the festival changes tone and moves to the square in front of the Franciscan church, where the secular celebration takes place: music, entertainment, tastings, and shows organized by parish groups—altar servers, Araldini, youth leaders—often with the participation of local dance schools. It is the moment when neighborhood families and faithful arriving from other towns in the province of Caserta come together.

A church with a 14th-century fresco

The heart of the devotion is a 14th-century fresco of the Giotto school depicting the Madonna nursing the Child, preserved inside the church. The complex stands just outside the ancient town, in a place with a very long Christian history: according to local tradition, an early Christian basilica linked to Bishop Saint Germano existed here, destroyed during the Saracen raids of the 9th century. The surviving chapel was entrusted to the Alcantarine Franciscans in 1885, and at the beginning of the 20th century, Father Giammaria Palumbo promoted the construction of a larger church and the adjacent convent. Since 1964, the church has been a parish, with pastoral care entrusted to the Friars Minor.

Why it is worth attending

In Campania, there are many Marian festivals in early July, but the one in the municipality of Santa Maria Capua Vetere has a recognizable character: few fairground lights, much closeness. Those arriving in the city can combine the visit with the local archaeological heritage—the Campanian Amphitheatre, second in size only to the Colosseum, and the Mithraeum—and thus discover one of the oldest urban realities in the region, the ancient Capua.