Patronal Feast of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist

The patronal feast in the heart of Sabina

Every year on December 27th, the municipality of Vacone—a village of about three hundred inhabitants perched on the hills of Sabina, in the province of Rieti, Lazio—celebrates its patron saint, John the Apostle and Evangelist. It is a festival with an ancient flavor, arriving two days after Christmas to extend the holiday spirit with a simple and authentic program: religious celebrations in honor of the saint, a community lunch prepared by the Pro Loco, and the tombola that enlivens the village's winter afternoon.

Saint John the Evangelist and his church

The bond between Vacone and Saint John the Evangelist is etched in stone. The parish church dedicated to the saint, built in the 12th century next to the castle that once dominated the settlement, is a Romanesque building that preserves its original semicircular apse and a 13th-century fresco of the Virgin and Child in a niche near the entrance. Inside, among the five altars, stands a triptych attributed to Antoniazzo Romano depicting Saint John the Evangelist between Saint Paul the Apostle and Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, as well as a Madonna of the Rosary attributed to Girolamo Troppa. The parish, part of the Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia, is the spiritual heart of the festival, with the day beginning with Mass in honor of the patron saint.

Padellaccia, the dish of the feast day

If the morning belongs to faith, the table is the true protagonist of the rest of the day. The symbolic dish of the festival is padellaccia, a winter specialty of the Sabina tradition described by the Municipality of Vacone as polenta generously topped with sauce, cheese, and trimmings from freshly slaughtered pork—or alternatively with "galluzze," the local dialect name for wild mushrooms. It is a dish rooted in peasant culture, linked to the period of pig slaughtering between late December and January, when the community gathered to consume what could not be preserved. In Vacone, this memory remains alive: the community lunch organized by the Pro Loco for Saint John brings padellaccia to the table as a collective narrative of the village's traditions.

Tombola and winter conviviality

After lunch, the festivities continue with the traditional tombola, an unmissable appointment during the holiday season in Italian villages. It is the most playful moment of the day, bringing together children, families, and the elderly in a communal atmosphere. In Vacone, as the event presentation states, "traditions are told at the table," and the patronal day is designed to be experienced at a slow pace, amidst authentic flavors and rediscovered social bonds.

Vacone, a village in Sabina

The patronal festival is also an opportunity to discover Vacone and its surroundings. The village belongs to the Sabina reatina area, land of the Sabina extra virgin olive oil—the first Italian oil to receive the designation of origin—and of a straightforward cuisine featuring strozzapreti with sauce, fregnacce with mint, falloni stuffed with chard, and broccoli fritters. Visiting Vacone on December 27th means immersing yourself in a precious, lesser-known Italy, less than an hour and a half from Rome and a few kilometers from the border with Umbria, where the patronal feast remains a genuine community ritual rather than a tourist reconstruction.