Procession of the Sleeping Madonna (Dormitio Virginis)

The Sleeping Madonna, heart of the tradition of Acquedolci

Every year, on the evening of August 15th, the town of Acquedolci (province of Messina, Sicily) celebrates its most beloved procession: that of the Sleeping Madonna, known throughout the town by the affectionate name of "The Queen". Unlike most of Italy, which celebrates the Assumption of the Virgin on this date according to the Latin theological tradition, Acquedolci venerates the Virgin resting in sleep: this is the Dormitio Virginis, of Eastern theological tradition, a cult shared in the province of Messina with the nearby towns of San Fratello and Milazzo.

One of the most beautiful wax statues in Sicily

At the heart of the celebration is a fine, life-sized wax statue, kept in the Mother Church of the Blessed Virgin of the Assumption. Created in the second half of the 18th century at the behest of a wealthy family from San Fratello, the work was modeled by a wax master from Palermo who carved the face, hands, and feet with extraordinary finesse. Its refined features and life-size dimensions make it one of the most beautiful Sleeping Madonnas in all of Sicily, recognized as a valuable work of art by the Superintendency of Messina.

The statue belonged for a long time to the Di Paci family: it was Don Antonino Di Paci, the last descendant of this San Fratello lineage, who kept it in his home and carried it in procession every August 15th, before donating it to the parish in the late 1960s. A careful restoration has returned it to its former glory, recovering the original colors and repositioning the arms according to the primitive iconography, stretched along the sides.

Acquedolci and its roots in San Fratello

To understand this devotion, one must know the history of the town. Acquedolci, today a town of over five thousand inhabitants overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea in front of the Aeolian Islands, was born as a seaside hamlet of San Fratello: after the disastrous landslide that struck the mountain village on January 8, 1922, a large part of the population moved to the coast. Along with the inhabitants, their heritage of faith and traditions also descended to the valley, including the cult of the Sleeping Madonna, which still ideally unites the two towns today.

The evening rite

The procession takes place in the evening hours of August 15th, when the statue leaves the Mother Church to cross the streets of the center amidst songs, prayers, and the moved participation of the community. It is a moment of strong collective identity, which is distinct from the feast of the town's patron saint, Saint Benedict the Moor, celebrated instead on the first Sunday of August. Those visiting Acquedolci on Ferragosto can thus experience an authentic and little-known religious tradition, far from the major tourist circuits of Sicily.