Varette Procession and Via Crucis

The Varette procession in San Filippo del Mela

In the heart of Holy Week, the village of San Filippo del Mela, in the province of Messina, experiences one of the most intense and identity-defining moments of its religious calendar: the Varette procession on Good Friday, accompanied by the solemn town Via Crucis. It is an event anticipated all year round, capable of drawing in both the faithful and visitors while bringing the town's generations together.

What are the Varette?

The "Varette" — also known as "barette" — are small triumphal floats that depict various episodes from the Passion of Christ. They are carried on the shoulders of citizens through the streets of the center in a slow, solemn procession that transforms the entire village into a grand path of meditation. Each sculptural group tells a stage of the journey toward Calvary, bringing to life a true itinerant sacred representation that traverses the streets and squares of San Filippo del Mela.

The most evocative moments

Among the most emotional highlights of the day is the meeting between the Addolorata and the Ecce Homo, which symbolizes the sorrow and hope at the center of the Good Friday tradition. Also characteristic is the presence of the babbaluci, hooded penitents who recall ancient brotherhoods and echo the Easter rites widespread throughout the Messina area, from Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto to neighboring towns. The Via Crucis accompanying the procession marks the stations of the Passion with moments of prayer and reflection.

A living tradition

The event is not merely a religious rite: in San Filippo del Mela, it represents an authentic cultural and social heritage, capable of involving families, the young, and the elderly along the entire route. Holy Week in the village is particularly rich: in addition to the Varette, the community stages a well-attended Sacred Representation of the Passion, with Palm Sunday and living tableaux that animate Piazza Liberazione and the spaces around the Mother Church of Saints Filippo and Giacomo.

The village and its devotion

San Filippo del Mela is a small town in northeastern Sicily, overlooking the plain of Milazzo, in the province of Messina. Its majestic Mother Church, dedicated to Saints Filippo and Giacomo and linked to the name of architect Gian Battista Vaccarini, houses eighteenth-century wooden statues and serves as the backdrop for the Holy Week rites. Popular devotion, combined with the charm of the historic center, makes the Varette procession one of the most characteristic faith-based events in the Tyrrhenian area of Messina.