The Italian Catholic Communities Throughout New Jersey And Surrounding Areas Are Filled With Tradition. There Are Renewed Efforts To Revive The Devotional Customs.

All Illustrations: NEW LITURGICAL MOVEMENT

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NEW LITURGICAL MOVEMENT

“Hold Fast to the Traditions”.

Guest Article by Mr Jay Rattino.

By: Gregory DiPippo.

Our thanks to Mr. Jay Rattino for sharing with us this interesting Article about the folk customs of Italian Catholics, and the efforts being made to preserve and revive them.

The Italian Catholic communities throughout New Jersey and the surrounding areas are filled with long-standing Traditions, and there are renewed efforts going on to revive the devotional customs brought to the U.S.A. by their ancestors.

For those unfamiliar with these practices, witnessing them can evoke both awe and confusion, often prompting the question: “What exactly is this ?”

Many of these Traditions fall under the umbrella of Catholic folk piety, which Gregory DiPippo defines as “devotional customs and practices which have arisen spontaneously among the people, and not from the Church’s official rites.”

Phillip Campbell, in a video for Unam Sanctam Catholicam, further reflects on how these simple acts express profound theological truths.

A great example — recently highlighted in an article on New Liturgical Movement — comes from Dr. Peter Kwasniewski’s Pilgrimage to Catania, Sicily.

The Patroness of the Town is Saint Agatha, who endured multiple tortures, including the cutting off of her breasts. During her Feast, which spans three days, Dr. Kwasniewski witnessed “countless individual candles,” “hundreds of devotees wearing White garments and medallions,” a “giant Silver Reliquary,” depictions of Saint Agatha in prison, and more.

The picture of an entire City embracing its Patroness with such dramatic public devotion is striking. This is a vivid and moving example of Catholic folk piety in action.

The Italian immigrants who came to The United States brought with them many of these folk devotions, and while they may not be on quite so grand a scale in New Jersey — or in The United States as a whole — one can still see traces of them, which we can perhaps also think of as seeds read to sprout again.

The St. Rocco Society of Fort Lee carries their Saint in a Traditional Procession, but, at one point, they begin to run — a joyful Tradition known as The Running Of The Saint, which traces its origins back to their hometown in Italy.

These Traditions (and many more) are alive — some thriving more than others, comparable to a pilot light: Steady and quietly burning.

But, recently, that pilot light has been turned up to full blast, thanks to a fresh wave of energy from young people involved in the Italian Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Newark.