Festa della Madonna della Consolazione 2023

Festa della Madonna della Consolazione 2023 will take place on Saturday, September 9, 2023, in Reggio Calabria.

Festa della Madonna della Consolazione (Feast of Our Lady of Consolation), also known as Festa di Santa Maria Madre della Consolazione, is the main religious celebration in Reggio Calabria, held every year in the second Saturday of September.

SHORT HISTORY

In 1532, the Capuchin friars moved to the current Basilica of the Hermitage (Basilica dell’Eremo), where at the time there was a small chapel dedicated to the Madonna della Consolazione, with a small effigy of the Virgin inside.

After he saw the new church of the convent, the noble Camillo Diano commissioned the painter Nicolò Andrea Capriolo for a new canvas, larger in size.

The painting, made by Capriolo in 1547, has a size of 129.5 centimeters in width and 135 centimeters in height. It depicts the Virgin seated on a throne holding baby Jesus, between Saint Francis and Saint Anthony of Padua. Above, two angels crown the Virgin.

The painting has a wooden frame covered in silver, weighs around 1000 kilograms, and is called the Vara. The first procession of the Vara through the streets of Reggio Calabria is dated to 1636.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

The feast will begin on the morning of September 9 with the procession of the Sacred Effigy. The Vara will be carried from the Basilica of the Hermitage, located in the upper part of the city, to the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the Cathedral of Reggio Calabria.

For the last part of the procession, from the beginning of Piazza del Duomo facing the steps of the cathedral, the bearers of the Vara will sprint under the weight of the immense effigy.

A second procession, which follows a path in the historical center of the city, will take place on the following Tuesday, September 12.