THE ROMAN GOD JANUS

 

January, the first month of the year, is named after the Roman god, Janus. He has two faces, one looking back at the past and another looking forward to the future, indicating the continual process of time. Understandingly, he was also the god of doors and gates. In Roman cities they depicted him with two faces at the gates, with one side bearded and the other clean-shaven indicating age and youth. In some locales they depicted him with having four faces, signifying him as an omniscient (all knowing) god and one that no one can hide from. Besides having the first month of the year named after him, followers built many temples in his honor; they also referred to him as Janus Gemini, meaning Janus the twins, since he had two faces. The people believed in him as the protector of the city.

 Ancient legend states he originally came from Thessaly, which is located in the Eastern portion of modern Greece He settled in Latium and was welcomed by a young female resident, Camese, whom he later married. They had many children, one they named Tiberinus, who became the god of the Tiber River for whom the Romans named it. Janus was the first king of the Latins, and his reign historians describe as a Golden Age. He introduced money, laws and the cultivation of the fields. It was only after his death that the Romans deified him as protector of the city.

When Camese died, he was the sole ruler. He later married Juturna a water nymph and had another son, Fontus, who is the god of fountains or springs.  One was located in the Roman Forum and the shrine to his mother is located where it once flowed―Lacus Juturnae. 

Recipe for Ceci Bread

1 lb of unbleached flour

Two rounded tblspns of whole wheat flour

6 ounces of ceci flour

Salt to taste

1 ½ cups of warm water

1 pkg of yeast

One chopped medium size onion (and/or you can also put chopped olives of your liking)

Add the yeast to the water and allow it to froth, mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and when the yeast is ready pour into the electric mixer bowl and add half the dry mix and beat for three minutes on high, then slowly add the rest of the dry ingredients. The dough should now be firm and sticky. Remove it and put on a floured surface and add a little flour at a time and knead until it achieves a nice non sticky consistency, now add the chopped onions or olives and knead that into the dough. Place into an oiled bowl, cover and allow to raise until double.  Carefully dump onto a cooking pan and bake at 375° for 30 to 40 minutes. After 30 min. check with wooden skewer, if it comes out dry it is done.

THE CEPPO OR TREE OF LIGHT

 

The Ceppo (chayp-poe) or Tree of light dates back to the 1500s in Tuscany, Italy. In pagan times, the Tuscans burned a log to commemorate the calends. The calends are the first day of the month. A major event concerning the burning of the Ceppo was at the end of December, in anticipation of the Calend of January. The people attached festivities to the event as the people of England did in the Yule log celebrations and in today’s New Year’s Eve parties. In another holiday, the Festa di San Giuseppe, the celebrants light fires to venerate the Saint the night before his feast day. These fires are visible from afar as sparkling stars through some of the mountainous areas of Italy.

 In Italian Ceppo means stump or log, similarly in modern times often when builders of homes put the rafters of the roof on a new house, carpenters frequently place a branch at the peak of the work until the job is finished. This is in recognition of Jupiter, the god of all gods, whose sacred tree was the oak. Because of this some considered the calends’ fires as a pagan ritual. 

In Rome, the future St. Boniface, with permission of Pope Zachary, abolished the burning of the Ceppo. Many accept that the people replaced it by building a facsimile of a tree from wood. The new Ceppo consists of tiered graduating shelves constructed around a shaft, the largest being at the bottom, and the smallest at the top. The shelves are painted and/or covered with colored paper or cloth on which are placed figurines representing Christmas. Usually the first level has the nativity scene and the above levels, greenery, fruit and other decorations. Lights are also used. 

The people of Italy still use the Ceppo, but many are adopting green artificial trees in it stead. During the holidays the Italians emphasize the nativity scene and the celebrating of Christmas Day as a concentration on Christ. Gift giving comes later during the Epiphany, i.e., the Wise men finding Christ and bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Consequently, this developed into gift giving among family, friends, and to charities.

It is interesting to note that the word Ceppo derived from the Latin word cippium, which were stone stump shaped landmarks, marking distances on the ancient Roman Highways.

 

 

 

THE MINORCAN EXPERIENCE

 

An early Italian Immigration Happening

St. Augustine, Florida

 

In 1763 Spain lost Cuba to the English during the Seven Years War. It ended with the Treaty of Paris. In that treaty, England ceded Cuba back to Spain in exchange for the Spanish territory of Florida.

A Scotsman, Dr. Andrew Turnbull, and two other business men, invested in an adventure to develop a colony in what is now New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Dr. Turnbull, in recognition of the warmer climate, believed that Mediterranean people would be better suited to settling there. Consequently, he ventured to Italy, Corsica, Turkey, and to Greece, where he formerly was the British consul at Smyrna to the Ottoman Empire. His intent was to entice individuals to contract for indentured servitude. The lure was that each individual would receive fifty acres of land upon completion of their tenure. The length of servitude was six to eight years.

The amount of Italians recruited was 110; Corsicans 210, and a handful of Greeks and Turks. The rest were Minorcans, who, at the time, were under British rule. Outside of the Minorcans, the Italians were the first recruitments and Dr. Turnbull had them transported to Mahon, Minorca while he sailed to Greece and Turkey to recruit more people. During his tenure in Greece as consul he met and married a woman from Smyrna, hence the name―New Smyrna Beach.

He boarded the Italians on farms until the time for their departure to the New World. Some of them waited over a year and in the meantime many married local women. When Dr. Turnbull returned to Mahon, the signees asked permission to bring their wives.

The initial amount of persons that he intended to indenture was six hundred and sixty, but now, since there were wives, presumably, he was getting two for one. He granted them permission and in 1768 eight ships left Mahon with 1400 passengers. During the trip three births occurred and one hundred and forty-eight people died. Four ships became lost on the trip delaying their arrival by a month.

Father Pedro Camps, the priest for the flock accompanied them to and in New Smyrna and in St. Augustine. Father Camps was a highly dedicated individual who tended to his flock with the utmost care. It is because of him that there is an abundance of information about the “Minorqueños,” available. He recorded all the births, baptisms and deaths into what many refer to as, “The Golden Book of the Minorcans”. The original book is still extant and in good condition. Several handwritten copies are on file in the Historical Library in St. Augustine. The name of the colony was Les Mesquite.

The state of affairs in were harsh. Dr. Turnbull and his overseers were cruel and kept those who survived the rigors of the settlement beyond their servitude. Conditions were so bad that nine hundred and thirty individuals died before the end. During the first year four hundred and fifty perished. However, due to births, the number that made it to St. Augustine was six hundred. Of the original 1400 only two hundred and ninety-one survived.

Captives Ramon Rogero, Francisco Pellicer, and Juan Genoply (Genopoli) clandestinely built a make-shift boat, escaped and set sail to reach to St. Augustine to tell the governor of the conditions at the colony. En route a passing ship rescued them and took them to Baltimore. Once there they continued their journey to St. Augustine by horseback and on foot. Upon arrival in St. Augustine they met with the British Governor Tonyn and explained the conditions at New Smyrna. The governor had an investigation conducted with the findings that the colony was in deplorable conditions and the people were enslaved.

He freed and removed them en masse in a seventy-five mile march to St. Augustine in July of 1777.The trek took three days. Records of the investigation still exist. Seven years later the 1783 Treaty of Paris returned Florida Spain

 Some descendant names of the Italian survivors that made it to St. Augustine are Usina, Pacetti (Paxetty, Pachetty, Paxity, etc.) Capo, Canova, Bonelli (Bonelly), Mascaro, Mariano, Manusi, Trotti. Two famous Minorcan descendants are Judy Canova and Stephen Vincent Benét. Originally, his name had no accent. His grandfather, who was from St. Augustine was Stephen Vincent Benet, General U.S Army. His father was Esteve Benet from the Isle of Minorca, arriving in New Smyrna Colony in 1768.

 

Below is a picture of the Oldest Wooden School House in the United States. Juan Genopoly (Giovanni Genopoli) built it.

RAPHAEL

(Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)

 

Raffaello’s last name appears in both spellings; however, he and his works are so famous that people know him simply as Raphael or in Italian as Raffaello. Similar to Michelangelo whose last name is Buonarotti, and Giotto, whose is Di Bondone. Raphael is famous for many Madonna and Child paintings, he did during the Italian Renaissance.

Raphael was born in Urbino on the twenty-eighth of March or the sixth of April 1483, the uncertainty derives from a tomb inscription by Pietro Bembo which states that Raphael died on the same day of the year that he was born―Good Friday. But, in 1483, Good Friday fell on twenty-eighth of March.

Raphael’s father, Giovanni, Sanzio was an artist who worked for the ruler of Urbino―Guidobaldo da Montefeltro and his wife Elisabetta Gonzaga. Giovanni taught his son the rudiments of painting and when he was old enough, he sent him to a school in Perugia. Here he was under the tutelage of Pietro Perugino, a highly regarded artist who apprenticed with Leonardo da Vinci, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Fillipino Lippi, and others.

Within a year Raphael was an artist on his own merit. His first painting, at the age of nineteen was, “The Portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga” (1502 Oil on canvas presently at the Galleria degli Uffizi, in Florence). He painted a number of Madonna and Child canvases with equal charm. Eighteen different cities in Europe and the United States claim ownership to some of his paintings. Five are at the National Gallery of Art in Washington; D.C.: The Alba Madonna, The Niccolini―Cowper Madonna, The Small Cowper Madonna, Saint George and the Dragon, and Bindo Altoviti.

Raphael, unfortunately, for us, after a two week illness in the prime of his life at the age of thirty-seven died on his birthday in 1520, in Rome. While ill Pope Leo X visited him daily. On his tombstone are the words, “This is Raphael’s tomb. While he lived, Nature feared his victory; when he died, that it would die with him.”

One outstanding aspect of him was his ability to synthesize the styles of other artists into his own productions; thereby keeping, expressing, and emphasizing the genre of his epoch. He was a person held in very high regard by his peers. Giorgio Vasari, a painter, architect, writer, historian, and a contemporary of Raphael, wrote, “With what liberality heaven can occasionally pour out the whole wealth of its treasures, all talents and outstanding skills, into a single person is clearly evident in Raffaello Sanzio of Urbino, who stood out as much for his rare personal charisma as for his unique genius.”  Below is the Alba Madonna, a self portrait, he is in the background, and The School of Athens, and the web sites for viewing his works. At www.galleriabroghese.it, www.vatican.va, www.aberoma.com (Villa Farnese)

MONONGAH MINING DISASTER

 

Immigration to America has been a subject of concern for a long time, even though the laborious tasks performed by them and others built this country into what it is today. Most engaged and are engaging in works that others disdain or reject and consequently, subject themselves to greater risks to their health and well-being as demonstrated in this article.  

The disaster occurred on December 6, 1907. It relates to our subject matter of Everything Italian and Italian American because most of the victims were Italian immigrants. It occurred in Monongah, West Virginia and historically was the worst mining catastrophe of the century. The tragedy was the result of a series of explosions and fires that wrecked two large coal mines, No. 6 and 8, of the Fairmont Coal Company, which was a constituent of the Consolidation Coal Company of Maryland.  The land at which the mines were located, the company leased from ex-Kentucky State Senator Johnson Newlon Camden, originally from Parkersburg, West Virginia.   Of the 362 killed in the explosion, 171 were Italians, the rest represented various ethnic groups, Slavs, Poles, Greeks (5) Blacks (11) and Anglos. Other figures extend upwards to a loss of 500, since many of the miners took their children to work with them, indicating piece work, the more coal you gather the more you make.

The disaster left 250 widows and more than 1,000 children fatherless.  For that day and age we can easily imagine the burden of the wives to support their children and make their way. Most, we can conjecture, were unable to speak English, or able to read or write. Nevertheless, the response of society to the disaster resulted in significant aid to the families from churches, charitable organizations, and people in general. A monument from the Italian government recognizes the strong communal response.

The Italian victims were mainly from San Giovanni in Fiore, Cosenza, Calabria and the region of Molise. In San Giovanni in Fiore, the residents in 2003 to commemorate the explosion, erected a memorial with the inscription “Per non dimenticare minatore calabrese morti nel West Virginia (USA). Il sacrificio di quegli uomini forti tempri le nuove generazione.”

The Italians in Molise presented a bell to the town of Monongah, which today sits in the town square next to a statue representing the widows of the victims.

The picture of the polished black megalith erected at the Mt. Calvary Cemetery in 2006 by the Italian government as a reminder of the catastrophe, sits next to small markers under which are the partial remains of unidentified victims.

Below are pictures of Monument in San Giovanni in Fiore, the bell from Molise, and the statue commemorating the wives of the victims.

 

http://www.wvculture.org/HISTORY/disasters/monongah03.html. (West Virginia Archives and History)

http://www.historyinsidepictures.com/Pages/MonongahMineDisasterTombstonesinlocalgraveyardsorcemeteries.aspx.

 

addendum

 

The disaster brought about significant attention to immigration. Anti-immigration forces date back many years, beginning with the great Irish immigration of the 1850s on. The forces grew stronger seeking to only allow middle class, professional and skilled immigrants mainly of the Protestant faith. The development of the steam ship was instrumental in providing affordable passage for many immigrants. This increased the flow from southern and Eastern Europe. Most of these people were illiterate and peasants. Something of which the anti-immigrant forces highly disapproved.

 

In an article in Charities and The Commons, (a weekly journal published in New York in the years of 1905/06-1909) under the title of “The Effect of Emigration Upon Italy, Threatened Depopulation of the South,” Antonio Magano pointed out: “While we, in America, are considering the restriction of immigration by means of an educational test, the Italian parliament has spent several sessions discussing the possibility of forbidding the emigration of those who cannot read and write.  This would leave the educated classes free to emigrate, but would greatly restrict the emigration of the southern peasants who are needed to till the fields.  Only last March, one of the members of Parliament pointed out the fact that emigration, if it continued at the present rate, would surely prove a severe injury to the country.  Mr. Celsea said:”

'The exodus of our people threatens to be in the near future far and beyond that which we believe and threatens to absorb that gradual increment of population which for some years past had been our pride.  Allow me to remind you that tour emigration from 88,000 in 1886, from 503,000 in 1903, enormously increased in 1905 to 726,000.  During the first half of this year (up to March), the number is 458,000, a tremendous increase over 1905.  Alongside of this fearful increase in emigration is the decrease in the number of those who return.  For if in 1905, 78 per cent returned, in 1906, only 23 or 28 per cent. In the southern provinces, we found almost universal desire to emigrate.'"

ROCKY MARCIANO

 

Rocky was a famous pugilist, whose original name was Rocco Francis Marchegiano. He is noted as being the only world heavyweight champion to retain his title throughout his career. It lasted from the twenty-third of September, 1952 until the twenty-seventh of April, 1956.

Rocky was born on the first of September, 1923, and reared in Brockton, Massachusetts. His father Pierino and his mother, Pasqualina Picciuto were immigrants from Abruzzo and Campania, respectively. Rocky had three sisters and a younger brother. Rocky was active in sports in high school, mainly baseball and later weightlifting. He was a client of the famous Italian American Charles Atlas (Angelo Siciliano). Rocky also toyed with boxing and had a makeshift punching bag that he hung from a tree in the backyard of their home. He quit school in the tenth grade and supported himself and helping the family by doing odd jobs.

 In 1943, at the age of twenty, the army drafted him and assigned him to Swansea, in Wales, England. His duties involved transporting supplies to the mainland. On his return to the U.S., while awaiting discharge, he did amateur boxing for the army and won the 1946, Amateur Armed Forces Tournament. Throughout his army stint he continued to keep an interest in baseball and boxing. He fought as an amateur boxer until 1947, when he fought Lee Epperson, as a professional. He knocked him out in three rounds.

Afterward he returned to amateur boxing in the Golden Gloves’ League. He won the bulk of his engagements, except for one which he lost to Coley Wallace. In a later knockout bout, he hurt his hand and turned his attention to baseball. He went to Fayetteville, North Carolina to try out for a farm team. He lasted three weeks before they cut him from the players. He returned to professional pugilism, and in his first bout on the twelfth of July 1948, he won over Harry Bilizarian by a knockout.  It was uphill from there. Rocky won his first sixteen bouts by knockouts, each before the fifth round and another nine before the first round finished. Some of his most notable competitors were, Marciano v. La Starza, Red Applegate, Rex Lane, Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles, and his most famous, Jersey Joe Wolcott, in September of 1952.

In this bout, Joe was the defender of the Championship Heavyweight Crown. Rocky was losing the match. The scores were all in Jersey Joe’s favor. The bout continued for thirteen rounds when in that round Rocky gave Joe his famous Susie Q, a left hook from which Jersey Joe slumped to the floor. Marciano was now the champion. This final round is available on U-tube at www.rockymarciano.net.

Rocky continued to fight, maintaining the crown and fought his last bout, on the twenty-first of September, 1955, when he fought for his third time at the Yankee Stadium against Archie Moore. He knocked him out in the ninth round. He officially retired on the twenty-seventh of April 1956.

Rocky lost his life on the thirty-first of August, 1969, in a plane crash at the age of forty-nine. In Abruzzo, Italy there is a statue of him in a boxing stance with the inscription―A ROCKY MARCIANO-CAMPIONE DEL MONDO-I CITTADINI DI RIPA TEATINA. (Rocky Marciano Champion of the World, from the citizens of Ripa Teatina)

 

 

CHRISOTPHER COLUMBUS

First Voyage

In celebration of the discovery of the Americas for the Europeans, here are a few short synopses of Columbus’ trips. I say the discovery for the Europeans simply because there were people here for a very long time prior to their arrival. Christopher Columbus made four trips to the Americas. The first took place in 1492. He left Spain with three ships in August of that year. He sailed to the Canary Islands; did necessary repairs, loaded his ships with fresh water, fruits and vegetables and sailed off into the unknown on September 6th. He arrived sometime around the 12thof October, landing at what they named Hispaniola, which is modern day Dominican Republic and Haiti. Here they built a fort―Fuerte de la Navidad and when he returned to Spain, some crew members remained at the fort awaiting his return.

Second Voyage

Columbus set out on his second trip from Cadiz, Spain on September 25, 1493 with seventeen ships, 1,200 men and boys including sailors, soldiers, colonists, priests, government officials, gentlemen of the court and horses. The purpose of the trip was to establish colonies in the name of Spain, and to reunite with the crew members who had stayed at the fort.

Columbus also sought great riches in what he believed to be part of the Far East. On November 3rd the crew sighted another island which today is Dominica. Later, the discoverer of Florida, Juan Ponce de Leon, one of the passengers on this trip, became governor of the island. On November 27ththey reached Hispaniola. None of the crew members that remained survived. He ordered his men to destroy the fort and conquer the natives. He established the first colony in the new world, Santo Domingo and became the governor.

Third Voyage

Christopher returned to Cadiz on July 31st, 1496, and set sail again two years later on May 30th, 1498 for the New World. Six ships left Cadiz, making the usual stop at the Canary Islands, on this embarkation three ships sailed for Hispaniola and three, under the lead of Columbus, took a southerly route and thereby discovered the islands we know as Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, and Margarita. He thought he spotted another island but in fact saw the shore of South America. He returned to Hispaniola, arriving on the 31st of August, and found the colonists in rebellion and in dire need of food stuffs. Information of the conditions reached Spain and upon receiving the news the monarchs sent representatives to investigate. The representatives arrested Columbus and sent him back to Spain in chains. In October of 1500 Columbus, appeared before the royal couple, Ferdinand and Isabella, and vindicated himself.

Fourth Voyage

On May 9th, 1502 Columbus set sail with four ships and 150 crewmen, one being his thirteen year-old son Diego. They arrived in Hispaniola on June 29th and the colonist forbade him to disembark for fear he might stir up trouble in the colony. Five days later he departed to look for a way to the East, what he discovered instead, was present day Central America.

On January 6th, 1503 he anchored off the coast of Panama and sent a party ashore; they discovered gold in the area and built a trading post. The natives were not friendly and forced them to leave. Three ships left. The fourth was in such a dire condition that they had to abandon it.

The two other ships were in such a poor condition, that by June 25, 1503 the ships were no longer sailable and they hobbled to the shore of the island of Jamaica.

After landing, he procured canoes from the local Indians and sent sailors to Hispaniola, 160 miles away, for help. They safely made the trip, but out of spite, the royal governor delayed sending any assistance for a year. After his rescue, Columbus, disappointed at his failure to find a new route to the East, returned to Spain on November 7th, 1504. He settled with his family in Seville and awaited a royal summons from the king and queen which never came.

 

THE FAMILY OF CHRISTOPHER COLMBUS

Christopher Columbus had two sons, Diego and Fernando; Diego (1480-1526) was born in Portugal. His mother, Felipa Perestrelas Moriz, died when he was four years old. Fernando (1488–1539) was born in Spain. His mother was Doña Beatriz Enriquez de Arana, a lady of a noble family of Spain, whom Columbus loved deeply but never married. They remained together into their later years.

Diego was a favorite of his father, and accompanied Christopher on his last voyage to the Americas in 1502 along with Fernando, who was fourteen at the time. In 1498 Queen Isabella appointed Diego as one of her pages.

Columbus in his will (1505) left Diego an ample income, and which royal grants augmented. Historians conjecture that other family members were included since Christopher was to receive ten percent of the gold discovered from the diggings in Hispaniola. Columbus continued to add codicils to his will up until his death on May 20, 1506 at the age of 54.

Later, when Diego obtained confirmation of the privileges originally conceded to his father; Viceroy of the newly discovered lands, he sailed to Santo Domingo in 1509 as Admiral of the Indies and Governor of Hispaniola. Diego arrived to open opposition to his appointment. He replaced Juan Ponce de Leon, much to Juan’s displeasure. Afterward, while looking for the island of Bimini, Juan discovered Florida

Despite the opposition, Diego remained performing his position well. He returned to Spain in 1520 and the king and queen favorably received him. After a short stay he returned to Santo Domingo, only to have to return to Spain two years later to answer trumped-up charges against him. He spent the rest of his life in legal suits, against the royal treasury and suits against him by other heirs.

Fernando went to Hispaniola with his brother and after a few months returned to Spain where he lived the rest of this life. He had a good income from his estate and became a writer. He wrote about his father’s adventures and was a bibliographer and cosmographer, developing a library of 1,500 books. His writings are a significant source on the history of his father’s travels.

Christopher had two brothers Bartolomeo, his senior and Diego his junior. Both accompanied him on his journeys and both died in Santo Domingo. Bartolomeo was very active in working with Christopher. He tried unsuccessfully to get the British Crown and France to take an interest in Christopher’s quest for the East before the Spanish royalty assented. Diego was not as active, but accompanied Christopher on his second voyage and all three returned to Spain in chains. After exoneration of the charges brought against them, Diego became a priest and returned to Santo Domingo where he died in 1509.

These men were exceedingly brave. None of the trips that Columbus made were without strife. Some of them were exceedingly horrible. The contending with unpredictable weather conditions, worm-eaten boats, rotten food, illnesses, native discontent, mutinies, internecine violence and jealousies, demonstrate significant mettle of all of those involved. Yet, with all of these problems on the sea, at home, and in and about the new land they continued their quest to find the East (Asia).

Pictures are of Columbus and Doña Beatriz Enirquez de Arana, his brother Don Bartolomeo and his son Fernando.

THE FEAST OF SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

La Festa di San Michele Il Arcangelo

A personal Experience of the Author

 

In 1950, a family contracted my father to build a shrine to St. Lucy at the St. Michael’s Grove in Paterson, N.J. After he finished it, he wanted to show my mother and me his work along with attending a religious feast in progress at the grove. Mom was up to going so they went with me in tow. I was fourteen years old at the time.

Italian feasts are wonderful experiences, and this one was the most impressive I ever attended. It was sometime in September of that year, the weather was still warm and we wore summer clothes. When we pulled into the place, there was a large flat parking lot next to a sizeable beer garden. From the parking lot and the beer garden, the land went uphill.  On the slope of the hill were many trees amongst which were small shrines dedicated to different saints. These were all personal shrines. The road on which we entered continued to the peak of the hill stopping at a small parking lot next to a white chapel with a steeple and a bell. The bell rang all day because anyone at any time could pull the cord, which many children did. We were welcomed to the grounds by the ringing of the bell. At the bottom of the slope were picnic tables, a beer garden, food concessions, and midway up the slope was a little flat bunker, with a number of picnic tables close to it. One of the most beautiful activities I ever witnessed in my life took place there.

When we arrived we walked directly to the shrine my father built; the family that contracted him was there and a priest to give a blessing. When we entered I noted there were six pews, three on each side with a narrow aisle in the middle. At the end of the aisle was an altar on which stood a life size statue of St. Lucy, the patron saint of eyesight. I saw many religious statues before in my life, but never one like this. I was in awe for the statue was of a woman, dressed in a long robe and hood. The color of the robe was similar to the garb of Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, which tends to be in shades of blue. The statue had her right arm extended and in her hand was a plate with two blue eyes on it. I didn't know what to make of it. As we entered we all genuflected and moved into the pews. The priest stood at the small altar, he said a few words and then he gave the blessing.

I learned that in the family someone had an eye illness and they prayed to St. Lucy and she answered their prayers. Afterward, I walked the grounds, and I went up to the chapel, children were ringing the bell, and I rang it a few times myself.  The big event was yet to come. As I was coming down the hill, I heard Italian music, and over at the flat bunker were men playing Italian musical instruments and on the bunker was a young dark skinned girl, with long black hair dressed in a brown knee-length pullover dress, barefoot, and dancing the tarantella. She twirled, clicked her fingers, and kicked her feet with such ardor that dust rose around her adding to the allure of the attraction. People were standing nearby clapping their hands to the rhythm. I was spell bound. It was so vivid I can still see her dancing until this day.

When she finished there was a loud clamor from loudspeaker, telling the people in Italian the next event was about to occur. People rushed to the center of the grove, and soon I heard a grinding noise coming from above, I raised my eyes to it and saw a cable that had suspended from it a little boy dressed as St. Michael with wings attached to his back. He was singing in Latin and blessing all those beneath him.  As he passed over the people, those below him, fell to their knees, rolled their eyes in ecstasy, and howled. Some of the women that were on their knees beat their breasts, and threw the dusty dirt upon themselves, as if it they were ashes for cleansing of the soul.  When he arrived at the thickest part of the crowd the people emitted a greater uproar. The cable men then slowly pulled him away as he waved and in Latin blessed everyone. Soon after, there was another clamor; four men, carrying a platform with the statue of St. Mary in a standing position entered the crowd with a small band playing traditional Italian music appropriate for the scene. Blue ribbons were streaming from the shoulders of the statue. The crowd was thick, people were pushing to get close to the statue to pin money on the ribbons and ask for forgiveness of sins. There was lots of money, no singles but mainly twenty dollar bills. After this we went to the beer garden, ate zeppole, and sausage and pepper sandwiches.

 

Below is a picture of a procession of St. Mary as Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal similar to what I experienced, following is a portrait of St. Lucy by Mackenzie Moran on Prezi and St. Michael the Archangel from a 13^th Century Byzantine icon from the Monastery of

St. Catherine, Sinai. (Wikipedia) and The Alba Madonna – St. Mary by Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520)

 THE TOWN OF ALBERO BELLO

 

Albero Bello is a town of 11,000 people in the province of Bari in the region of Puglia, Italy. Interestingly, the words, albero and bello, mean pretty tree or pretty poplar tree. The town is famous for its unique style of buildings called trulli, singular trullo. These are dry-stone buildings with cone-shaped stone roofs. The history of building these structures dates back to 1200 BC, when the first wave of Indo-Europeans from the East settled there, developing into the following ancient Italic tribes; Veneti, Picinum, Umbrians,  Latins, Osci, Messapi, and Greeks. The Messapi settled in the area of Puglia. Linguistics conjecture that the word trullo derived from the Greek word tholos, because in Mycenea there are conical tombs called tholos. Mycenea is located across the Adriatic Sea from Italy and at the end of the Balkans where its shores are on the Ionian Sea. The civilization was of Greek origin.

The buildings are round and because of this either a very large one needs to be built to have various rooms in the interior. But, instead of doing that for each additional room they build a separate attached trullo. During the summer they are comfortable given that hot air rises; however, in the winter they are difficult to heat for the same reason. The trulli exist throughout the region in a number of different towns and are very popular tourist attractions to Italians. They tend to be the most frequent visitors to the area. Another main attraction is the making of pilgrimages to the Basilica dedicated to Sts. Cosmas and Damiano in Albero Bello, twin brothers who were physicians and Christian martyrs of the 2nd century. (www.cahtolic.org)

GENERAL ANTHONY ZINNI

 

In an issue of National Italian American Federation (NIAF), in the section on, “Affiliate News to Use,” the magazine presented a short news quip concerning a fellow Italian American. General Zinni, a four-star general who retired in July 2000 after nearly 40 years of service. He was head of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, from 1997 to 2000, a position that included responsibility for twenty-five countries, ranging from the Horn of Africa and Egypt to the Arabian Peninsula and Central Asia. After retiring, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell named him special advisor in the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Zinni was born on the September 17, 1943 in Consohocken, Pennsylvania, where he lived during his formative years. His parents immigrated to the United States from Italy. His father gained citizenship by serving in the U.S. military. Many other members of the family had also been in the military both in the U.S. and abroad. The General attributes much of his orientation to military life from the fascinating stories he heard from family members.

For his higher education he attended Villanova University. On his first day on campus he saw the U. S. Marine Corp ROTC recruiting kiosk; he went to it and listened to their presentation. It stimulated an interest in him to enroll in their program.  It was a training course in Platoon leadership and would take place during the summers off campus. He attended and successfully completed the course and upon graduation from the University received the commission of second lieutenant.

After graduation he did two tours in Vietnam; his first ended from suffering serious cases of malaria, hepatitis, and mononucleosis. His second tour terminated due to wounds received in combat.

In an interview, following his experiences in Vietnam, he revealed many different things he learned. Those things concerned; the health of the soldiers, the use of and types of personal equipment needed by them, their training requirements, the impact of tour lengths and deployment techniques.

His decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; the Distinguished Service Medal; the Defense Superior Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; the Bronze Star with Combat 'V' and gold star in lieu of a second award; the Purple Heart; the Meritorious Service Medal with gold star; the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat 'V' and gold star; Navy Achievement Medal with gold star; the Combat Action Ribbon; and personal decorations from South Vietnam, France, Italy, Egypt, Kuwait, Yemen and Bahrain.

In regard to his appointment by Colin Powell as special advisor, no one was surprised given his qualifications. He has served in the Near East region for almost a decade, including four years as an U.S. military commander. The former General knows the area well. To prepare for his duties as head of the U.S. Central Command, Zinni studied Arabic and Middle East history and politics. During his career he attended The Basic School of Army Special Warfare, The Amphibious Warfare School, The Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and The National War College. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, and master’s degree in management and supervision, and international relations. Also see http://generalzinni.homestead.com/Zinni_Bio.html.

CONSTANTINO BRUMIDI

 

Constantino Brumidi (1805-1877) was one of the early Italian immigrants to this country, arriving in 1852. He was born and lived in Rome. His father was Greek, Stauro Brumidi, and his mother Italian, Anna Maria Bianchini. He studied at the Italian Academy of Arts, and he worked at the Vatican to restore works of art along with Domenico Tojetti (See a following article). In 1832 at the age of twenty-seven, Brumidi married a widow, Maria Covaluzzi.  They had a daughter, Maria Elena Assunta Fortunata. Unfortunately, five years later Maria and his mother died within ten months of each other. The following year he married again, to Anna Rovelli, they had a son, Giuseppe Antonio Raffaello. In 1852 he left Rome, leaving his wife and two children, a ten and a twenty year old behind. In 1860, Brumidi married an American by the name of Lola Germon. The literature indicates he had a continuing relationship with Elena.

It appears he was seeking political refuge when he came to the United States. In any event, he became an U.S. citizen two years after his arrival. Brumidi is famous for what many consider to be the greatest interior decorative art in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. He began his work in 1855 and continued for 25 years, almost until his death.

His work was not without controversy. When he received the commission to do the decorative work for the Capitol, Know-Nothing-ism was in its heyday and many of the supporters of this philosophy did not want any foreigners to even compete for the position. Some were critical in terms of his work as not being “republic,” that is, not simplistic; it was too ornate. Nevertheless, others recognized him as an excellent artist and the U.S. Government employed him to do the artwork in the Capitol.

In the twenty-five year period that he worked, Brumidi painted scores of frescoes. Three works that are the most noteworthy are: The Apotheosis (glorification of George Washington), which appears in the Capitol dome Rotunda; paintings on the walls of the Senate corridor, also known as the Brumidi Corridor, and the frieze of the Capitol dome. His untimely death prevented completion of the frieze. Beforehand, he had completed the drawings of epic events in American history for the rest of the frieze, which were: the landing of Columbus, William Penn’s treaty with the Indian, the great battles of the Revolution, the discovery of gold in California, and more. He also did other paintings and frescoes in the House of Representatives Chambers, in many committee rooms, in the President’s Room, in the Senate Reception Room and numerous others in the Capitol building.

It is reported that upon arriving in America, he said, “I have no longer any desire for fame or fortune. My one ambition and my daily prayers are that I may live long enough to make beautiful, the Capitol of the one country on earth in which there is liberty.”

The truth to that is questionable; however, we do have an indication of his pride in being a citizen of the United States, since in his painting,   Cornwallis Sues for Cessation of Hostilities Under the Flag of Truce, he signed it with C. Brumidi, Artist, Citizen of the U.S.

His reputation waxed and waned over the years, in fact, for more than one hundred years his grave in Washington was unmarked and unadorned. One would not know of him or his work unless one visited the Capitol or read books about the construction and development of the Capitol building.

One day while working on the frieze of major events in American history in the Capitol dome, he slipped on the scaffolding and clung to it for 20 minutes until someone arrived to help him. He was never able to do any more work and died four months later on February 19, 1880. He had completed thirty-five percent of the frieze. Filippo Costaggini, an artist from Rome, continued it, using Brumidi’s sketches, except for a thirty-two-foot section, of which there was an earlier miscalculation. Costaggini applied to congress to finish it, but he died before Congress could act. Muralist for three corridors of the House Representatives, Allyn Cox completed the frieze in 1953.

THE CITY OF VENEZIA

 

Venice, the Italian name being Venezia and the Latin, Venexia, is the capital of the region of Veneto. The region has an approximate population of 270,000 people and the city itself around 62,000.  The city is located at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea and consists of the mainland, called Terrafirma, (firm land) and 118 islands, with 150 canals in a shallow lagoon and 400 bridges. The Italians built a causeway from the mainland to Venice in 1930, under the administration of Benito Mussolini. One can now travel to the city by train or car. However, any further travel is by foot or boat. The Venetian community is a part of the islands stretching from the Po River estuary to the city

Venice is the largest urban- car-free area in Europe. The most famous form of traveling in Venice is by Gondola, but this form of travel is limited to tourists, funerals, and other ceremonies. People, who live and work there, travel by a vaporetto (similar to a city bus) or a traghetto, a large foot passenger ferry that crosses the Grand Canal at certain locations. Interestingly, the name of the Rialto Bridge stretching over the Canal is a contraction of riva-alto, high bridge from shore to shore.

Some historians conjecture that the city developed from an influx of people fleeing from the invasions of German tribes, the Quadi and Marcomanni, to the estuary of the Po River, in the years of 166-168 AD. The legendary origins of the city relate that Roman refugees escaping from the Goths founded Venice in 422 AD.

 After the overthrow of the Roman defenses by the Goths in the fifth century, some fifty years later, Attila the Hun invaded Italy. However, the longest and most enduring conquerors were the Lombards, a German tribe who came in 568 and fought the Byzantines, the eastern Roman Empire legions, and took under their control many of the islands.  The original Italian name of the Lombards was Longobardi, meaning those of the long beards.

After the Lombards ceased their encroachment, a small strip island, Malamocco, in the Venetian lagoon, remained under Byzantine power. It was the seat of the local Byzantine governor, the Doge. In 811-827 AD the prestige of the new city increased significantly with the theft of the Evangelist St. Mark’s relics, from Myra, Turkey during the Ottoman Empire incursion.  The Saint was originally from Alexandria, Egypt. The people placed these relics in a recently built basilica. As the town developed and the Byzantine power declined an independent character emerged, leading to autonomy and eventual independence as a Maritime Republic she was La Serenissima Repúbblica Véneta.

 

LA SERENISSIMA REPÚBBLICA VÉNETA

 

The title to this extension is the Venetian dialect form, in Italian it is La Repubblica di Venezia. Serenissima means most serene and as a republic it existed from the eighth to the eighteenth century AD. Its beginnings as such were due to the fall of the Byzantine Empire. As it crumbled, Venice developed into a city-state or a marine republic during the ninth to the tenth century AD. Three other maritime republics were developing at the same time, Genoa, Amalfi, and Pisa. All became rivals of Venice and of each other.

Venice, in comparison to the others, was in a very unique position, the North end of the Adriatic Sea, which afforded it the opportunity to become a great land and sea power. She extended her holding to the North, East, West and South. The region Friuli-Venezia-Giulia till this day maintains the name of Venice in its descriptive label and to the West of Venice is a region called Veneto. The Republic of Venice extended west to Bergamo, south to the Po River, and north to what today is Austria and southeast to include the Peninsula of Istria, which today is part of Croatia.

As Venice expanded, she also acquired control of most of the islands in the Aegean Sea, including Cyprus and Crete. This they called the Duchy of the Archipelago. Venice was able to expand and become an imperial power by aiding in the Fourth Crusade 1201-1204 AD, whereby she accepted ships into her harbor from other cities and trained 33,500 soldiers and 3,500 horses for battle. Consequently, with her physical position on the Adriatic Sea, she also developed extensive trade with the Byzantines and the Moslems; thereby becoming the most prosperous city in Europe. During this time, Venice’s leading families vied with each other in building palaces, churches and other structures, creating a magnificent art filled city.

The Venetian government was, in some way, modeled after the republican form of government used in ancient Rome. It had an elected head of government, the Doge and an elected Senate, an assembly of nobles and many people of wealth.  The great council, consisted of up to two to three hundred individuals. This senate elected ten individuals who held the utmost power in administering the city; they were a secret group who were unknown to the population. This group selected one of their members as the Doge, who was a ceremonial head of city and held the position for life.

The religious circumstance of the people was orthodox Catholic in practice and belief. During the Counter Reformation period, even though the people were very devout, Venice had the recognition of having religious freedom and had not executed anyone for heresy. Due to their attitude the city had problems with the Popes and suffered an Interdict five times. (Interdict is a penalty imposed by the church that suspends public worship and withdraws the administering of the church’s sacraments from a country or territory.) The fifth one, imposed by Pope Julius II in 1509, is the most renowned.

When Napoleon conquered Venice on the twelfth of May 1797, it lost, after one-thousand and seventy years, its independence. Despite its reputation of religious freedom the Jews lived in ghettos and had other restrictions imposed on them. But when Napoleon came, he removed the restrictions against them and opened the doors of the Ghetto; thus, the Jews looked upon him as a liberator.

The Hebraic population traces its origins to their antecedent’s expulsion from Spain in 1492, when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued, The Alhambra Decree or The Edict of Expulsion, on the thirty-first of March 1492. It expelled all Hebrews from the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and all Spanish lands. These expellees became Sephardim―Sefarad, which is the Hebrew word for Spain. Interestingly, a recent draft of a law has been presented to the Spanish Cortes Generales which seeks to allow any Jew demonstrating that they are descendants of these Sephardim can apply for and receive dual Spanish citizenship. (See http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/sephardic-jews-eager-to-apply-for-spanish-citizenship/2014/02/17/e56978dc-9810-11e3-ae45-458927ccedb6_story.html. Or www.jpost.com/Jewish/-World/Jewish-Feature/Spain-grants. )

After the fall of Napoleon, Venice came under the rule of the Austrian Empire until 1866, when a plebiscite held on the twenty-second of October of that year resulted in Venice becoming a part of the unified Italy.  Below are photographs of the Piazza San Marco, The Doge's Palace 1340, and the Ponte Rialto.