IL SS. CROCEFISSO

 

The Festa del Crocefisso – Crucifix Celebration, is the oldest celebration of the city, and the wooden simulacrum, made by Fra’ Umile da Petralia, kept in the Mother Church and donated by duke Don Giuseppe Napoli e Barresi on the 23rd of May 1666 is greatly venerated; the population was proud of this gift and welcomed the statue with great enthusiasm, singing hymns thanking God and the duke. Today the festivities end with the procession of the crucifix which is carried on the shoulder in a procession on an artistic “vara” (a special plataform) by worshipers.