LA's San Gennaro Parade is
acknowledgeably only a slight whisper in comparison to
New York's. But it's a start.
I am pleasantly suprised that Los Angeles, the second largest City in the US (3.7 million, vs NYC 8 million) is having such a Parade. The number of Italians while numerically substantial (308,000 vs NYC's 1.8 million) are only 8% compared to NYC's 22%, and are extremely dispersed, having NO "Little Italy" or any geographical community that has a substantial % of Italian Americans!!!
So the fact that we are having the Second year of the Parade is noteworthy.
Also, the fact that the driving force behind the Parade is someone who is NOT Italian Surnamed, (but whose mother is Italian), is also surprising.
Did Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live) tap into a reservoir of "Italian" feeling that does not often have an opportunity to express itself, OR is this a reaction to all other Ethnic Groups "exhibiting" their Pride, in this New time of "Diversity", as opposed to the old theory of "Assimilation"?
Will this be the start of something BIG, or a short lived burst of enthusiasm?
Note: CHRIST THE KING CATHOLIC
CHURCH is located at 624 N. Rossmore Ave.
LA, CA 90004
(Rossmore Ave which bisects the Hancock Park area, turns into Vine St.
north of Santa Monica Blvd).
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ITALIAN
SAINT'S FESTIVAL LINKS HOLLYWOOD TO OLD WORLD
A
traditional church procession moves alongside the glitz of the Walk of
Fame.
Los
Angeles Times
By
Cara Mia DiMassa
Times
Staff Writer
September
21, 2003
The procession that snaked north on Vine Street on Saturday had the trappings of long-ago Europe. A crew of men, young and old, carried a golden bust of a Catholic saint on their shoulders. A stream of supplicants and brightly dressed priests trailed behind.
But the backdrop clearly was modern Los Angeles. Chaperoned by four police officers on bicycles, the procession passed a giant movie theater, the Capitol Records building and the Walk of Fame before stopping near the intersection of Hollywood and Vine.
In Italy, the days honoring patron saints of towns or villages are often marked with elaborate festivals and processions. Statues of the saints are draped in jewelry and paraded through streets, where they are welcomed with showers of rose petals and confetti.
The procession through Hollywood, and the Mass that preceded it, echoed those traditions, as does the Feast of Gennaro, a street celebration dedicated to all things Italian, being held this weekend on the streets of Hollywood.
New York's festival honoring San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples, draws at least a million people each year and is in its 75th year. This is the second event in Los Angeles.
At Mass, held at the Church of Christ the King in Hollywood, priests dedicated a chapel in honor of San Gennaro with incense and prayers.
Then a small group of men carried the golden statue of the saint into the sun- light, placed it on a wooden platform and readied it for travel.
Antonio Cacciapuoti, who presides over Christ the King Church, admonished the marchers to make sure that people along the route knew why the marchers were there.
Most important, he said, he wanted people to see "we're not making a movie in Hollywood — but it's real."
Italian
Saint's Festival Links Hollywood to Old World
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/
la-me-statue21sep21,1,1311818.story?coll=la-headlines-california
=======================================================
JANUARIUS,
ST, or SAN GENNARO, the patron saint of Naples.
According to the legend, he was bishop of Benevento, and flourished towards the close of the 3rd century. On the outbreak of the persecution by Diocletian and Maximian, he was taken to Nola and brought before Timotheus, governor of Campania, on account of his profession of the Christian religion.
After various assaults upon his constancy, he was sentenced to be cast into the fiery furnace, through which he passed wholly unharmed. On the following day, along with a number of fellow martyrs, he was exposed to the fury of wild beasts, which, however, laid themselves down in tame submission at his feet.
Timotheus, again pronouncing sentence of death, was struck with blindness, but immediately healed by the powerful intercession of the saint, a miracle which converted nearly five thousand men on the spot.
The ungrateful judge, only roused to further fury by these occurrences, caused the execution of Januarius by the sword to be forthwith carried out. The body was ultimately removed by the inhabitants of Naples to that city, where the relic became very famous for its miracles, especially in counteracting the more dangerous eruptions of Vesuvius.
Whatever the difficulties raised by his Ada, the cult of St Januarius, bishop and martyr, is attested historically at Naples as early as the 5th century (Biblioth. hagiog. latina, No. 6558). Two phials preserved in the cathedral are believed to contain the blood of the martyr. The relic is shown twice a year—in May and September. On these occasions the substance contained in the phial liquefies, and the Neapolitans see in this phenomenon a supernatural manifestation. The “ miracle of St Januarius” did not occur before the middle of the 15th century.
JANUARIUS,
ST, or SAN GENNARO
http://56.1911encyclopedia.org/J/JA/JANUARIUS_ST_or_SAN_GENNARO.htm
=======================================================
The
Miracle Of St Gennaro
By:
Karal Ayn Barnett c 1998 karalayn@aol.com
Twice yearly a miracle takes place in Italy when the dried blood of a fourth century Neopolitan patron saint, St.Gennaro, liquifies. For 600 years, the miracle of St Gennaro's blood has manifested on September 19 -- the saint's feast day -- and on the first Saturday in May, almost without fail. The blood is kept in a glass vial in the cathedral.
On September 19 and in May, the 3,000-member congregation prays for an hour. Then, if the blood has liquified, an aide to the cardinal waves a white handkerchief. On at least five occasions, when the dried blood failed to liquify, disaster struck. In 1527, 40,000 died from plague. In 1980, 3,000 died after an earthquake. Superstitious Neopolitans believe that when the blood does not perform to expectations, a calamity is due.
Though Italian scientists are certain the substance is blood, they cannot explain the conversion to liquid or the regularity of it. Historians claim no mention of the blood before 1389, more than 1,000 years after St Gennaro's death.
Karal
Ayn Barnett c1998 karalayn@aol.com http://www.jinglesweb.com/karal
=======================================================
[Feast
of San Gennaro] TIME TO PARTY!
http://www.feastofla.org/
FEAST
OF SAN GENNARO 2003
http://www.ctk-la.org/events/SanGennaro2003_announce.html