The sorrow of all mothers of the world in the heartbreaking “Hymn of Desolata” of Canosa

Pubblicato da: Redazione in #SudItalia365, English Articles, Puglia, Rubriche 1 Gennaio 2015

Puglia – Sacred procession of Desolata, Canosa (Bat) – Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

by Enzo Garofalo

In the heart of Puglia, every year, a really unique collective ritual is renewed. This is both an act of religious devotion but also a very human celebration of the incomparable feeling between a mother and her son: an ancient hymn, on the rhythm of a funeral march, sung by 360 women dressed in mourning (the highest number in recent years, achieved in 2013). Some of them are barefoot, all of them have their faces covered by a black veil: this is the touching procession of “Desolata” (the disconsolate) celebrated in Canosa di Puglia on the morning of Holy Saturday. The lyrics – taken from the Hymn of Desolata by Antonio Lotti (XVIIIth century) based on the Stabat Mater by Jacopone da Todi (XIIIth century) – contains a devotional sense of sharing Virgin Mary ‘ s sorrow, for the death of her son who sacrificed himself ad salvationem Hominis: “… Watching a son, a God | who suffer, who dies | what barbaric sorrow | that a mother never felt so hard…” is in fact one of the key-phrases of this hymn. The condition of the Son of Man, characteristic of the Christian God, identifies in the sorrow, caused by Death, the crucial point of contact between the Human and the Divine.

It ‘s a multifaceted feeling the one produced by this kind of sacred procession, advancing in absolute silence, interrupted only by the long song intoned on a shrill vocal register, except for the closing verse “that a mother … mother … never felt so hard” introduced by a pianissimo that has all the sweetness of maternal feeling, but immediately “pierced” by the final high note. A song that seems to incarnate the sense of the greatest tragedy that could affect a person in her life: the tragic event that can be wiped out only apparently, the devastating experience that hibernates the soul in the chill of annihilation.

The event, with the parade of women, all dressed in black, accompanying the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, also seems to recall a more lay dimension, almost like a Greek tragedy (let’s not forget that Canosa in ancient times was one of the most important cities of Magna Grecia), with the group of women ideally immersed into the role of the ancient theatrical choir, taking us back to the old tradition of funeral lamentations – started the Greek and Roman periods and survived in the Southern Italy until the middle of the XXth Century, it was about a female mourner usually accompanying the sorrow of the family of the dead person. These cultural influences, from a strictly liturgical point of view, need to be added up to other roots, those of the biblical Book of Lamentations in the Old Testament.

The Hymn of the Desolata accompanies the pace of women who begin their way at 9.00 AM from the Church of Saints Francesco and Biagio. The clarinetist Domenico Jannuzzi (1862-1929) from Canosa di Puglia wrote the music for the band and Maestro Mimmo Masotina conducted it for a long time. The sacred procession – that goes through the main streets of the town and then returns in the same church – is open by many little girls dressed like angels, taking in their hands the symbols of Christ’s passion: the crown of thorns, the ropes, the whips, the cane , the chalice, the dice, the pincers, the nails, etc. The statue of the Virgin Mary, inspired by the eighteenth-century painting of artist Giuseppe De Musso from Giovinazzo, representing Our Lady of Sorrows between San Filippo Neri and San Sabino, patron saint of Canosa, kept in the cathedral dedicated to him, follows just next.

The effigy carried in procession, represents the Mother of God dressed in mourning, petrified near the Cross, supported by a comforting angel, surrounded by red flowers and accompanied by the procession of women, dressed in black, arranged in multiple rows with their arms intertwined like a “chain”, with their faces covered by some black veils that in some cases reveal their faces. The emotion is tangible, sometimes the singing is mixed with tears and the statue of the Virgin Mary, almost a sister ‘in pectore’ for these women, seems to be transfigured into something vibrant and vital.

PHOTOGALLERY

Puglia - Part. della statua della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Gesto di devozione alla statua della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

I portatori della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Uno dei portatori della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La procesisone della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Part. della statua della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata sta per cominciare e le donne stanno per coprirsi il volto, Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Il Maestro Mimmo Masotina, che da 40 anni dirige il coro delle donne velate della processione della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata sta per cominciare e le donne stanno per coprirsi il volto, Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata, Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Il Maestro Mimmo Masotina dà l'attacco al coro delle donne velate della Desolata, Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Il Maestro Mimmo Masotina dirige il coro delle donne velate della Desolata, Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata col gruppo delle donne dolenti velate, Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata, Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Uomini alla processione della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Puglia - La processione della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Una grande folla assiste alla processione della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Crocifero, processione della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Corteo delle bambine alla processione della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Corteo delle bambine con i simboli della Passione, alla processione della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia

Corteo delle bambine con i simboli della Passione, alla processione della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Corteo delle bambine con i simboli della Passione, alla processione della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia

Piccoli crociferi alla processione della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Processione della Desolata, Canosa di Puglia. A destra, il cane Traky che ogni anno segue la processione della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Processione della Desolata, Canosa di Puglia. A sin. il cane Traky che ogni anno segue tutto il corteo - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata, a Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

La processione della Desolata, Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello

Il M° Mimmo Masotina dà l'attacco al gruppo delle donne dolenti velate, alla processione della Desolata di Canosa di Puglia - Ph. © Ferruccio Cornicello