On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Guardia di Finanza, at the headquarters of the Fiamme Gialle of the Naval Sector, the Rector of the Basilica of Bari, fr. Giovanni Distante Op, together with Father Tommaso Chirizzi, Military Chaplain of the Puglia Regional Command of the Guardia di Finanza, he presided over the Eucharistic Celebration which introduces the nine-year anniversary of the initiatives organized for the 937th Anniversary of the Translation of Saint Nicholas.
In the presence of the highest city authorities as well as a large number of faithful, a votive shrine was also blessed that the sea financiers wanted to erect in their barracks in devotion to the Holy Protector of sailors.
The traditional celebration of the people, who greeted their Patron Saint on the shoulders of the bearers of the “San Nicola” Organizing Committee and of some Fiamme Gialle, had its culmination with the drawing of the two fishing boats whose crews and owners will have the honor to embark on board, on 7 and 8 May, respectively, the Painting and the Statue of the Saint. At the end of the Eucharistic Celebration, the Puglia Regional Commander, Division General Fabrizio Toscano, heartily thanked the Rector of the Basilica of Bari for having accepted the invitation made by the Fiamme Gialle of Bari to celebrate the two and a half centuries of history of the Corps with the presence of the Patron Saint of the Metropolitan City at the Vitiello Barracks in Bari.
Accompanied by timpanists and flag-wavers on the music of the “G. Band Concerto”. Bastiani – Lella” of Bitonto (Ba) and of the Fanfare of the Legion of Students of the Guardia di Finanza of Bari, the statue of San Nicola, having left the port, was carried in procession through the streets of the Old City until it returned to the Basilica.
