Following the events linked to the feast of San Ciriaco, “InCanto sulle Vie di Francesco” will arrive in Ancona on May 5th.
This is a special edition of a series of events that have been taking place in Umbria and throughout central Italy for 11 years, with the idea of retracing ancient Franciscan routes on foot while choirs, in some locations, await walkers and offer their singing performances. An initiative that could not fail to touch Ancona, a city rightly definable as the “port of San Francesco”, (given that the Saint left for the Holy Land from here in 1219), rich in history and spirituality, which therefore becomes, for the first time, a stage of this traveling event which falls within the celebrations for the eighth centenary of key events in the life of Saint Francis.
It is no coincidence that this event was desired by Committee of Celebrations for Saint Francis of Assisi (2023 – 2026), established in Ancona precisely to highlight the anniversaries linked to the Poverello of Assisi and made up of numerous and important city institutions and associations: the Franciscan Charitable Works Association (which presides over it), the Archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo , the Municipality of Ancona, the Port System Authority of the Central Adriatic Sea, Anci Marche, the Chamber of Commerce of the Marche, the Polytechnic University of the Marche and the non-profit organization “Provincia Picena S. Giacomo della Marca dei Frati Minors”.
Sunday 5 Maytherefore, thanks to InCanto there will be the opportunity to rediscover the leconnection that exists between the saint of Assisi and the Doric capitalwith a long walk interspersed with a few stops: in each of them several experts will enrich the experience by narrating historical facts and anecdotes linked to Saint Francis and his connection with the city, offering participants a deep immersion in the cultural and spiritual context of Ancona .
«We try to bring the Franciscan message to the community – declared the President of the Celebrations Committee, Father Alvaro Rosatelli – and this event is a source of pride.” «Francis had harmony at heart – he underlined Monsignor Angelo Spina – and choral singing is harmony, no voice prevails over the other. The journey of the patron saint of Italy was long and crossed multiple locations: the InCanto route will start from the dock named after San Francesco and will arrive at San Francesco Ad Alto, a convent center established by him and today a military garrison, bringing a message of peace and humanity.” The Col. Enrico Ubaldo Gabrielli of the Marche Army Military Command “Falcinelli” Barracks (San Francesco ad Alto) expressed full satisfaction and pride for the garrison’s involvement in the event and Guido Vettorel of the Central Adriatic Port System Authority confirmed the “vocation” of the dock dedicated to St. Francis as a place of identity and a stop on journeys.
Further depth to the initiative was given by the words of the writer and expert on Franciscanism Diego Mecenero which underlined the fundamental contribution that the Marche of Ancona has given to the whole world in terms of studies and Franciscan spirituality with three Franciscan popes from the Marche and with the friars at the top of the Order, Giovanni da Morrovalle, Ugolino da Montegiorgio (The flowers of St. Francis) and Blessed Pacifico from San Severino. «In Canto – underlined Mecenero – is a national event in its 11th edition which will culminate in Assisi with a performance by all the choirs that participated in the various venues, on the International Music Day. It will be an extraordinary party.” The Director General of the Franciscan Charitable Works, Luca Saracini, thanked the partners of the initiative and in particular the municipal administration and the tourism department who promoted three itineraries dedicated to San Francesco, as well as one to Roman Ancona and the Trajan port. Organized by professional guides, they will be held on Saturday mornings starting at 10 am, overall from 11 May to 29 June (booking required at the IAT newsstand – tel. 3392922855). A greeting was also brought by Father Simone GiampieriProvincial of the Picena Province of S. Giacomo of the Marca dei Frati Minori.
“InCanto” program
The program includes an itinerant journey of approximately 3km on foot which passes through five significant locations in Ancona, enriching the urban fabric with the sacred music of the choirs. We will leave at 3pm from one of the symbolic places of the passage of the Saint of Assisi, the ancient port of Ancona and precisely the platform 1 “San Francesco”, a place of memory of the Saint’s departure for the Holy Land, with the performance of the parish choirs of Falconara Marittima and Ancona. The second appointment will be at Santa Maria della Piazza, the oldest church in the city, where an intervention by the Chorale della Misericordia of Ancona will take place. At this point you will climb Colle Guasco to get to the Cathedral of San Ciriaco, the dominant point of the city: the choir that will welcome the group of participants in the walk will be the Musical Chapel of the Cathedral. The fourth stage, continuing the Franciscan path, will be represented by Church of San Francesco alle Scale, another site of great historical-spiritual importance, where the Cristo Re Choir of Numana will perform. Finally the route will end, around 7pm, at the Marche Army Military Command “Falcinelli” Barracks San Francesco ad Alto): a finale in grand style that will begin with the performance of the Brunella Maggiori Choir from Jesi. Following there will be a screening of the previously unreleased film “Light of Peace” by Marco Federici and Paolo Petrucci, produced by the Associazione Opere Caritative Francescane OdV and created by Nonsolovideo srl directed by Danilo Mastrogiacomo: the video will retrace what happened in the last year in relation, above all, to the lamp created specifically and sent to Bethlehem as a sign of peace.
Furthermore, InCanto will be the opportunity to celebrate the donation to the Military Command, once again by the Franciscan Charitable Works represented by the President P. Alvaro Rosatelli and the General Director Luca Saracini, of copies of the paintings that originally decorated the former Church of San Francesco in Alto: two by Crivelli and one, the Gozzi Altarpiece, by Titian. Finally, at the end, there will be a joint performance by all the participating choirs in addition to the ZonaMusica Orchestra “La città dei sono”.
