The statue of the Madonna Maria Santissima Assunta of Arasì returns home. It was held in recent days in the village of Arasì, a hilly hamlet of Reggio Calabria on the slopes of the pre-Aspromonte area, the procession of the statue through the streets of the town centre up to the Parish Church of Santa Maria del Popolo.
Mayor Giuseppe Falcomatà accepted the invitation of the Parish Priest Don Giuseppe Bagnato and the Promotion Committee, led by President Santo Spinella, to attend the event which marked the return of the statue to the Church of the statue, which in recent months has undergone meticulous restoration work carried out by a team of experts led by the official of the Superintendency of Fine Arts and Landscape of Reggio Calabria Maria Cristina Schiavone.
The procession of the statue, entrusted to the expert hands of the bearers who accompanied it to the Church, and the subsequent solemn Eucharistic celebration, were enlivened by the notes of the Band Complex “A. Santamaura” City of Ortì, directed by Maestro Roberto Caridi, and by the songs of the Parish Choir “Nuove Speranze” of Arasì directed by teacher Claudia Marra. Also taking part in the procession were City Councilor Filippo Burrone, former President of the Reggio Emilia Lower Jonio Land Reclamation Consortium Giandomenico Caridi, former Reggio Emilia city councilor Domenico Marra, and Giuseppe Polimeni, an illustrious fellow citizen of the Arasì community, former Honorary Consul of Italy to the United States of America in Springfield and Boston, Massachusetts, who was later received by the mayor at Palazzo San Giorgio.
“It was an emotional moment – commented the mayor Giuseppe Falcomatà on the sidelines of the procession – one of those days that contributes to celebrating the profound identity of our city, strengthening its most authentic values and enhancing that sense of community which in hilly villages and neighborhoods is based on belonging and pride in traditions . I want to thank the parish priest Don Giuseppe Bagnato, the promoting committee, the honorary consul Giuseppe Polimeni and the entire community of Arasì, not only for the extraordinary work that allowed the restoration and return home of the statue of the Madonna, but also for the beautiful event, of high civic as well as religious value, which cheered the village and the many citizens who live there or who frequent it during the summer period”.
