{"id":18499,"date":"2025-04-17T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/?p=18499"},"modified":"2025-03-31T16:30:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T20:30:14","slug":"peeps-and-bonnets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/peeps-and-bonnets\/","title":{"rendered":"Peeps and Bonnets?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Margo Sorenson<\/em><\/p>

Fluffy Easter bunnies? Peeps? Easter egg hunts? Fancy Easter bonnets? What?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Growing up in Napoli and Bari, my Easters were definitely not the same as those of other American kids, even though my parents were Americans. When we moved to the U.S. from Italy, I was shocked at the differences between Italian Easter celebrations and American celebrations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\"\"I was fortunate to grow up in Southern Italy, in the Neapolitan and Pugliese regions, where, for centuries, tradition and faith have been intertwined seamlessly in the culture. The days leading up to Easter are filled with solemn processions and masses, testimony to Italians\u2019 deep reverence for their Catholic faith. In Italian, Easter is \u201c<\/span>Pasqua<\/span><\/i>,\u201d and it is a joyous celebration, marked with meaningful rituals and timeless traditions, some dating back even to the thirteenth century.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

For the whole month before Easter, many sacred religious processions are held everywhere in Italian cities and towns, always during Holy Week, the \u201c<\/span>Settimana Santa<\/span><\/i>,\u201d and on the Friday and Saturday before Easter, as well as on Easter Sunday. Many churches have special statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus that are paraded through the town or city and displayed in the main squares. I saw these processions as a normal part of life\u2014the statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary carried through both ancient cobblestone and modern paved streets, swaying to the rhythm of their bearers. Participants are often dressed in traditional ancient costumes, adding to the solemnity of the occasion. One of the processions takes place in San Marco di Lamis, north of my hometown of Bari, during which dozens of people parade in costume, with horses and flaming torches to celebrate the Living Passion of Christ. To give you an idea of the solemnity and deep reverence of these processions, click here to view a video of that procession.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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