From the pages of AAA Horizons newspaper (2000)
By Joe O'Shea
All cities, whether big or small, observe Sir Isaac Newton's First Law of Motion: A body in motion will remain in that state until some force is applied to it. Boston, a city with an ever-shifting face, is no exception to this maxim. People live, people die, neighborhoods change.
Boston's North End is a classic example of this rule. Once an Irish neighborhood in the 1800s, the North End has spent the better part of the past century as home to Italian immigrants and Italian-Americans. With an influx of new blood in the 1980s and '90s, the North End is changing yet again.
Despite the neighborhood's evolving character, many longtime North Enders refuse to lose touch with their Italian roots. On weekends, from June to September every year, the North End is home to more than a dozen festivals and processions honoring Catholic saints.
"We try to carry on the traditions and heritage that our great grandfathers began years ago," says Elio LoRusso of the Santa Maria DiAnzano Society. Many of these feasts, according to LoRusso, have been up and running for 90 to 100 years.
"These saints' feasts happen in Italy, so instead of all of us traipsing over there, we stay here and celebrate," says North End resident Patte Papa, event manager for the City of Boston's Office of Special Events. "We try to recreate the festivals for our families that our grandparents used to attend in Italy. . . . All the festivals have a uniqueness to them."
One of the more original, and grand, festivals is the Feast of Madonna del Soccorso, who is associated with those who fish for a living. Conducted by Papa's family from August 17 to 20, this feast is atypical in that it's four, not three, days long.
It's typical, however, in that it opens with a procession. On Thursday night, the statue of Madonna del Soccorso is carried down to Christopher Columbus Park for the Blessing of the Waters. "Normally, boats will pull up and our parish priest blesses the boats," says Papa. "We then lay wreaths in the water in memory of all deceased fishermen."
The Feast of Madonna del Soccorso concludes with the Flight of the Angel, one of the summer's most unique sights. A young girl, dressed as an angel, is suspended by a wire and 'flies' across a street. Once her flight ends, she recites an Italian prayer to the Madonna.
"I was hooked up to a block and tackle from a fisherman's boat, and I 'flew' across North Street when I was an eight-year-old girl," Papa remembers. "I'm looking forward to when my young niece can do the same."
The Feast of Madonna del Soccorso, like its peers, has plenty of secular attractions as well. Street vendors abound, selling everything from mouth-watering Italian food to clothes. The feasts, most of which run from Friday through Sunday, feature traditional Italian music and entertainment on the first and last days of the event.
To appeal to a broader audience, the festivals now schedule a headline performer for Saturday's festivities. At the Feast of Madonna del Soccorso, for example, Al Martino will sing on Saturday night.
"The really amazing part is how young people have taken over their fathers' and grandfathers' roles," notes Papa. "It's passed on from generation to generation."