East Harlem, Manhattan, August 12, 2018 - Sometimes traditions die a difficult death due to indifference or a difficulty to keep them. In East Harlem in Manhattan, this clearly is not the case. The annual Feast of the Our Lady of Mt Carmel that’s culminated with the ‘Dance Of The Giglio’ on the second Sunday of August honoring St. Anthony, is still going strong thanks to the Giglio Society of East Harlem.
The
feast that’s held between E114 and E116 streets and between 1st Avenue and
Pleasant Avenue, is a tradition by Italians and Italian Americans which has all
the elements from years gone by, ranging from religious observances to the
celebratory. Traditional holiday foods such as zeppole (fried bread batter) and
sausage heroes continue to be the gastronomic staples next to the kiddie rides
of yore.
By definition, the East Harlem
Giglio Society is a diverse religious and cultural organization of Catholics of
Our Lady of Mt Carmel Shrine Church in East Harlem New York City. Under the
auspices of the Catholic Church and the United States Catholic Conference, they
are dedicated to honoring and encouraging devotion to their patron Saint
Anthony of Padua by organizing and producing the annual Giglio feast and
procession.
The Society’s mission includes the
preservation of Italian American traditions, culture, history and
The origins began in 409 AD. Paulino
was a rich man in Nola, Italy a suburb of Naples. He gave up his worldly
possessions such as money and land for the betterment of everyone in the
community. The Moors came and stole all the men onto a ship and were taken to
modern day Turkey. Paulino negotiated for the freedom of the men after the
women of the town went to Paulino and asked him to do something about their
plight as there was no one around to provide food for the town. He offered
himself in exchange for the others saying that he was more valuable than the
men they captured. Upon his return to Nola, the residents greeted him with
white lilies (giglio in Italian).
The
origins began in 409 AD. Paulino was a rich man in Nola, Italy a suburb of
Naples. He gave up his worldly possessions such as money and land for the
betterment of everyone in the community. The Moors came, stole all the men and
held them hostage onto a ship and were taken to modern day Turkey. Paulino
negotiated for the freedom of the men after the women of the town went to
Paulino and asked him to do something about their plight as there was no one
around to provide food for the town. He offered himself in exchange for the
others saying that he was more valuable than the men they captured. Upon his
return to Nola, the residents greeted him with white lilies (giglio in
Italian).
According
to their website (https://www.eastharlemgiglio.org), the beginning in the
1880s, Italians began emigrating from Southern Italy (also known as the Mezzogiorno) for the promise of
a better life for themselves, their families and their descendants. Many of
those leaving Italy were peasant farmers that had little money left over after
the land owner was paid his annual rent. Clearly the ‘New World’ offered many
possibilities and the phrase that ‘the streets were paved with gold’ concept
became motivation for improvement for their lot in life. This trend grew around
1900 as many starving and hungry families sold everything for the opportunity
for a bright future.
After
a month-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, this area of Manhattan is the
original landing place for these immigrants as many settled on the same streets
in East Harlem with the members of their old ‘home towns’ in Italy. In the
instance of the immigrants from the town of Brusciano, Italy, (near Naples)
many settled here with their traditions and little else but one thing they
brought with them was this annual feast.
This
is the third location of the feast. In 1908, the first Giglio Feast in East
Harlem was held on 106th Street by members of the Bruscianese
Society and this continued until 1955. In 1957, it moved uptown to 108th
Street where it continued until 1971 when it stopped.
In
2000 on the second Sunday in August, the Dance of the Giglio celebration
returned to East Harlem as a Cooperative Feast with the Shrine Church of Our
Lady of Mt Carmel also honoring St. Anthony (Sant' Antonio in Italian).
Aside
from the multi-story giglio carried on the shoulders of adults led by capos
(organizational leaders), a giglio for the youth of the Society is also built
to have younger successors pick up where the adults leave off when they get
older. The giglio towers are built with a wood frame at the beginning of the
month.
The
4-day event that’s culminated with the dance, is a reminder of the past and
tradition to be carried going forward into the future.
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Photo/story by Joseph M.
Calisi ©2018 All Rights Reserved
