Date of the Ceremony:
The feast of Our Lady of Mercy is celebrated the fifteenth day after Easter, every three years. A pontifical “Indult” (a privilege granted by a letter from the pope) on February 1, 1820 authorized the celebration of the solemn feast of the Virgin Mary every year on the second Sunday of Easter, at the altar dedicated to her with a mass, service and a eulogy.
Preparatory novenas, celebration and procession:
The painting is taken down the day before the celebration and placed on the shrine that is reserved for it on the main altar. The following day, the celebration takes place after nine days of prayers, followed by a procession around the village with the icon of the Virgin Mary transported in a shrine (XIX th) which is the purpose of this pilgrimage held every three years since 1734, the year of the Miracle (Hamlet of Romanacce).
The ceremony’s patron: a female representative of Maria and Michele
According to tradition, the priest chooses a patron for the ceremony every three years, so that in turn, she can pass on the acknowledgement and gratitude towards the Virgin Mary who miraculously expressed herself in the Romanacce hamlet within the family of Maria and Michele in 1734. The priest reveals his choice to the designated person at the end of the ceremony and asks her to keep this information secret until the next celebration. The parishioners discover the identity of the patron on the day of the ceremony when this person takes her place on the armchair reserved for her.
The sonnet dedicated to the patron
Sonnets, odes and stanzas are dedicated to the ceremony’s patron, printed out and distributed the day of the celebration every three years.
There was a time when the feast of Sant-Andria was present all over Corsica. Sant-Andria is a Corsican tradition that celebrates the passage of autumn to winter.
When harvesting was over and the granaries were full, food was shared with the impoverished in the interest of sharing and solidarity. In this way, collecting food at Saint-André allowed the needy to assure their survival without giving up their dignity. Today the children go door to door saying: “una pricantula” to collect candy, dried fruits and chocolates and then share them with the others afterwards.