EDUCATING TOWARD COMMUNION: THE TRADITIONAL ITALIAN FESTA AS A MEANS OF CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Religious Education, Winter 2007 by Franco, Philip A

Abstract

This article examines popular religion and its potential as a means of Christian religious education. In particular, it studies the traditional Italian Festa and the manner in which communities may use this and similar traditions as a means of fashioning a people and as a context in which to educate toward communion. The article argues that the Festa tradition can be a fruitful expression of the educational vision of various noted educators. In demonstrating this potential, the article reports research conducted at the 118th Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Brooklyn, New York. The experiences and observations of the author are evaluated in light of the work of contemporary religious educators and church documents.

Visitors from outside the festa of Our Lady of Mount Carmel over the years have not always recognized what they saw and see there... as religious. What was taking place at the festa [was] the integration of young people into the traditional values, the communal reaffirmation of these values, the establishment of the nexus between individual and family, family and community and so on...

-Robert Orsi

INTRODUCTION: POPULAR RELIGION AND ITS POTENTIAL

Popular religion is generally defined as those expressions of theology and spirituality emanating from the people and their experiences, as opposed to those doctrines and practices articulated and regulated exclusively by the institutional Church. For centuries, the popular religious traditions and devotions of various ethnic groups have been disparaged as corruptions of legitimate theology. Although these expressions have enjoyed some degree of tolerance and acceptance in different ages and places, the oft-repeated criticisms of such traditions have been that they contain dangerous remnants of paganism, elements of superstition, and certain beliefs incompatible with Catholic Christian doctrine. In short, they lack an adequate theological foundation on which to build a legitimate devotion. In some cases, these criticisms were not far off the mark. Certain traditions have in fact contained, for example, extreme penitential practices that were dehumanizing to those who took part.1 In many instances, however, expressions of popular religion have held-and continue to hold-great value and legitimacy.

Today, numerous scholars are revisiting the issue of popular religion, affording such expressions long overdue respect in regard to their theological legitimacy, as well as their educational potential. Michael Carroll notes, "studies suggest that popular religion arises mainly from creative processes originating from within the people themselves, rather than from the distortion of an official religion" (1992, 7). Furthermore, Elizabeth Johnson asserts,

There is... a growing scholarly interest in popular religion, long neglected because of rationalistic bias. By no means restricted to unsophisticated lay people, popular cultic expressions are signs of a worldview and set of relationships shared by bishops, clergy and lay people alike which strengthen confidence and help communities to create meaningful lives in stressful circumstances. (1998,11)

This article approaches popular religious practices in this positive sense. Herein I aim to demonstrate how such practices can in fact be fruitful means of Christian religious education, specifically catechesis, by examining one example of such traditional popular devotions, the Italian Festa. In seeking to demonstrate the educative value of the Festa, I report on research conducted during the 118th annual Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Paulinus of NoIa, in Brooklyn, New York.

THE ITALIAN FESTA TRADITION

The celebration of the traditional feast, called Festa, has been a part of Italian culture for centuries. Defined succinctly, the Festa encompasses the various rituals that surround the commemoration of a particular saint or holy day. Throughout Italy, but particularly in the south, communities honor saints on their feast days through Festas, which typically include liturgical and para-liturgical celebrations, festive communal meals, games of chance and skill, and elaborate processions through the local streets. Much of the merriment of these feasts occurs not in the Church building, but in the local streets surrounding it. These festivities last several days and are prepared by the community over the course of several months.

Although many contemporary Americans, particularly those in the Northeast, have a passing familiarity with the concept of the Italian Festa, I would suggest that this often involves a superficial knowledge of some aspects of the tradition. Such Festa celebrations are actually multifaceted and deeply meaningful for those who actively take part in them. For many Italians and Italian-Americans, the Festa is more than an isolated event within the year. "Its meaning goes much beyond a limited understanding of a party as a single moment in time; Festa is a means of viewing the world and social relationships. It is a way of life" (Gibino 1990, 5). Today, more than 300 major Italian feasts are celebrated in 23 states and the District of Columbia (Gesualdi 2004, 47).