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August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption. In Seminara (Reggio Calabria), bearers carry a processional float that may have belonged to the Our Lady of the Poor church until the last half of the 18thcentury. We do not have any definite information about this church or about the worship of Our Lady of the Poor, also known as the Black Madonna (Madonna Nera); but a notarized document dated 1781 states that the statue of the Madonna, protector of the village along with Saint Mercury, was transferred from this church outside of town to the main church. The followers of the Madonna were not pleased with this transfer nor with the fact that the lay authorities had been trying to suppress the feast of Our Lady of the Poor, and they appealed to have the statue returned. In the year after the earthquake of 1783, following demonstrations by the people, some citizens carried the Vara outside on the feast day, and several arrests ensued. For several years, there was an ongoing disagreement between the nobility and the priests who did not want the statue to be moved. The Day of the Assumption of Mary had always been celebrated in Seminara with a processional float, famous throughout the region until the latter half of the 19th century. A new float was built in 1896, but since the earthquake of 1911, it has no longer been carried through the streets of Seminara. |
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