DESOLATA

Every year, on Saint Saturday, in Canosa di Puglia a very ancient and unique event takes place. It is called the "Desolata" rite. At 9.00 in the morning the Sorrowful Mother statuary leaves the Saints Francesco and Biagio Church in Piazza della Repubblica while hundreds of old and young women stands there. They wear a veil on their faces as a sign of respect, and black clothes. The barefoot women are the ones who received the Grace from the Virgin. They walk down the city arranged in lines, with the oldest women in front and the youngest ones behind, tied to each other by the arms. They sing together as a choir, with a heartbreaking voice, the "Desolata" hymn, a particular Stabat Mater by Jacopone da Todi. It is a very suggestive chant, and Maestro Mimmo Masotina has accompanied it for 50 years with musical notes that enter deep into the heart of many people in Canosa.