Maria SS della Lavina 2024

by Fr. William Rock, FSSP

In January 2023, I received an unexpected yet joyfully welcomed email which invited me to join in a project with the Italian Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Newark to rejuvenate the neglected devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Torrent (Madonna della Lavina) at my home parish in New Jersey.

While devotion to the Blessed Virgin under this title originated in Cerami, Sicily around 1630, the image at the foundation of the devotion is a Byzantine icon from, possibly, the 1300s.  There are different theories of how this icon made its way to Cerami, located in the mountainous area of eastern Sicily, but none of them are conclusive.  A telling of the story how this image of the Virgo Lactans received the title “Our Lady of the Torrent” can be found in one of the earliest articles I wrote for the Missive.

Brought by Sicilian immigrants to the New World, this devotion would find a home at St. Aloysius church in Caldwell, New Jersey.  While there had been Ceramesi immigrants in the area since the 1880s, the beginning of the American observance took place on a hot summer day in 1912, when, during a work break, Ceramesi laborers began to sing in honor of Maria SS della Lavina – “protector of their fathers in Italy and of them in America.”¹  Soon after, a Maria SS della Lavina Mutual Aid Society was established (chartered in 1912, now discontinued).  In 1934, one known affectionally as “Uncle Sam” (Mr. Santo Stivale) commissioned Mr. Onorio Ruotolo, founder of the New York City Leonardo da Vinci Art School, to produce a painting of the Blessed Virgin patterned on the Ceramese painting of the Virgin nursing her Son.

Over time the devotion would grow to including a large, multiday festival and a procession in honor of the Madonna, celebrated around Labor Day weekend (the feast day in Cerami is September 7th).  The Society would also build a hall near the church in 1939, which was eventually given over the Knights of Columbus and then to the town, which turned the property into a garden.  As time passed, the large festival ceased to be celebrated, while, for a time, the procession would continue passing through the old Italian/Ceramesi areas of the town.

I have fond memories of participating in the Maria SS della Lavina devotions as a child.  When I was younger, I helped set up drinks for the participants of the yearly procession at my maternal grandparents’ house, a rest stop along the route.  When I was a bit older, I served the Mass prior to the procession and carried the processional cross.  By the time I went to college, not even the procession was being done, although there had been an attempt at a revival at one point.

When the time came, I selected the St. Aloysius painting as the image for my Priestly ordination holy card due to the sentimental value it carries for my family and myself.  This choice has led to a deepening devotion to Our Lady under this title, including eventually realizing that I have ancestral ties to Cerami through my maternal grandmother, meaning that my family’s participation in this devotion most likely goes back to the old country (it is also likely that one my relatives was among the original founders of the Mutual Aid Society in Caldwell).  As stated above, one of the first articles I wrote for the Missive was on the origin of the devotion to Our Lady under this title.  This article served as the catalyst for being invited by the Italian Apostolate to aid in the rejuvenation of the devotion.

As a result of this collaboration, an initial celebration was held in honor of the Madonna della Lavina at St. Aloysius church in Caldwell, on Thursday, September 7, 2023, which is, as was stated, the day of her feast in Cerami.

In the time leading up to the event, my mother, our neighbor, his son – all who have ties to the devotion – and I gathered together memorabilia, mostly pins and photos.  The neighbor’s son, who has professional experience with these sorts of things, put together a display for a reception.  As we were organizing the memorabilia, I noticed in a photograph that American and Italian flags were carried in the procession.  I asked if we knew where the Italian flag was, and my neighbor and his son provided me with the contact information of the one they thought had it.  I gave the provided contact a call and he agreed to meet at the church on the day of the event during the setup time.  On the day of the event, he arrived with another gentleman.  They had brought with them, among other items, the old Society banner, the wooden crown and mantle which had adorned the painting during the procession, and the Society’s officer sashes.  The wooden crown was handmade by Uncle Sam, while the faux jewels were added later by others.  Embroidered on the inside of the mantle are the names of those who fashioned it.  It was a great and unexpected surprise to receive these items.  There is no doubt that Our Lady’s hand can be seen in this.

On the day of the 2023 celebration, I offered a Low Mass in honor of the Madonna della Lavina.  I chose to use the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Grace (B. Mariae Virg. Matris Gratiae) from the Masses for Various Places (Missae pro aliquibus locis) as the image is classified as an image of Our Lady of Grace.  The Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Grace is the same as the Mass of the Holy Name of Mary (September 12th), except for a proper collect (opening prayer).  For the Mass, the painting, which normally adorns a wall in the foyer (narthex) of the church, was displayed near the side altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  In attendance were members of the former Society and Knights of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George.  During the sermon, after expressing special thanks to the Archbishop, Joseph Cardinal Tobin, and to the Pastor of St. Aloysius, Msgr. Robert Emery, for their support, I preached about how the restoration of this devotion, and of those like it, should not be undertaken simply for the sake of nostalgia or in an effort to recreate an idealized past, but rather because they are, in and of themselves, worth recovering and because the faithful recognize something in them which will be spiritually beneficial for themselves and their children today.  The Mass was followed by a gathering in the parish center where there was the aforementioned display.  At the gathering, I presented an overview of the history and practices of the devotion as practiced both in Cerami and in Caldwell.  About fifty attended the Mass and thirty the reception afterwards.  Photos of last year’s event can be found here on the Il Regno Blog.

On Wednesday, November 22, 2023, the pastor of St. Aloysius church received a decree from the Cardinal Archbishop, dated November 1, 2023, granting me a three-year permission to celebrate annually the Traditional Latin Mass in honor of Our Lady of the Torrent, thus making this celebration “the only Archdiocesan approved Extraordinary Form Italian Devotion.”²  The FSSP North American Provincial also gave his nod for me to continue participating.  The first usage of this permission was on Saturday, September 7, 2024.  This year’s celebration was greatly expanded from the previous years.  A polyphonic Solemn High Mass (Palestrina’s Missa Brevis), in which a diocesan priest ministered as deacon and a canon of the Institue of Christ the King as subdeacon, was celebrated.  Again, the Mass was that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Grace.  During the sermon, I compared the Italian immigrants to Aeneas, the remote founder of Rome.  When Aeneas fled Troy, he carried his father on his back, led his son, and brought with him his household idols.  Symbolically, the father represented Troy’s past and its culture; the son, the future; the idols, reverence towards their gods.  Similarly, the Italian Immigrants of the late 1800s and early 1900s left a worn-torn and devastated area, invaded by an enemy.  They carried their traditions and cultures from their different regions and towns, which merged to form a broader, unique Italian-American culture and a unique subtype of American Catholicism.  By their hard work and sacrifices, they laid the foundation for a better future for their descendants.  They brought with them, not false gods or idols of paganism, but their saints and devotions, taken from their towns, cities and regions, such as the Madonna della Lavina.

After Mass was over, the image was incensed, and the procession, with an honor guard formed by the local Knights of Columbus, began.  An Italian Feast Band, a must for Italian feasts, met the image outside the main doors of the church.  Originally, the procession was to cover part of the older route from when I was younger, but, due to weather concerns, it was kept on the church’s property.  When the Society was discontinued, the original processional litter (vara) was donated to another parish nearby, which modified it to carry a statue of Our Lady.  While it would have been very fitting to use this vara, as it was modeled on the one used in Cerami for the feast of Our Lady of the Torrent, the modifications made this impossible.  Unsure how we would carry the image during the procession, Our Lady provided.  I had returned to New Jesey a few days before to prepare for the event.  The pastor of the local FSSP apostolate asked how preparations were going and if we had a carrier for the procession.  It turned out that the chapel had recently received a new carrier, and so he was able to offer us the older one for our use.  The day before the event, we were able to modify this litter by adding an art easel to it, making it a vara capable of carrying the image.  When the image reentered the church at the conclusion of the procession, the band followed.  The image was again incensed and then left in the Sanctuary for the devotion of the faithful.  A light reception of Italian pastries followed the procession in the church’s gym, where the neighbor’s son had again set up a display.  It was truly a family event, as my relatives played key roles in bringing about this year’s celebration, which had about 110 in attendance, nearly double from the year before.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of my family for their effort, all those who made donations or gave support in anyway, as well as the major organizational sponsors of the event: the Borough of Caldwell, the Knights of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George, the Station of The Cross – Catholic Media Network, Calandra’s Italian Village, and Caldwell Flowerland.

Next year’s celebration is scheduled for Saturday, September 6th, 2025, with Mass starting at 11 am, again at St. Aloysius church in Caldwell, New Jersey.  All are graciously invited to attend.

To conclude, I present to you, dear reader, the following photographs of the 2024 event.

Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, Mater Lavinæ!

Fr. William Rock, FSSP was ordained in the fall of 2019 and is currently assigned to St. Stanislaus Parish in Nashua, NH.

In support of the causes of Blessed Maria Cristina, Queen, and Servant of God Francesco II, King 

1. From the newspaper clipping “Madonna della Lavina Society – Ceramesi Roots of Caldwell” believed to be from The Progress Newspaper, 1979.
2. Per the Director of the Italian Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Newark.