Sant'Antonio: A Bonfire and Animal Blessings

This morning was one of my favorite annual events in our little town of Soriano nel Cimino: the Blessing of the Animals, for the Feast of St Anthony. The night before, there are fireworks, and a huge bonfire in the town piazza. Everyone gathers around to get warm by the fire, there are stands with food and drink, and a lot of neighbors greeting each other.

The next morning, it is as if that was all a dream: the ash has been swept away and the piazza is completely cleared, ready for the Blessing. The town band marches up the winding streets into the piazza, followed by scores of people on horseback. A priest is waiting in front of the cathedral, and as the horses pass by he blesses them. Then comes hundreds of residents with their dogs, cats…..today I even saw two parakeets! And my favorite congregant, a man who has a gorgeous huge white dog and an orange cat, who perches on his shoulder. We have been seeing this guy since Mr. Orangeypants was a kitten!

A local bakery hands out free breads to everyone in the crowd. All the bars are slammed with patrons and the scent of espresso wafts in the air. There is a lot of laughing and greeting and chit-chatting. One of the things I love about this town is that it is really “lived” in. Some of the places we have visited are nearly completely shut down in winter, because they are more reliant on tourism, but our town is active all year round. Festivals like this are not packed with tourists, but with residents. We’ve been here six years now. We’ll never be really Sorianese, but every year we fold in a little bit more. It is a great privilege to be here, the realization of a long-held dream.

We are so grateful to live here.