Christians celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. When Jesus told the Apostles that the Father would send them the Holy Spirit in His name (John 14:26), I doubt He envisioned the Holy Spirit arriving via a zip line.
While Deirdre and I have attended a number of interesting feste (events associated with religious celebrations) and sagre (festivals associated with food or the harvest) during our year in Italy, I don’t think we’ve seen anything quite as unusual as Orvieto’s Festa della Palombella held on Pentecost Sunday. Orvieto has celebrated La Palombella, a reenactment of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending on the Blessed Mother and the Apostles, since the 14th century. While originally the depiction took place inside the cathedral, it had to be moved outside in the 1800’s after the Church prohibited the use of fireworks inside churches. Now at noon a live white dove representing the Holy Spirit arrives at a mock-up of the Cenacle (the “Upper Room” that was the site of the Last Supper) set up in front of Orvieto’s magnificent Duomo or cathedral. The interesting part is how the dove gets there and what happens on its arrival.
The Duomo in Orvieto showing part of the route the dove travels.
A Cenacle constructed of wood and containing figures of the Blessed Mother and the Apostles is placed in front of the cathedral. At noon on Pentecost Sunday, the bishop of Orvieto-Terni waves a white handkerchief to set events in motion. At his signal the Capomastro ignites rockets of some sort placed around the box holding the live dove, and the dove, with smoke billowing from the contraption, hurtles its way along a wire strung high over the street from the Church of St. Francis to the front of the cathedral. On arriving at the top of the Cenacle on the steps of the cathedral, the box with the dove in it illuminates red lights over the heads of the figures of the Blessed Mother and the Apostles to represent the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them and also triggers a lengthy blast of fireworks.
Here comes . . .
the dove.
The dove in its capsule after its mission.
Somehow the dove survives this ordeal (not surprisingly, animal rights activists have pushed Orvieto to replace the live dove with a fake one). Here’s the proof:
The dove alive and well.
The dove is then given to the couple most recently married in Orvieto who are responsible for caring for it.
The day also included a flower show held around town with beautiful scenes made from flower petals. Deirdre and I learned of the effort it takes to make this flower art as we watched a group of about ten people craft this picture the night before the festa.
A depiction of the Miracle of Bolsena in flower petals in front of the Duomo.
In two weeks Orvieto holds its Festa del Corpus Domini (“Body of Christ”). The Church’s feast of Corpus Domini originated in Orvieto with the Miracle of Bolsena and is the town’s major festival. Given that, the Festa della Palombella certainly has whet our appetites for what might what be in store in a couple of weeks.
Who Stole My Basil? 