The celebrations in honour of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, patron saint and figurehead of Siena, commence tomorrow, Friday the 14th of August, with the Procession of Candles and Censers.
A tradition as important today as it has ever been, this Procession forms an essential part of the celebrations of Siena’s identity as Civitas Virginis, which culminate in the running of the Palio in honour of the Assumption. On a historical level, it is the oldest aspect of Siena’s traditional celebrations that have survived to the present day: it is recorded as early as the 12th century, at the time in which the seigneury of Siena was declared. It was also a gesture of fealty to the Republic which every year, in occasion of the celebration of “Saint Mary of Mid-August”, involved all the lands and castles of the Sienese State, together with the nobles and the city elders.
The Assumption is therefore seen to be the true ‘national holiday’ of the Republic of Siena, a moment in which all of the different representatives of the city- the very same that today process in the Historic Procession which precedes the Palio- renew their own act of submission to the Virgin Mary (personification of the Sienese State), by bringing offerings of wax and money to the Cathedral (Domus Mariae). The Procession of Candles and Censers has survived even the fall of the Republic (1555), remaining focused on its spiritual and devotional importance. The Sienese people have continued this homage remaining true to its origin, reaffirming in their devotion to the Madonna the ancient unquenched yearning for freedom and the unique nature of its cultural identity.
The only significant interruption that is recorded in history was on the day following the Unification of Italy, when they all public religious manifestations were supressed and prohibited. When political circumstances changed, the Procession was reinstated in its current form from 1924.
Today the main protagonists of the Procession of Candles and Censers are the People of the Contradas, encompassing the parish communities of the City, which up to not many years ago would process with their insignia. At the Vigil of the Assumption, on the afternoon of the 14th August, all of the representatives of the city districts, with the special participation of children dressed in the colours of the Contrada, gather in the Pispini area, carrying with them their own offerings of flowers and candles, which they place at the feet of the main altar in the Cathedral.
Ideally the Procession leaves from in front of the Church of Saint George, the Church which was named after the sainted knight the day after the battle of Montaperti, where Sienese militia fought victoriously the under the flag of Saint George. From there the People join up with the institutions near Piazza del Campo. Here, the Contrada horse groups, the civic Labari, the Palio Flag, the representatives of the Institutions and the big cart pulled by oxen on which the votive candle that the mayor will light under the image of the Madonna del Voto is placed, also join the Procession. This is the very occasion for the renewal of the solemn vow of submission that the city has made to Mary under a variety of circumstances: the first time on the vigil of the battle of Montaperti (1260), the most recent on the way to the war front (1944).
The Procession leaves from Saint George at 16.30 on the 14th August, ending at the Cathedral with the homage to the Assumption of the Virgin and the Blessing of the City, at the end of which the Palio Flag is placed on a pillar of the Cathedral, remaining on display until the morning of the 16th August.
Translated by Claire Cocks