Isole Eolie viste dalla Piazza Catena, Librizzi

Carmelo Rifici è l'autore della foto e immagine augurale.

Una bellissima veduta dalla Piazza Catena, Librizzi.

Librizzi as a postcard

The author of the card is Carmelo Rifici

San MIchele Arcangelo, della Chiesa Madre di Librizzi

This is a page from Carmelo Rifici's site www.librizziacolori.eu

You will find part of this story on this site as well, in one of the posts on the Muscarà ancestors. Please note the role that Pietro and Rocco Muscarà played in the story of the statue of San Michele Arcangelo.


Home Page > indice aggiornamenti > storia > San Michele Arcangelo sei su www.librizziacolori.eu




San Michele Arcangelo torna a Messina

La statua lignea di San Michele Arcangelo, della Chiesa Madre di Librizzi, è tornata a Messina dopo 354 anni per essere esposta nella mostra Angeli senza tempo, al Monte di Pietà, in via XXIV Maggio, dal 23 dicembre 2010 (inaugurazione) al 22 gennaio 2011. La mostra è curata dalla responsabile dell’unità operativa Beni storico-artistici e iconografici della Soprintendenza di Messina, Grazia Musolino. Speriamo che sia l'occasione perchè ci si accorga che sono necessari urgenti interventi di restauro della statua e vi si provveda.


Questa bella seicentesca statua lignea di San Michele Arcangelo oggi necessita di restauri. I Messinesi nel Seicento volevano tenerla per sè e avevano deliberato di dedicarle una cappella in marmo e altre pietre miste. Noi, oggi, chiediamo con fermezza che si provveda a un accurato restauro della statua.

San Michele Arcangelo



Cronaca riguardante l'Immagine di S. Michele Arcangelo



1 Ottobre X ind. 1656

Gesù Maria

Il reverendo padre Claudio di Todaro di questa terra di Librizzi della compagnia di Gesù figlio del fu Dott. Don Giò Domenico e Laura di Todaro avendo avuto sempre mira e intenzione per suffragio e aiuto dell'anima del padre e della madre e di tutti i suoi parenti e per onorare ancora la sua patria dove nacque dopo d'aver portato in questa terra le statue di Santo Ignazio e di S. Francesco Saverio e di S. Claudio martire con la reliquia della mandibola di detto martire un giorno dell'anno 1654 quale giorno non si può ricordare una sera gli venne ispirazione interna di dover fare venire da Napoli una statua di S. Michele Arcangelo essendo il detto santo protettore e titolare di detta terra sua patria per la quale ispirazione subito si scrisse a Napoli a Padre Diego la Jala ministro della casa professa del Gesù in Napoli il quale avendo trattato con un maestro perito da aver da fare una opera signalato il detto si consigliò con detto padre e volle tempo un anno sicchè complita detta opera nel mese di maggio di questo presente anno 1656 venne in Messina detta statua di S. Michele Arcangelo il padrone della barca che l'aveva portato si trovò la pratica levata per il contagio che vi era in Napoli per lo che fu necessario che la statua stesse ferma sopra in spazio di tre mesi circa e dopo con molto stento s'ottenne ad essere ammesso di fare la quarantena avendo abbruciato al padrone della barca tra panni, sete ed altre robbe di mercanzia circa tremila scudi, e molti popolani volevano che la cassa dove era ancora la statua fosse buttata al fuoco ma il senato e i signori deputati della salute avendo visto la magnificenza e la bellezza della suddetta statua del glorioso Santo Michele Arcangelo si ridussero tutti di rimetterla a fare la quarantena con il padrone e marinai che la portarono.

Finita la detta quarantena il Rev. padre Claudio ottenne dall'Illustrissimo senato che detta statua si dovesse portare in casa professa di detta città a ciò se avesse da trasferirsi in questa sua patria di Librizzi per la quale era stata destinata di collocarsi però fatta istanza che si dovesse esporre a vista di tutti nel pubblico in detta chiesa giacché nella detta casa professa in detto giorno si faceva comunione generale. Il padre di detta casa adunati quantità di popolo nella città ordinò che detta statua si collocasse sopra l'altare di S. Michele Arcangelo in giorno di domenica 24 di settembre prossimo passato alla quale dimostrazione detto senato fu tale il concorso di gente così di secolari come religiosi che s'apportò grandissima meraviglia a vedere tale manifattura per la quale molti signori donne e molti altri cittadini avendo visto e rallegrandosi di tale statua andarono all'illustrissimo Senato facendogli istanza che ordinasse detta statua avesse da rimanere nella sua città e che per Messina mai pemettesse che si estraesse fuori perché a caso era venuta nella città stessa con la gioia divina sicché il Senato per li continui gridi fu costretto di fare proibizione che detta statua ne per mare ne per terra dovesse uscire da detta città con tutto ciò che la barca per estrarsi per Librizzi era noleggiata.

Però il lunedì 25 settembre il padre Claudio avendo avuto notizia di questa proibizione ne rimase assai mortificato e per tre giorni continui usando ogni modo con molte intercessioni dei padri di Gesù e altri signori supplicando a detto illustrissimo Senato che dovesse restare servito concedergli licenza di potersi estrarre la sua statua con tanti travagli ricevuta a ciò la dovesse trasferire in Librizzi sua patria per dove era assegnata. Finalmente detto sig. Senato risolutamente gli diede la negativa dicendogli padre che volite che siamo la preda del popolo non avete inteso l'istanza che ne è stata fatta volendo la statua per loro città. Per la quale risposta il padre spensierato di poter avere la statua si deliberò lo martedì sera la mattina di partirsi per Catania dove sta assignato per l'ubbidienza però quando il negozio era disperato di poter ottenere l'intento ebbe impulso che dovesse di nuovo andare a far pregare il Senato a ciò s'avesse compiaciuto dovrà dare licenza per estrarre detta statua. Sicchè la mattina seguente andò da detto illustrissimo senato e con motivi e ragioni e con altro mezzo potente si supplicò di nuovo che si concedesse grazia di darci licenza di portarsi detta statua. Allora per miracolo divino e indolciti tutti quelli signori del Senato conclusero di levarci la proibizione dicendo a detto padre Claudio le seguenti parole: Padre non volemo che navessimo da patire senza la statua e che avessimo di avere questa afflizione con tutto che eravamo deliberati alla vostra statua una cappella di marmo e di altre pietre miste per collocarci detta statua del glorioso Santo Michele Arcangelo dandovi patto per farcene un'altra simile statua per Librizzi vostra patria unze 200 tutto ciò siamo commossi più ancora per essere noi privati di detta gioia così inestimabile come è la vostra statua privandone della devozione che avevamo di tale manifattura che privare la detta terra di Librizzi vostra patria e dubitando detti signori del Senato che alcuni del popolo non avessero a tumultuare mentre il detto padre faceva portare detta statua in barca mandarono i suoi ufficiali per fare uscire detta statua dalla casa professa e per condurcela dentro la barca proibendosi ciascheduno che non li dovessero dare impedimento e con tali ordini non s'avendo mosso nessuno del popolo si imbarcò da subito il giovedì detta statua il venerdì giorno dedicato al glorioso Santo s'arrivò in Patti il sabato seguente si trasportò portata da molti devoti la detta statua fu collocata nella chiesa del convento del Carmine di detta terra di Librizzi dove la sera sonata l'Ave Maria concorsero infinità di gente con lacrime e segni manifesti di grandissima devozione a vedere detta statua e nella stessa sera per ordine di Don Rocco Muscarà arciprete e di tutti gli ufficiali di detta terra si fecero luminarie per tutta l'università sparandosi quantità di fulgarelli in aria soni di tamburi dimostrando segni di mortificazione e devozione. Finalmente la domenica seguente primo giorno di ottobre si ordinò una devotissima processione con la confraternita e i suoi stendardi e si andò in detto convento del Carmine e dai signori ufficiali e da tutto il clero e concorso grandioso di popoli fu la detta statua processionalmente portata sopra le spalle di persone devote con straordinari segni di devozione e con giubilo e allegrezza universale reponendosi detta statua del glorioso S. Michele sopra l'altare della Matrice chiesa come protettore e titolare di detta chiesa e ivi solennemente con musica il dott. Pietro Muscarà cantò la Messa avendosi fatto del detto padre Claudio un panegirico ad onore di detto S. Michele Arcangelo il quale si degni percepire e ricevere l'affetto di questa benchè minima università raccomandandoli con umili preghiere totalmente dedicando alla sua intercessione.

Amen amen .

(Il documento è stato tratto dall'Archivio Parrocchiale della Chiesa Madre di Librizzi ed è pubblicato in Librizzi. Documenti, uomini e fatti prima e dopo il mille, di Antonino D’Amico – Edas 1996, pagg. 113 - 115).

BUON NATALE

Panettone

TINDARO GATANI and his new book "La Ferula (Narthex) tra mito e storia".

 

The esteemed and erudite librizzese TINDARO GATANI is a historian, author, researcher, teacher at the Casa d’Italia of Zurich, collaborator at the Central Library of Zurich (Zentralbibliothek), and since 2002 capo magazziniere of the Library’s Book Storage.  In June of 1989, he was awarded the title of Cavaliere al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, and in 2007 Tindaro was named Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Nazionale.
Tindaro's awards are many, as are the books he has published. Even though Tindaro has lived and worked in Zurich for over 40 years, his love for Librizzi has never waned. Several times a year he goes back to Librizzi to refresh his energies and find inspiration for his projects and research.
Please go to http://www.librizziacolori.eu/gatani/gatani_indice.htm,
and
http://www.librizziacolori.eu/gatani/commendatore/commemndatore.ht for more detailed information about his career and books.. 

Tindaro Gatani has just published his latest book, titled “LA FERULA (Narthex) tra mito e storia”.  On November 12, 2010  Tindaro presented the new book at the Rotary Club in Patti, Sicily, and will be also presented it at the Liceo artistico of Zurich (Swizerland) on the 30th of November.

Ferula (from Latin ferula, “rod”) is a genus of about 170 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region east to central Asia, it grows mostly in arid climates. The plant grows from one to four meters tall and the stems are stout and hollow.  It has pretty yellow flowers, produced in large umbels.  Some plants of this genus, especially F. communis are referred to as “giant fennel”, although they are not fennel in the strict sense.

Two species of Apiaceae are the Narthex and the Silphion (now pretty much extinct).  The Silphion, in ancient times, was a universal medicinal remedy and was also used as an aphrodisiac. It grew only on the Cyrenaica peninsula and was so highly valued that its trade became the basis of wealth for the town of Cyrene.  Coins from Cyrene show the stem of the Silphion along with the leaves.


In the early Roman imperial period the trade waned; Pliny reported that the last known stalk of Silphium found in Cyrenaica was given to the emperor Nero ‘as a curiosity’. . 
 The gummy resin of many species of Ferula is used not only for medicinal purposes but also as a culinary spice and vegetable. The Romans called the hollow light rod made from the plant a ferula and used it as walking sticks, splints, and for corporal punishment.  The papal cross or ferula is an emblem of the papal court. As a cross, it was carried before the Pontiff in processions or was used by the Pope himself as his pastoral staff.

The Common Narthex (Ferula communis) is thought to be the plant Prometheus used to bring fire secretly from Hephaistos’ forge to humans. It also was used by the Menades and the other attendants of Dionysos, the god of wine and fertility.  Dionysos was the grandson of Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

As I mentioned above the ferula was used for corporal punishment, especially in schools.  A dictionary definition of ferule (English spelling) is ‘a schoolmaster’s rod, such as a cane, stick, or flat piece of wood, used in punishing children’.  James Joyce vividly describes the use of the ferule in Jesuit schools in his novel “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”. 

I too have a story to tell about the use of the ferula during my elementary school years in a Librizzi school.
Several years ago a cousin who lives in Librizzi introduced me to Tindaro Gatani via emails. Tindaro and I have been emailing each other since we made each other’s acquaintance.  Two summers ago I visited the town of my ancestors, Librizzi, and had the wonderful pleasure to personally meet Tindaro.  I visited him at his home and quickly discovered that he is a bundle of energy and that his mind is working miles a minute planning his next research, book, conference, etc. He is also a genius! 
Tindaro discussed with me his next project, the writing of a book on the ferula. He was fascinated with its ancient history and the myriad uses of the plant. He also gave me an actual demonstration of how the hollow cane was used to carry secret documents, seeds, and as a carrier of fire. I was fascinated.

During our chat I told him of my fella (Sicilian for ferula) experience from my elementary school days. He was very interested in my story and asked me to write the story for him so that he could include it in his projected book!  And this is how my story is included in the book that Tindaro just published!

I have not seen the book yet but it will be in the mail in a day or two. Frankly I am looking forward to receiving and reading what I know will be a fascinating book.

Below is the original draft that I submitted to Tindaro about my ferula/fella experience. (Posted on this blog on Tuesday, August 11, 2009)


Photo by Carmelo Rifici

'MEMORIES FROM MY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DAYS'

 Memories of school days often flit through my mind, some are seen through rosy glasses and others are painfully bittersweet. One memory that has haunted me all of my life and which still causes me vivid pain is the incident with the FELLA.

I grew up in the beautiful little town of Librizzi where everyone knew everyone else, and almost everyone seemed to have a connection to one’s family. My teacher for the first five years of my schooling was my beloved Concettina Bisagni. She challenged me to learn, to ask questions, to be observant, and particularly to enjoy reading everything and anything imaginable. I remember reading every book in her school library as well as her private library. I was allowed to bring home any of her books that I chose to read, and I did so frequently. I remember reading late into the night, usually under the covers with the help of a flashlight.

The town offered only the first five years of schooling and if a student wanted to attend the Ginnasio , she had to travel by bus to the town of Patti. The trip took only about twenty minutes. My father’s plan was to send me to the Ginnasio but I had to wait a year so that I would travel with my brother who was a school year behind me. My father basically wanted my younger brother to guard me and to protect me from possible imaginary harm! Of course I could not just sit at home for a whole year while my brother finished his elementary schooling so my father decided that I would repeat fifth grade, this meant that I would be in the same classroom as my brother. No, I did not like this idea, in fact it was humiliating for me to have to ‘repeat’ a school year as if I had failed a grade. But I was not given a choice.

School children in Librizzi learned pretty quickly that there were consequences for misbehaving in the classroom. Discipline was commonly enforced by means of corporal punishment, usually in the form of a few taps on the open palm of the hand with a magic wand. Well not a magic wand but a “fella”, stick in English. Once a child felt the sting of the fella and saw the red imprint that it left on the palm she would work hard at not repeating the unaccepted behavior. If the teacher was particularly displeased she would hit hard enough to cause a welt to form on the palm. Signora Bisagni’s desk was usually decorated with a fella but to my recollection she never used it to punish me nor any of my classmates. Looking back I realize that she had ways, other than corporal punishment, to motivate her students to pay attention and to do their best. For me the motivational factor was the permission to take home her books to be read at my convenience.

It certainly was an eye opener when I entered the 5th grade for the second time and with a different teacher. It did not take long for me to discover that not all teachers are made of the same cloth. My brother’s elementary school teacher was indeed very different. He was extremely severe and the use of the fella on his students was frequent and forceful. At first I did not have any personal fears since he was my father’s cousin but soon I was to learn otherwise. To my great disillusionment the day arrived when my sweet memories of Signora Bisagni’s class were to be forever tainted by the memories of an incident beyond my control.

I recall that fateful day very clearly. The teacher asked a question and then called on a student for an answer but the correct answer eluded the unfortunate student. The teacher proceeded to ask a student and then another student and another student. He called every student in the class including my brother but no one was able to give an acceptable answer. Lastly he called on me. Well, Signora Bisagni had taught me well and I knew to always look at the footnotes. Yes, the answer to the question was in the footnotes! And so I gave the correct answer. Anticipating the dreaded use of the fella on my hands, I was greatly relieved to come up with the correct answer and certainly I was a little proud to be the star of the day. But my moment of educational pleasure was quickly dispelled. The teacher put the fella in my hands and commanded me to give each and every student in the class two ‘colpi della fella’. My reward became my classmate’s punishment! Worse, I had to hit my own brother. Halfheartedly and with tears in my eyes, I administered the punishment. When my brother’s turn to receive the bastonate arrived I tried to mitigate the damage by giving just little taps. The teacher who had supervised each and every hit with the ‘fella’ did not think that I had hit my brother hard enough and insisted that I do it again and with force.

Yes, my classmates were punished for not having the correct answer but I was forever punished for having the correct answer. I have never forgotten the pain that I felt while hitting my classmates and the agony felt when castigating my own brother. The humiliation, the pain, the vision of the domineering teacher, and the fella used as a disciplinary weapon, will always haunt me.

I became a teacher and honored my much admired Signora Bisagni by following her positive and wise methods to motivate my students.

August 31, 2009

I have just discovered that my beloved teacher's full name was Concettina Tollaro Bisagni, Tollaro being her maiden name.
I also discovered that she taught for 51 years! During her 50th year of teaching, the Italian Ministero della Publica Istruzione awarded her the Medaglia d'Oro, Gold Medal. To honor the teacher and her award, the town celebrated with a big party.

This new information was made available to me by Tindaro Gatani. 

LIFE IN AMERICA

Life in America

Experiences from the years that I lived on Iola Street in Dorchester, Massachusetts:

 Maria on the left, beautiful mom on the right, and a young cousin.

Photo taken in September of 1954

The years lived on Iola Street were the years when I attended Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior High and then Jeremiah E. Burke High, in Dorchester, MA.  My first year in public school was a successful one academically and so-so socially.  Right from the beginning at Wendell Holmes I obtained good grades, in fact that first year I had all A’s and one B. I was honored at a school assembly and it was announced how ‘this little girl who had just learned the language’ was obtaining such good grades. I went home with my report card and told my parents of the assembly and my recognition. My father looked at the report card and yelled at me for not receiving all A’s! I knew then for sure that no matter what I did, I would never do good enough to meet his expectations.

 My teachers loved me and respected me, in particular I remember my math teacher who used to use me as a good example to the rest of the class (or course that did not gain me any friends), and my art teacher who was impressed with my work.  My art teacher liked my pen and ink renditions and without my knowledge she assembled a portfolio of my work and sent it to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts for consideration for their art program for high school students.  I was asked by the museum to take their test to compete for a spot in their program. I was accepted.  The next year I was in High School and that is when I began my four years stint at the Museum. Two days a week I was given permission to leave my regular classes at noon in order to travel to the Museum and continue classes there.  Actually I took classes at the Museum for only three years because students in their senior year were allowed to leave school early to go to work.  My father decided that the family needed money more than I needed art classes.  

While in Junior High in addition to the art scholarship I earned the bronze medal (third place) from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for my artistic poster entered by my art teacher in a ‘Be Kind to Animals Poster Competition’ sponsored by Massachusetts. I still have my treasured bronze medal.

I am forever grateful to those two Junior High teachers who saw me in a positive way and helped me maintain a sense of self worth. The art teacher in particular started me on a path that has enriched my life through art endeavors and the appreciation of art. Two interests that have helped me maintain my sanity.   

Right from the start at the Oliver Wendell School, I was involved with school activities especially work with the Red Cross group.  At some point I was asked to be the chairperson for one of the girls who was running for a position on the Student Council, her first name was Carol.  Brilliant me! I came up with the slogan “Vote for Carol she is a barrel”!  Remember that my knowledge of the English language was very limited and I did not know the nuances of the language. I knew that the slogan rhymed and that was enough for me. I made lots of posters with a drawing of a barrel and the slogan, and then I posted them all over the school. I am not a hundred percent sure but I think Carol won.

Let’s go back a little to my first day at OWH, it was the school year 1954-1955.  I was frightened and lost that first day.  At lunch time I bought my preferred lunch, a Devil Dog and a carton of chocolate milk. Carrying my tray I looked around for an empty spot at any of the cafeteria tables but not one face sitting at those tables seemed friendly.  In fact when I approached a couple of tables, I was rudely told to go sit elsewhere.  In desperation and humiliation, I looked harder for a spot and saw one at the ‘segregated’ table where only black faces were seen. I headed for that table and asked if I could sit with them. The girls were friendly enough and reluctantly allowed me to sit with them. They did ask me if I really wanted to sit with them and showed a sense of concern for me, a concern that I did not understand until months later when I started to learn about racial discrimination in the USA.  Sitting at this table was Hilda H., a very nice person who soon became my friend.  

Little by little I started to make friends but not with the in crowd, most of my friends were girls who were somewhat of outcasts or rejected for one reason or another.  There was Esther N. who limped and somehow did not fit in.  I later learned that she was a Jew who had been in a concentration camp as a baby where she had contracted TB of the bone, hence the limp.  Esther and her family became my friends and they remained family friends until we lost contact in the late 1970s.  Another friend was a girl whose name I do not recall but was avoided at all costs by the other classmates.  She was from a very poor family and the school ‘knew’ that she had lice.  Well she did, and she gave them to me.  In any event I befriended her.  Since I was a child and living in Librizzi, I always felt for those classmates who were ‘outcasts’ and always befriended them, even if I also was rejected because I was friends with  those who were considered of a ‘lower class’.  Another friend at the junior high was Sherrie N. Sherri was a little older and very mature acting.  Sherri and Esther continued to be my friends during our High School years.  I will write more about these two friends later.

The one girl that I greatly admired was an older looking girl, tall, blond, well developed, and wore lots of make-up.  I thought that she was the epitome of the American girl and I wanted to be just like her.  One day I came to school wearing tons of eye make-up and loud lipstick, I really felt very American.  This older looking girl took me aside and asked me to wipe off all of that make-up.  Surprised a said that I wanted to look like her and why couldn’t I wear the make-up and she could. She looked at me and somehow she tried to tell me that she was a ‘tramp’ and that I was not! Of course I did not know the word tramp at the time nor would have I known the implications of the word until much later in my life.  Yes I did wipe off the make-up.  It was many years before I realized what a true friend this young person was to me, and what courage it must have taken for her to say those horrible words about herself.  I do not know what happened to her but I hope that life has treated her well. 

While at OWH well meaning people started my ‘Americanization’.  My name was no longer Maria but Mary, no it was not my choice but this is what my teachers called me.  My last name lost the accent, once again not because it was my choice but because others decided this for me. So my centuries-old honored name of Muscarà became Muscara or as the kids pointed out I was Maybelline black mascara.  Yes, the pronunciation of the last name also was changed, no accented last syllable and the u was now pronounced as an A and not as a U.  While at the Junior High I accepted the name Mary by the time that I got to high school I felt lots of resentment. More than resentment, I felt uncomfortable since Mary just wasn’t me!  The first few times that the homeroom teacher called me Mary I responded but one day I did not respond to the morning attendance call. The teacher looked at me and asked why I did not say ‘here’ when she called my name. I looked at her with a perplexed look and informed her that my name was Maria.  From that day on I regained my identity, at least for my given name.  Recently I looked at my junior high school graduation certificate and sure enough, my name written on it is Mary and no accent on the surname.  The high school diploma correctly gives my name as Maria but no accent on my surname.  Partial victory in my effort to keep my identity intact!

As I said, Hilda H. and I became friends.  She was sweet and kind and I believe that she thought the same about me.  We considered each other ‘dear friends’ according to the comments on our class graduation photo. Several times during the first year of our friendship, Hilda was invited to my house for lunch and I to hers. We lived within walking distance.  Our friendship grew despite the fact that I had never seen or heard of a black person until a few days before I left Italy for the USA.  The first black person that I ever saw was a male walking the streets of Palermo when we went there to pick up our AMERICAN passports at the American Embassy. Since I did not know about a black race I had no prejudices built in me, and I had no idea of slavery in the USA, nor about the Civil War. I knew nothing of the conflicts between North and South.  I knew nothing about the fact that history was being made at that very moment, and that the years of 1954 and 1955 were the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Some of the milestones created in those two years were the Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas; the killing of Emett Till; Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat; etc.  

There were some good movies being shown at the theaters in those two important years and Hilder and I decided to go see a movie together.  We started out from my family’s apartment off Talbot Street, a major road at the time, with the intent to walk the mile or two needed to reach the theater.  Soon enough we were confronted by jeering people, young and old.  These people yelled profanities at us, nasty racial comments that I did not understand at the time, epithets, they spat on us, and they did their best to make us cower from fear.  I was bewildered, I had no idea what was going on but Hilder knew.  She tried to talk me into going back home but I insisted that we go to the movies.  I guess those Librizzi Red Ants genes made their appearance and I was not going to give in to bullying, even if I could not understand the why and what was happening.  Once again, it was a few years later when I began to unravel the events of that day and to this day I cannot understand how and why there was so much prejudice in a northern state that fought against the south in the Civil War. I know the realities of North and South and the myths, and I know about prejudices and human beings regardless the geography. But I still do not understand.

What movie did we see that day? Who knows? It is all an unnerving blur.  Records show that some of the popular movies at the time were Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden, The Seven Year Itch, Guys and Dolls, Helen of Troy.  As I write this a memory is making an appearance, I see a beautiful actress on a horse with blond tresses wrapped around her head. I remember how much I coveted those tresses. Was she Helen of Troy?  In my memory the horse is flying across a meadow and I wonder if while I watched the horse gallop across the screen I wished that I were free and happy as that horse seemed to be. Perhaps I wanted to escape my unhappy reality full of rejection and humiliations. 

The above account is an excerpt from my "Remembrances", an ongoing  collection of my memories and experiences of life in Librizzi and  the USA. 

From time to time I will add other similar posts.

Maria

The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, and Filippo Mazzei.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, THOMAS JEFFERSON, AND FILIPPO MAZZEI






On June 12, 1776, the Virginia convention adopted the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by the patriot George Mason. In part, the Declaration said: “That all Men are created equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural Rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their Posterity…”



On July 4, 1776, at the meeting in Philadelphia, the Representatives of the United States of America adopted a Declaration drafted by Thomas Jefferson. In part the Declaration stated “We hold these Truths to be self evident. That ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”



Between 1774 and 1776 Filippo Mazzei, wrote (under the pseudonym “Furioso”) many articles against British rule. The articles were first written in Italian then they were translated into English by his friend Thomas Jefferson, and published in the ‘Virginia Gazette’. One article read in part:
“Tutti gli uomini sono per natura egualmente liberi e indipendenti. Quest’ eguaglianza e’ necessaria per costituire un governo libero. Bisogna che ognuno sia uguale all’oltro nel diritto naturale.”… etc
The following is a translation of Mazzei’s words: “All men are by nature equally free and independent. This equality is necessary in order to create a free government. All men must be equal to each other in natural rights”

The thoughts of an Italian immigrant became embodied in the founding document of the United States of America, the Declaration of Independence!



Who was Filippo Mazzei?

Filippo Mazzei was born December 25, 1730 in Poggio-a-Caiano, Tuscany, Italy. He studied medicine in Florence and practiced medicine in Pisa and Livorno (Italy), Smyrna and Constantinople (Turkey). In 1756 he went to London where he organized the firm of Martini and Co., which imported cheese, wine and olive oil into England. While in England the Grand Duke of Tuscany asked Mazzei to purchase two franklin stoves giving Mazzei the opportunity to meet Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Adams, and other Americans.

Mazzei’s American friends persuaded him to form a company in Virginia to promote the culture of silkworms, olives, grapes, and the production of wine. He arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in November of 1773. He brought with him a group of Italians who were to introduce in Virginia the cultivation of vineyards, olives, and other Mediterranean fruits. He also brought a tailor, the widow Maria Martin whom he married in 1774, her daughter, and Carlo Bellini. At Jefferson’s recommendation Bellini became a professor of modern languages at the College of William and Mary.

While Thomas Adams was giving Mazzei a tour of Virginia they stopped at the estate of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson immediately started a friendship with Mazzei and convinced Mazzei to buy land adjacent to Monticello, about four miles from Charlottesville. Mazzei called his estate Colle (Hill). The friendship with Jefferson lasted over 40 years.

Mazzei became involved with Virginia’s political activities, became a naturalized citizen of Virginia, and established his reputation as a patriot by joining the revolutionary war effort. Mazzei and Jefferson worked together composing article about freedom and equalities. One of those articles was the source for Jefferson’s famous statement in the Declaration of Independence “ALL MEN ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL”. Jefferson gave Mazzei a copy of the “Rough Draught” of the Declaration of Independence, while an excerpt of Mazzei’s “Instructions of the Freeholders of Albemarle County to their Delegates in Convention” was used by Jefferson in his attempt to institute a new state constitution. Mazzei became a private in the “Independent Company” of Albemarle and participated in a march toward the Atlantic coast in an effort to thwart the British when they first landed troops at Hampton.

By 1778 it was decided by Jefferson, Patrick Henry, George Mason and others that Mazzei could be useful abroad to obtain a loan for the State of Virginia. But before Mazzei could accomplish his mission he and his family were captured by the British and held prisoners. While at sea Mazzei put his instructions and commission in a weighted sack and threw them overboard. The British sent him and his family to Ireland from where they escaped to France. Once he arrived in Tuscany he was able to borrow money from the Grand Duke of Tuscany for Virginia and to buy goods in Italy for the use of state troops. He gathered political and military information for Governor Jefferson.

Mazzei returned to Virginia in 1783 and left again for Europe in 1785 never to return to his adopted country. His wife stayed at the Colle until she died in 1788, she is buried in the family graveyard at Monticello.

Mazzei maintained a close relationship with his former compatriots including Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. Mazzei helped Jefferson obtain portraits of Vespucci, Columbus, Magellan, and Cortez from the grand duke of Florence. As a last gesture of friendship to the USA, in 1802 at the age of 75 he traveled to Rome to hire two sculptors to work in the National Capital, Washington, D.C. They were Giovanni Andrei and Giuseppe Franzoni. Perhaps one of Mazzei's most important contributions to the American cause was the writing and publishing in 1788 his four volume history of the colonies. “Recherches historique et politiques sur les Etats Unis de Amerique septentrionale” described the founding of each of the 13 colonies, the cause of the Revolution, and the development of the government of the United States.

Mazzei was involved with French affairs during the French Revolution and later was involved with Polish affairs working with King Stanislaus. Mazzei succeeded in reestablishing diplomatic relations between France and Poland. After reading Mazzei’s “Recherches”, King Stanislaus invited him to Warsaw to be a friend and advisor.

In 1792 Mazzei returned to Pisa, married Antonina Tonini in 1796, had a daughter Elizabetta in 1798. In Pisa he started to cultivate his garden and was known as Pippo l’ortolano. ‘Phil the gardener' died in Pisa on March 19, 1816, three years after completing his memoirs. After his death the remainder of his family returned to the USA at the urging of Thomas Jefferson. They settled in Massachusetts and Virginia. Mazzei’s daughter married the nephew of John Adams.



Mazzei’s contributions to the cause of the American Revolution have been acknowledged by John F. Kennedy in his book “A Nation of Immigrants”.
Before Kennedy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt reminded Americans of Mazzei’s contribution to Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence.
Hon. Mario Biaggi of New York, had inserted in the Congressional Record of September 12, 1984 an essay about Filippo Mazzei written by Sister Margherita Marchione, a professor at Farleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.
The Joint Resolution 175 of the 103rd Congress notes that Jefferson borrowed the expression from an Italian friend and neighbor – Philip Mazzei.
In 1980 the U.S. Postal Service issued a 40-cent stamp commemorating the 250th anniversary of Mazzei’s birth.


Thomas Jefferson on Philip Mazzei - (The Jefferson Encyclopedia)

1778 October 19. (Jefferson to John Hancock) "Philip Mazzei possesses first rate ability...He has been a zealous whig from the beginning and I think may be relied on perfectly in point of integrity. He is very sanguine in his expectations of the services he could render us on this occasion and would undertake it on a very moderate appointment..."

1784 March 16. (Jefferson to James Madison, Annapolis) "An alarming paragraph in your letter says Mazzei is coming to Annapolis. I tremble at the idea. I know he will be worse to me than a return of my double quotidian headache."

1816 July 18. (Jefferson to Giovanni Carmignani) "An intimacy of 40 years had proved to me his great worth; and a friendship, which had begun in personal acquaintance, was maintained after separation, without abatement by a constant interchange of letters. His esteem too in this country was very general; his early and zealous cooperation in the establishment of our independence having acquired for him here a great degree of favor."

1816 July 18. (Jefferson to Thomas Appleton) "Your letter brought me the first information of the death of my ancient friend Mazzei, which I learn with sincere regret. He had some peculiarities (and who of us has not?), but he was of solid worth; honest, able, zealous in sound principles, moral and political, constant in friendship, and punctual in all his undertakings. He was greatly esteemed in this country..."

Adelasia del Vasto, a Medieval woman of note

I have already talked about The Trotula, now it is time to feature another Medieval woman of note the legendary contessa of Sicily and regina of Jerusalem, Adelasia (or Adelaide) del Vasto. Adelasia was not only a historical figure of Sicily but she actually was part of the history of Patti and the nearby town of Librizzi.

Adelasia was the third wife of the Norman Ruggero I d’Altavilla, Great Count of Sicily and Calabria, the founder of the Norman dynasty in Sicily. They were the parents of King Ruggero II, the first king of Sicily and great grandparents of Federico II, the Stupor Mundi.

Adelasia of Montferrat or Adelasia del Vasto was born in Piemonte in 1074, her father was the Marchese Manfred del Vasto, a descendant of the Aleramo who in 967 had been granted the territory of Montferrat by Emperor Otto I. Montferrat was situated south-east of Turin. When Manfred died his unscrupulous brother Bonifazio usurped power from the legitimate heirs of Manfred. Defrauded, the legitimate heirs who were minors and defenseless, decided to leave the Lombard region of Northern Italy and settle in the more hospitable and prosperous island of Sicily. In fact during the 11th century there was a large migration of Lombards to Sicily where they founded towns such as Novara, San Fratello, and today’s Piazza Armerina!

The fifteen year old Adelasia was asked by the recently widowed Gran Conte Ruggero to become his third wife. They were married in Mileto, Calabria, in 1089. Ruggero was 60 years old and the father of 10 children, three of whom were males and thus the future heirs. The Gran Conte and Adelasia had two sons, Simone who was born in 1092 and died in 1105, and Ruggero II (born in Mileto on December 22, 1095) who became the first King of Sicily.



Ruggero, il Gran Conte di Calabria e Sicilia

Adelasia a capable and ambitious woman was very lucky in fulfilling her aspirations. Her husband’s male children from the previous marriages died leaving Simone and Ruggero II heirs of Sicily and Calabria. When the Gran Conte died in 1101 first Simone and then Ruggero became the rulers with Adelasia as their regent. In fact she ruled for ten years until Ruggero was considered an adult at the age of 17. Adelasia was a successful regent since she had learned from her husband how to govern, the art of diplomacy and mediation. In addition she surrounded herself with extremely capable advisors of all ethnic groups including the admiral Cristodulo who was reputed to be of Greek or Arab ancestry. In fact she wisely refused to discriminate against Sicilians of any ancestral origins. She followed her husband’s policy that Latins, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, and other ethnic groups, were to be respected as were their customs and culture.

Adelasia courageously defended her children’s throne, quelled many revolts (including one in Focero’ in the area of Librizzi and Sant’Angelo di Brolo). She was just and intervened with authority to put an end to the various controversies that arose between the abbots of different Bishoprics. Even though she was a Roman Catholic, Adelasia protected the Greek Orthodox Church which for centuries had been the major Christian religion of Sicily, in fact she freely made donations of vast tracts of land to the Greek Church. Adelasia moved the Royal Court from Calabria to Messina, the base from where the Normans had extended their dominion of Sicily, and then to the flourishing city of Palermo.

When her son Ruggero II took over his hereditary responsibilities, Adelasia’s work was done, but her character was not one to sit back and retire to a private life. She did not want to interfere with her son’s politics and rulings, so she looked elsewhere for opportunities that would give her power and to help her son become king. Luck once again favored Adelasia. In 1112 Baldovino I of Fiandra (Flanders) King of Jerusalem, sent an ambassador to Messina to ask Adelasia’s hand in marriage. It was a calculated political move by Baldovino in order to forge an alliance with the Normans and to get his hands on Adelasia’s vast riches. The already married Baldovino repudiated his first wife who had not given him any children, ensconced her in a convent with the false accusation of immorality, and obtained an annulment. Unaware of Baldovino’s duplicitous plans Adelasia accepted the proposal but she made sure that the matrimonial contract included a clause that stipulated that upon Baldovino’s death, if they did not have any children to succeed him, the Kingdom of Jerusalem would be given to her son Ruggero II. (Adelasia was ahead of her times, this matrimonial contract sounds like a modern prenup to me!)

The contract was signed and in 1113 Adelasia left Palermo for Jerusalem. The ship on which Adelasia traveled was decorated with a masthead gilded with pure gold, the stern and bow were also gilded with gold and decorated by very talented artisans. She was accompanied by 11 naval ships full of soldiers, among whom were 500 Sicilian Saracen archers who were renown throughout the West for their valor; military arms; merchandise and provisions; … All the ships and all that they carried including the archers and soldiers were wedding gifts for the King of Jerusalem. The ships also carried the personal treasures of the countess which included jewels, gold, precious stones, silver, fabrics, and expensive textiles. When Adelasia arrived in the new kingdom, she was received with all of the honors due her, and the wedding was celebrated in a lavish ceremony.

Having resolved his economic and military problems through the matrimony with Adelasia, and having squandered her extensive dowry, on the 25th of April of 1117 Baldovino had his marriage annulled! Adelasia’s luck ran out! The deeply grieved and humiliated Adelasia returned to Palermo. Her son Ruggero was furious and devastated for the horrible treatment of his mother but for political reasons was unable to vindicate his mother. However years later he refused to support the Second Crusade to Jerusalem, perhaps it was a delayed act of revenge. In an attempt to alleviate his mother’s sorrow, Ruggero organized great festivities to celebrate her return but the proud and sensitive Adelasia decided not to remain at the Royal Court and went to live at the Convent of San Bartolomeo in Palermo and then she decided to get far away from Palermo and went to live in the monastery of Patti. Adelasia died in Patti on April 16, 1118. She did not witness her dream come to fruition, her son Ruggero II became first King of Sicily in the year 1130.



La Cattedrale di Patti

Rigina Adelasia, as the Pattesi call her, is buried in the Cathedral of San Bartolomeo in Patti. Adelasia and her husband in 1094 had founded on the hill a Benedictine convent and abbey. Later Ruggero II built at the highest point of Patti a church to house the mortal remains of his mother. In 1693 the original church was restored and rebuilt in the shape of a Latin Cross. At the transept there are two lateral chapels, one dedicated to the SS Sacramento and the other to Santa Febronia, patron Saint of Patti. Inside the chapel of Santa Febronia is found the marble sarcophagus containing the remains of Adelasia.



The Sarcophagus of Adelasia del Vasto

The Cathedral of San Bartolomeo is also the church that housed for a few days the body of Federico II, il Stupor Mundi. When Federico II died his body was brought to Patti, the location of his great grandmother’s tomb. After a few days of mourning his body was transferred to Palermo where he is buried in the Cathedral of Palermo.



La Cattedrale di Patti

In 2008 Patti honored Adelasia with a historical exhibit about their beloved and legendary Rigina. Among other things, the exhibit contained the Ruggero official Bull (Seal) and Adelasia’s decrees written on parchment.

The State Archives of Palermo is the repository of the oldest extant document in Europe written on paper, dated 1109. It comes from the chancellery of the Norman kings who had occupied Sicily. It is a bilingual order written in Arabic and Greek, and it concerns a salt mine near Castro Giovanni. The author of the order is Adelasia, Countess of Calabria and Sicily, third wife of Ruggero I Count of Sicily and Calabria, founder of the Norman dynasty! Adelasia wrote the order on paper rather than parchment because it was not an official document, official documents were written only on parchment. The Adelasia document which has been restored by the latest technologies has revealed that it is paper of Arabic origin.



The oldest extant document in Europe written on paper, a letter by Adelasia del Vasto.

ADELASIA DEL VASTO, a notable medieval woman from the end of the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th, is still a woman of interest in the 21st century!


Just a personal note: I lived in Patti for a year while attending the first year of the Ginnasio. For the second year of the Ginnasio I commuted by bus from Librizzi to Patti, a trip of only 15 minutes. I have fond memories of the time spent in Patti.

REMEMBERING GRANDPA GIUSEPPE MUSCARA'

" Numquam est tam male Siculis, 
qui aliquis facete et commode dicant......".

  GIUSEPPE MUSCARA’

My grandfather Giuseppe Muscarà was born January 2, 1874 at 3 in the afternoon; his parents were Don Gaetano Muscarà and Donna Angela Natoli. The witnesses for the birth were Pasquale Fuso, contadino age 34, and Michele Salpietro (son of Felice), age 53 contadino. The mayor at that time was Fortunato Gugliotta. The official documents that I read categorize Giuseppe, Angela, and Gaetano as Industrioso or Civile, this terminology indicated that they were part of the upper class (the social classifications were clearly stated in all official documents).  The family, at the time of grandpa’s birth, lived in the neighborhood of Librizzi called Porta Patti. 

Great grandpa don Gaetano Muscarà, died when his son was only three years old. After Gaetano's death, great grandma Angela married don Giovanni Muscarà, brother of Gaetano.

Grandpa Giuseppe, known as don Pippinu, married Catena (Maria) Rottino, daughter of Filippo Rottino and donna Teresa Marziano. The Banns of marriage for Giuseppe and Catena were posted March 21, 1896. The witnesses for the Banns were Giuseppe Capitti, age 29, and Giuseppe Palino, age 27, calzolaio. Grandpa and grandma were married on March 22, 1896. Once again the witnesses for the wedding were Giuseppe Capitti and Giuseppe Palino.

 Maria Catena Rottino, age 68 or 69

My grandparents had the following children:

    1. Antonino Muscarà. My father was named for his paternal great grandpa don Antonino Marziano.

    2. Giovanni Salvatore Natalino Muscarà. 

    3. Filippo Muscarà. He was named for his maternal grandfather.  

    4. Gaetano Muscarà. He was named for his grandfather.

    5. Angela Muscarà. Angela was named for her grandma donna Angela Natoli.

    6. Francesco (Ciccino) Muscarà. He was named for his great grandfather Francesco Muscarà.

    7. Teresa Muscarà. She was named for her maternal grandma donna Teresa Marziano.

    8. Eufrasina (Frasina) Muscarà.  She was a redhead just like grandpa.  

    9. Carmela Muscarà. She was named for grandpa’s sister.

Grandpa had a brother and a sister. I was unaware that he had any siblings until a few years ago when I started to research my family tree. I left Italy when I was very young and, to my recollection, I was not aware that he had siblings. Grandpa’s sister was Carmela Muscarà, she was born on September 21, 1871 and died on September 29, 1883. At the time of her death Carmela was only 13 years old. Grandpa named his first daughter Carmela in remembrance of his sister. His brother was Francesco Muscarà, born in 1877. He married Anna Finocchiaro in 1907.  

  Giuseppe Muscarà was a descendant of Greeks colonists, a Siceliot (Siceliot refers to Greek Colonists of Sicily and their descendants). I base the conclusion that the Muscarà name is of Siceliot origin on the results of my research on the history of Librizzi, the consistent naming of family members with names of Greek origin, and the fact that the surname Muscarà is derived from a Greek word meaning “owners of calves”. Through the Census records, I have been able to establish a direct Muscarà ancestry starting with the early 1400s. The records show that the Muscarà owned large estates of land and homes, in the areas of Librizzi called Feu, Spinello, Fossa, Pantano, Pianoforno, Vallone Vina, Nasidi, etc. The documents also record age, sex, occupations, honorary titles and educational titles of the people living in the household of the person declaring the Census information.  The documents are signed by the head of the household if he or she could write and also by the census taker. If the declarant could not write, that information was annotated as well. All of the Muscarà documents are signed by the head of the household. Most of the male Muscarà were referred to as Dottore. In the early centuries the title of Doctor did not mean medical doctor but doctor of philosophy, law, etc. 

 First page of a Census record of one of my ancestors il Dottor Gianmatteo Muscarà

Last page of the same document signed by il Dottor Gianmatteo Muscarà

 

The estate at the Feu is located in the area of the Colla (Codda), it abuts the river Timeto. When I was a child, the Feu (Sicilian for fiefdom) was one of the places that I often visited with grandpa. He used to go to the Feu to talk with the overseer of the Feu and to visit with the people who formerly were tenant farmers on his estate. They were descendants of serfs and later tenant farmers who for centuries had been part of the Muscarà estates. In the 1940s the former Muscarà tenants still lived in the same ancestral homes on grandpa's land, even though the tenants no longer were part of the Feu. My great grandfather and my grandfather felt a responsibility toward these people and allowed them to live rent free (as far as I know) in their usual homes.

 River Timeto

Photo by Carmelo Rifici

In early 1800s the Sicilian Parliament outlawed feudal privileges, and by the end of the Risorgimento, the War for the Unification of Italy, former feudal lands were arbitrarily confiscated.  When Garibaldi and his Redshirts (also known as the Thousand Men), predominantly Piemontese, landed in Sicily, Garibaldi actively recruited Sicilian volunteers to fight for his cause. He did this by appealing to the peasants, promising them the division of large estates and giving them “free land” if they joined the fight. In addition if they died their family would get the promised “free land”. At the same time Garibaldi was giving ‘assurances’ to the landowners that their estates would not be broken up if they supported his cause. It was a time when Sicilians wanted to get rid of the Bourbon regime and Garibaldi also promised to free the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from the Bourbon State of Naples and Sicily.

The Bourbons were driven out but now Sicily was controlled by the Piemontese government.  The new regime confiscated the National Bank (and five million ducats from the Palermo mint) whose assets dwarfed those of Piedmont.  Most of the landholdings by the Church were confiscated by the new government, and with them numerous schools which were then closed.  Most Sicilian schools had been administered by the monastic orders and were not substituted by state institutions. This meant that illiteracy became widespread with the poorer class. The promise made to the large landowners was not kept and large tracts of land were confiscated and parceled out to the peasants. Many peasants immediately sold the free land for paltry sums to a new moneyed middle class, but now they did not have a padrone to give them work and protect them. So the poor got poorer and the landowners were impoverished.   

The societal changes in Sicily brought about by the War for the Unification of Italy are very well described by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa in his novel Il Gattopardo, The Leopard in English. The 1963 film The Leopard directed by Luchino Visconti and featuring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon is based on Lampedusa’s novel. The novel is an accurate account of what happened historically and it reflects pretty much my family’s story.

The Muscarà family was tremendously affected by the land reforms of 1812 and especially by the confiscation of land during and after the Risorgimento.  My family lost huge tracts of land at the Feu, nearby Spinello, at the Fossa, at the Pantano, etc., land that had belonged to the Muscarà for centuries. The Riveli di Bene e di Anime (Census records) clearly show that the Feu had been in the family at least from the early ,1500s hundreds. In addition to the Feu other locations for the Muscarà land and houses are mentioned in the earliest available Census records, not only in other sections of Librizzi but also in the towns of Montagnareale, Patti, Nohara (today’s Novara di Sicilia), Sant’Angelo di Brolo, and Raccuia.  Many of the properties mentioned in those early records were still owned by my family when I was a child, particularly land and houses in the areas of the Feu, Pianoforno, Fossa, Pantano, and Librizzi center. In fact even today’s Muscarà descendants including myself have land at the Pantano, Fossa, and Pianoforno, and perhaps at the Feu as well. In addition part of grandpa’s ancestral house is still owned by our family although it is abandoned, crumbling and in disrepair, a mere shell of the former edifices.  When I look at the building it makes me think of a derelict who once had been a noble prince!  

Grandfather don Pippinu was caught between two worlds, the feudal and privileged one of his ancestors and a new social order that turned the old world upside down.  His world was an inheritance already fading away, the values and expectations of a moribund social elite were no longer relevant or possible. From his birth to his death, Grandpa actually watched his own world dying. I am sure that grandpa would identify with don Fabrizio the main character of Lampedusa’s The Leopard. At one point don Fabrizio says “I am a member of the old ruling class…. I belong to an unfortunate generation, swung between the old world and the new, and I find myself ill at ease in both.   And what is more, as you must have realized by now, I am without illusions…. We of our generation must draw aside and watch the capers and somersaults of the young around this ornate catafalque.”   

Grandpa was the Pater Familias of the Muscarà and responsible for their well being and economic sustenance. The ancestral estates provided not only the land but the manpower to work the land. With the loss of feudal rights and the diminished landholdings he was also left without the manpower to maintain the former established way of life. He needed to adjust to a new world but it was very difficult for a man who lived almost 96 years. As grandpa’s liquid assets diminished, he started selling his houses and land piece by piece, and when the funds from the sale of his estates ran out he sold another house or another piece of land. Trying to adapt to the ‘new world” and having to make a living he opened a food store – macelleria -  tavern, in fact he turned part of his house into his business venue. Of course the remaining land was still cultivated by people that he hired and it yielded wine, olive oil, fruit, wheat, etc. for personal use.  The land was also the source of the hazelnuts family business, in fact the cultivation of the hazelnuts (not just by the Muscarà but by other families as well) was the town’s biggest agricultural enterprise.  I have been told by old timers that large amounts of these nuts were purchased by the Perugina Chocolate Factory to make their best known treats called Baci (Kisses). Baci are truffles made with milk chocolate, hazelnuts, and nougat, and then bathed in inky black dark chocolate. Pure heaven!   

Grandpa must have felt the conflict between the love of his own past and his appreciation for the possibilities of the newly unified Italy. I never heard grandpa talk about the past nor complain about life’s hardships in a changing world. In addition to the complications of the Risorgimento, during his lifetime he also had to deal with other historical life changing events such as the First and Second World Wars. Yet I saw a positive and fun person who took the time out to spoil me, a person who was very proud to be an Italian. One vivid memory of grandpa is that he always wore the Italian colors on his lapel. Although grandpa never spoke to me of our ancestry, perhaps because I was just a child and left Italy soon after WWII, he did make my cousins and family aware of the Muscarà history. I was absolutely surprised when in 2003, during a visit to Librizzi, I commented to a couple of cousins of my research about our ancestors, the famous Muscarà that I discovered, and that our coat of arms is found inside the church of Maria SS della Catena. They looked at me as if I had come down from Mars and said “Yes we know, grandpa told us about our family history”. In fact I found out that the town of Librizzi considers one of our ancestor don Andrea Muscarà as one of her three illustrious sons. I find it ironic that I spent years researching my family when MY FAMILY was well aware of the Muscarà history; my family just accepted our historical roots and never bragged about it. I was the one who was uprooted and trying to fit in a new country. I was the one who grew up without knowing about the ancestral roots and I was the one who truly needed to feel rooted in my ancestry!

 As I mentioned above, I used to visit the Feu with my beloved redheaded grandpa (Yes, grandpa had beautiful red hair.) who would hop on one of his horses, sit me in front of him and gallop away to the Feu. Upon arrival at the Feu I was always treated to goodies by the former tenants and by grandpa's friends who lived at the Colla, having a sweet tooth I always looked forward to the visits. Another fun part of the trip was the crossing of the River Timeto in order to get to the Feu itself. This was done on foot because during the summer the river would dry up and we could cross the river by stepping on the strategically placed river stones. Interestingly while researching the history of Librizzi I discovered that at one time the Timeto had been navigable! The land along the river was fertile, there were vineyards, orange and lemon groves, olive groves, and acres and acres of "golden fields". Wheat was grown in the area and it was quite a beautiful sight to see the fields of golden wheat spikes dotted with beautiful red papaveri, poppies.  

I loved my grandpa and he loved me. Apparently I reminded him of his wife who passed away when I was 7 years old, and therefore he doted on me, so I was told, more than he did for his other grandchildren. Actually my opinion is that he was able to spend more time with me because by the time that I was born he was an older gentleman and had plenty of time to chase me around the piazza, or read the newspaper to me, or take me on his horse to visit his land, etc. I remember that I was very mischievous and that I would run all over town with him chasing me, I ran with abandon in an effort to outrun him. I am sure that it was grandpa’s plan not to catch me but, of course, I was too young to realize that it was all part of the game. I thought that I was the one in charge!  The times spent with grandpa are happy memories for me. I felt free, loved, and very happy. He did not forget me when I came to the United States, he often wrote to me and it was obvious that he missed me tremendously. When my husband and I were married, grandpa wrote to me a lovely congratulatory note. I still have the treasured note written by the trembling hand of an 89 year old man.

Grandpa had a daily routine. First of all, on most days he walked for 5 or 6 miles, just for the fun of it. He did this until the year before his death at the age of 96 minus a month. Invariably his lunch consisted of two fried eggs, bread, and a glass of wine. He always had a newspaper nearby to read silently to himself, or aloud to me. Another item that he kept close to him for daily reading was a Bible. This was unusual since the Librizzi men of his generation seldom went to church, they expected their wives and daughters to go to church and pray for them! However many of our ancestors had been priests since our family followed the historical custom of designating the second or third son to the priesthood, perhaps grandpa was influenced by the traditional family piety.

After lunch and the usual siesta, grandpa used to sit on his balcony and chat with a man across the street whose balcony was directly across grandpa’s. Grandpa’s friend was a very old man who even in the heat of the Librizzi August summers, would sit on the balcony covered with blankets! I was fascinated with this old man who wanted to live a little longer so that he could reach his 100^th birthday! His dream almost came true but not quite, he died just before his 100^th birthday! In my adult life I frequently thought of this man and wondered who he was, I finally discovered his identity this past June of 2009. He was don Achille Marziano a renown mayor of the town, and grandpa’s first cousin!  Finding out that the ‘old man’ was actually one of my ancestors was a pleasant surprise. For years I had known about the celebrated mayor don Achille Marziano from the book “Memorie di ieri e dell’altro ieri” that his son Marco Marziano wrote and dedicated to his dad. I also ‘knew’ him from reading the town’s records and from reading the book “Librizzi” written by Antonino D’Amico.

The book written by Marco Marziano is very interesting because it is a collection of remembrances of Librizzesi who are eighty or older. The first story in the book is actually Marco’s own memories about “a summer night of many years ago”. It takes place during the Second World War and three of the people featured in the story are Andrea, Giuseppe, and Gennaro Muscarà, my dad’s first cousins and accomplished musicians.

The story that is of interest in regard to the events of the Risorgimento and the Mayor Achille Marziano is the one titled ‘Il Garibaldino’, his name was Cono Pizzino. The date was February 6, 1935 and the Garibaldino’s coffin was being brought to the church for the burial rites. When the Podestà of the town asked whose funeral it was he discovered that it was the Garibaldino’s.  The Podestà immediately asked the family to wait for him in church. In less than an hour a platoon of the MVSN was presenting arms in front of the altar in the church, a band was playing a funeral march, and the Italian flag was being carried in front of the procession.  The Podestà explained that it was his duty to render homage to a patriot who fought for the Unity of Italy. Cono Pizzino had been 18 years old when he joined Garibaldi’s army of volunteers.  Cono was not a Librizzese, he came to live in Librizzi to get away from the town that did not appreciate his contributions to the War. On the other hand Librizzi appreciated and honored their three volunteers who had joined the Garibaldi army, and had been rewarded by the mayor of Librizzi, as ordered by the new State, with plots of land! The mayor who awarded the land was cousin don Achille Marziano, the little old man who was the object of my fascination.

 There is one memory about grandpa that is of special importance to me, it took place during the Second World War. It occurred at the time of the invasion of Sicily and the Allied soldiers were conducting warfare against the Germans in the area of the Colla. The Colla is located at a crossroads at the foot of historical Librizzi, one road led to the center of Librizzi the other one was a major road that connected Messina, Catania, and other large cities .  The rumors and stories of Allied soldiers molesting the women and children on their path were consistent and frightening. As their march got closer to the Colla, the town’s residents went into hiding in isolated parts of the nearby mountains. Grandpa started to evacuate his little grandchildren, especially the females, then the other children and adults (basically women and old men) into the remote and less accessible areas of our land or to friends' summer homes in the mountains. The first grandchildren that he brought to the mountains were me and my little brother Pippo, he placed us on his horse and furiously galloped away. It was an exhilarating flight with the wind caressing my face and the speed of the flying horse to add the element of reckless excitement. Besides, I was with my grandpa. I was three and a half years old at that time. He brought us to the home of a friend where others from the town had already arrived. He left us there to go back and get the next batch of grandchildren. My family and I were separated for a day or two as it took a while to figure out which grandchild was left where. Eventually grandpa and my mom found us and brought us to where the rest of the family was taking refuge, we arrived to the other location in the middle of the night. The children were bedded down inside the house and the adults were sleeping outside. I did not wish to be away from mom and I went out looking for her. Walking over or around the adults sleeping under the moon I finally found my mother, grandmother, and aunts. That night and subsequent nights I slept outside with the adults. It was a magical time for a little girl, I was reunited with my mother, the warm nights were clear and the night sky was full of twinkling jewels. I was content and fearless.  It was a peaceful break from the very chaotic and frightening bombing of bridges in the Colla area, town of Patti, and other nearby locations. I do not know how long we remained hidden in the mountains but eventually we returned to the town where the old men, including my grandfather, had gone back to immediately after the evacuation. Once their families were in a safe place the man were prepared to guard their homes and businesses. Grandpa was 69 years old.   

Grandpa, age 94 or 95

Grandpa always wore a beret

I own a tiny part of the centuries old compound of houses that used to be the Muscarà residences.  For some reason my heart is tied to the past and to the part of the house where during my childhood my grandparents lived, and where my father and his siblings were born and grew up.  No, I am not emotionally ready to let go of the ‘house’ and so here are a few more comments and remembrances about the house. 

 Portico Muscara' with a brief view of the inner court

One of the doors inside the courtyard where the horses were kept

These are my remembrances of grandpa’s house: To access the house from the lower level on Via San Michele, one had to go through the East entrance which was protected by a huge wrought iron gate, this entrance led to a covered area and from there one exited into the inner court. The gate was decorated with a design which I assume was the family stemma (crest). The sheltered area and the open court, known as the cortile, is where the horses were kept. The open court was formed by connecting buildings which faced East, West, North, and South. During my childhood the East and West wings of this courtyard were still owned by grandpa and the other two opposite wings had been sold. I remember being told that for centuries the whole compound had belonged to the Muscarà family. This assertion is supported by the Census documents that I read as they record the houses that made up this compound and give the names of specific Muscarà ancestors who lived there as well as names of the neighbors (the neighbors were all Muscarà related). The documents locate this compound in the area called Il Belvedere. To my knowledge, today there is no specific place in Librizzi called Il Belvedere, rather Il Belvedere today refers to any place from where there is a spectacular view. It so happens that the upper level of the compound was located on Via San Biaggio a few feet from the piazza, from this location there is a spectacular view of the Aeolian Islands and the Tyrrhenian Sea!  I really am not sure if the Muscarà Belvedere refers to the location of grandpa’s house by the piazza or if centuries ago there was another Muscarà compound.  Perhaps the early Muscarà lived in the oldest section of Librizzi by the Chiesa Matrice, where indeed there is a spectacular view of the River Timeto, the Gulf of Patti, the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Aeolian Islands, several towns, spectacular mountains to the East which came alive at sunrise, ….   

 I have always wondered why Grandma and my aunts Teresa and Frasina lived on the East Wing of the cortile while Grandpa lived on the West Wing across the cortile. The West wing had one entrance in the courtyard of the lower level and another entrance on the third floor level which was on Via San Biaggio near the Piazza Catena. The third floor of the West wing is where grandpa had his store-macelleria-taverna.  Above the store there was a fourth level of the West Wing, the forth level and the level below the store (second level) were grandpa’s living quarters. By the time that I left Librizzi the store was no longer in operation, and when I visited Librizzi in the 1970s that third level had been returned to the original living quarters.  After his death at the age of 96 minus a month, the East Wing had been sold and the two unmarried aunts Teresa and Frasina lived in the West wing.  

In 2008 I learned a little more about my grandpa from a newly found cousin who is the daughter of my mom’s uncle and his wife C.B.  CB. is 94 or 95 years old but her memory is phenomenal. She remembers grandpa don Peppinu very well.  She says that grandpa, Angelo Calabrese (my mother’s grandfather), and Filippo Palino, nicknamed "Passuluni" (husband of grandma’s sister Antonina Rottino) used to be friends.  The three of them used to meet in the piazza where they spent hours chatting. Apparently one favorite topic was taxes.  When the bills for the taxes arrived Angelo used to complain bitterly, but grandpa don Peppinu instead of complaining would face the church in the piazza and addressing himself to the Madonna, he would let her know what he thought of her! 

CB says that grandpa was impetuous, had a great sense of humor, loved to talk incessantly, .... She also says that grandma Rottino used to keep him in line, and knew how to keep grandpa from getting 'too excited' about things. CB also says that grandpa Peppino was a hard working man.  I asked CB what grandpa's nickname was and she said that it was 'don Peppinu Chicentra'. The nickname could be derived from the expression 'Chi centra?', 'what does it have to do with anything?’ Or the word 'centra', which is derived from the Greek word 'centron' means "punta, grosso chiodo, or spranga di ferro". These words all suggest a pointed object and strength. Was his nickname a reference about his personality or character? Did it refer to his strength, being honest, “calling a spade a spade”? Was it about his favorite saying “Chi centra”? I do not know.

Grandma and grandpa continued to be a presence in my life long after their death.  Starting at the time of grandma Rottino’s death (when I was seven years old) and ending about ten years ago, I had frequent dreams of both grandparents. Unfortunately when grandma came into my dreams, they were always scary and nightmarish (My life started to feel the consequences of my father’s two years spent in the German concentration camps around the time that grandma passed away.  I associated grandma’s death with the sad moments of my young life.). However, when I dreamt of grandpa they were good dreams. I used to dream of grandpa anytime that painful events were occurring in my life, and no matter how chaotic my real life was, grandpa used to come to my rescue through my dreams. He used to take care of me in my dreams and he would not let harm come to me. I am convinced that the calming dreams of grandpa kept me sane when my real world was too much to bear. Factual or not, possible or impossible, grandpa was and is my Guardian Angel.

 My beloved grandpa don Pippinu was and is my Angel and my hero.

May he rest in peace together with his beloved wife, my grandmother.

L’Angelo

Dorme l’angelo

Su rose d’aria, candido,

sul fianco,

a bacio del grembo

le belle mani in croce.

La mia voce lo desta

E mi sorride,

sparsa di polline

la guancia che posava.

Canta; m’assale il cuore,

opaco cielo d’alba.

L’angelo è mio;

Io lo posseggo: gelido.

Salvatore Quasimodo, “Oboe sommerso”