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sant’agata’s day begins
The bells woke me up. I stepped out onto my little balcony to see what the day looked like, and this was what greeted me.
And it only got better.
Catania, Sicily
photographed 2.4.2025
thin man
This guy is quite svelte, isn’t he?
Also, he’s modeling the traditional outfit that devotees – of all ages and sizes (s0, not just skinny dudes) – wear during the feast day celebrations for Catania’s patron saint Agata. (Sant’Agata is also remembered for being the protector of women with breast diseases, bell smelters and firefighters.)
Catania, Sicily
photographed 2.4.2025
procession (a sacred duty)
A tiny slice of the parade to honor Sant’Agata. It’s chaotic. And spiritual. And confusing. And somehow comforting.
Catania, Sicily
photographed 2.4.2025
tools of the trade
I can’t even begin to understand everything we saw during the Sant’Agata procession. Devotees in the streets purchase candles (yard long ones, not like little American birthday candles) which are handed up as offerings to the men on the candalore ((gilded wooden constructions). At various points during the three-day long procession, the parade stops while candles are removed in order to make way for more. At one of these stops, we stood behind a pair of priests and I had plenty of time to work on an image of this wooden rosary and its shadow.
Catania, Sicily
photographed 2.4.2025
devotee
On the morning of the first day of the Feast of Sant’Agata, I looked out my hotel window and saw a solitary devotee heading toward the cathedral.
It wasn’t long before the streets would be filled with people, many of them dressed in the traditional feast-day clothing like this gentleman. This moment, although I didn’t realize it then, was the only bit of quiet for a long time: the parades celebrating the Saint are loud and joyous.
Catania, Sicily
photographed 2.4.2025
One Day | One Image 