Noto was virtually razed to the ground by the Sicilian earthquake of 1693. Over half the population is believed to have died. From the ashes there arose an exquisite baroque city, built from the local limestone, which somehow absorbs the sun’s rays and transforms them into a soft golden glow.
Pamela and I have visited Noto twice. The first time, ten years ago. There was the most extraordinary wedding taking place in the cathedral. The cathedral steps were teeming with glamorous women and tiny men in shiny suits, all struggling with their knees, barely able to walk. The Main Street, the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, was lined with Maserati cars, expensive, elegant, and very eloquent – spelling out in luxurious lettering that the Mafia is still very much alive and kicking in this exquisite corner of Sicily.
We couldn’t resist a return visit to Noto during this year’s summer holiday. Another chance to marvel at the gleaming architecture over a late-afternoon ice cream in the square. While we were enjoying our chocolate gelato, a vast crowd began to gather… children in pushchairs, older brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, great grandparents, maiden aunts, dogs even. Some in exotic outfits: capes, hoods, tabards, all rather medieval. Dozens of youngsters bearing 12 foot high torches. And banners galor. I mustered enough Italian to enquire what was happening – and ascertained that they were preparing to celebrate their Patron Saint, Conrad of Piacenza (Corrado in Italian), a 13th century hermit who apparently has remarkable healing powers for hernias. I wish I’d heard of him 20 years ago. Corrado’s feast day is in February, when his relics are paraded through the streets of Noto, but there is a reprise of the celebration on the last Sunday in August, taking advantage of the better weather, enabling Noto citizens to come back home for the festivities, and allowing holiday makers to join in the fun. And fun it certainly was.
While Pamela was avidly devouring the final few pages of her novel, patiently waiting for the action, my camera and I were making the most of our vantage point on the balcony of the Town Hall. At 7 o’clock the banners started to pour out from the cathedral onto the heavily crowded steps, clearing a path for what was to follow. Next came the brass band – Sousa-esque, rousing, with an Italian twist. As the giant torches began to line the route, the clergy dribbled out, togged up in their liturgical finery. You could recognise the bishops only from their purple skullcaps (or zucchetti). There followed energetic hymn singing, and a litany invoking Corrado’s prayers. And finally, what everyone was waiting for: an immense silver casket containing the relics of San Corrado on a bier carried by at least 30 men. Their job was to wrestle him down the cathedral steps, of which there must be fifty or more, and then to carry him shoulder high through the streets of the city. Rapturous applause erupted when the saint arrived safe and sound at street level, and off they went with the giant, multi-generational crowd (ten thousand, or perhaps even fifteen or twenty) in tow. This was the point at which Pamela and I bowed out: we had luggage to pack for our journey home.
Over the past ten years, Pamela and I have often reminisced about the glories of Noto, along with that remarkable wedding which in our eyes slightly besmirched the city’s character. But our return visit has reversed that opinion and more besides. To witness a Christian festival that animates the whole city left a hint of a tear in my eye, provoked by the spirited praying and singing all around, and by the wondrous spectacle. I couldn’t help making a comparison with our relatively low key celebration of our Patron Peter here in Exeter. We usually muster a procession also: a couple of hundred or so, including some children (the choristers), and only inside the Cathedral – no venturing onto the Green. Somehow southern European Catholicism still manages to capture the popular imagination in a way that escapes the more sober and Protestant north. All the same, it gives us something to aim for – so I’ll have a chat with the Canon Precentor…. Do watch this space next June when St Peter’s Day comes round, and keep your eyes peeled for the Noto factor.
And finally… next Tuesday, the Bishop will install three new Prebendaries here at the Cathedral. We do hope you might be able to join us for Evensong at 5.30pm that day, when we shall welcome Stephen Cook from Okehampton, Joe Dent from Plymouth and Samantha Stayte from Lynton as new members of our College of Canons. Making someone a Prebendary is a way of recognising their outstanding service to the Church in Devon, the Church’s equivalent of the OBE; but their active participation in the College of Canons is the exciting bit for us here at the cathedral. Coming as they do from all over the county, members of the College serve as a sounding board, helping the Chapter think through how best to go about fulfilling the two essential roles set out in our Constitution:
- the Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop and a centre of worship and mission, and
- the Cathedral provides a focus for the life and work of the Church of England in the diocese
We much look forward to Stephen, Joe and Samantha bringing their fresh perspectives to this important body.
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From the Library…
A medieval blessing
In the medieval period, scribes often protected precious manuscripts by condemning to everlasting torment anyone who might steal or damage them. Curses are typically found on the end leaves of manuscripts; in the Leofric Missal, now at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, the curse is written in both Latin and Old English so there was no excuse for not understanding it.
But medieval manuscripts also carry blessings. Typically, scribes included what we call a colophon: a line or two, or sometimes a paragraph, about the production of the manuscript. A colophon might include the date of completion, the place of production, or the name of the scribe or illuminator. This ‘paratext’ is usually found at the end of the manuscript and almost always includes a petition for prayer.
The colophon in the Cathedral Library’s 13th century Psalter features a sketch of a figure and an arrow pointing to the text: ‘Animam scribentis benedicat lingua legentis’, or, ‘May the tongue of the reader bless the soul of the scribe’. Put simply, the scribe is asking us to bless him. Through this blessing, the manuscript reaches back across more than 700 years to connect us in the most profound way to its creator.
We are not asked to pray for the scribe directly; instead, the act of reading is the prayer and, since Psalms were read daily, our 13th century Psalter offered up a daily prayer for the soul of the scribe. Moreover, it was a communal prayer: in the medieval period, manuscripts were read aloud so those listening were also participating in a public blessing of the soul of the scribe. However, perhaps the real power of the blessing in our medieval Psalter is that it works both ways. Prayer is reciprocal: it blesses both the person being prayed for and the person praying.
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NEWS
Devon’s Biggest Christmas Market
Exeter Cathedral Christmas Market has become a major event in Devon’s festive calendar, in recent years attracting an estimated 600,000 visitors. Hosted and managed by the cathedral since 2017, it is the county’s biggest Christmas market, and it continues to grow. This year, Exeter’s historic Cathedral Green will host more than a hundred twinkling festive chalets. READ MORE >
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NEWS
Prayers for COP27
At tomorrow's Choral Evensong we will be praying for the COP27 conference in Sharm-el-Sheikh and all those who are attending. Photo by Roy Riley
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WHAT’S ON
Library & Archives In Focus: Wonderful Wills
Visit Exeter Cathedral on Thursday 24 November between 11am-1pm to explore some of the wills and inventories from the Cathedral Archives.You may be surprised at the worth of Dean Harward’s Georgian cheese toaster.
READ MORE >
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WHAT’S ON
Exeter Philharmonic Choir: Autumn Concert
Join us on tomorrow for the first concert of Exeter Philharmonic Choir’s 2022/23 season. The choir had planned to open its 176th season with a celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Instead the concert, aptly called ‘GLORIA’, will now be a thanksgiving for her long and glorious reign.
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WHAT’S ON
Devon Philharmonic Orchestra: Autumn Concert
Devon Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing at Exeter Cathedral on Saturday 19 November at 7:30pm featuring conductor Leo Geyer and leader Clare Smith.
READ MORE >
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SERVICES
Remembrance at Exeter Cathedral
All are welcome to join us at Exeter Cathedral for our Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday services, and our commemoration of the Polish 307 Squadron.
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SERVICES
Holy Ground – Where the Wild Things are: doing faith in uncertain and chaotic times
Join us for Holy Ground on Sunday 13 November at 6:30pm. This month we will be joined by David Runcorn who will be looking at faith in uncertain and chaotic times. Where do we go to look for the faith we need when life is experienced as increasingly uncertain and out of control?
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REVIEW
Book Review:
The Making of the Modern Middle East
Jeremy Bowen
The Making of the Modern Middle East – a personal history
Review by Dr Mike D Williams
The final event at the Budleigh Literary Festival this year was Jeremy Bowen talking about his latest book – a personal history of the Middle East. Jeremy, who as the BBC Middle East Editor, has been reporting from that region for over thirty years. He has been at the centre of a constantly shifting political and religious series of conflicts.
READ MORE >
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REFLECTION
Our Tune
By Revd. Canon Deborah Parsons
As a teenager, I regularly used to listen to Simon Bates’s Our Tune. It featured a personal story submitted by a listener with a song that had particular significance for them.
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THE A-Z
M: Memento Mori
This MEMENTO MORI (reminder of mortality) is a 17th-century version of an ancient metaphor for life. Bubbles represent lives of different ages, importance, wealth, etc. Bubbles burst & lives end.
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