L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017 LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, March, the month named for Mars the Roman god of war, h a s m a n y I t a l i a n c o n n e c t e d dates. Saint Patrick's Day. Yes, it's t i m e f o r y o u t o g e t a g r e e n necktie or scarf out of your closet and for me to recycle my "St. Patrick was Italian" column so you can win a few wagers at y o u r l o c a l " I r i s h C o f f e e " d i s p e n s a r y w h e r e d o u b t i n g Tommasi are sure to be present: The first St. Patrick's Day in the U.S. was held in Boston in 1734. By stretching things a bit, you can correctly state that "St. Patrick was Italian". P a t r i c k ' s p a r e n t s w e r e R o m a n s . T h e R o m a n s r u l e d England at that time. Calpurnius, P a t r i c k ' s f a t h e r , w a s a h i g h R o m a n d i p l o m a t l i v i n g i n England, but a Roman citizen. Patrick was born in England a r o u n d t h e y e a r 3 8 5 A . D . Roman cities in England had shops and beautiful houses, so Patrick lived the good life for a while. A c r o s s t h e s e a i n I r e l a n d (Eire), things were not so good. Tribal kings were constantly feuding, and in the year 400 A . D . , a t r i b a l k i n g ( N i a l l ) a t t a c k e d E n g l a n d . H e t o o k thousands of prisoners, including Patrick, for slaves. Soon the rich little Roman kid was forced to herd pigs and sheep, just a poor little slave boy far from home. Patrick was taken to Northern Ireland and sold to another tribal king named Meliucc. Meliucc and his family were kind on Patrick, and their children were good company . Still, Patrick (Maewyn) was alone in a strange land, only 15 years old. He did not know the language; he didn't k n o w i f h i s f a m i l y w a s s t i l l alive. Patrick slept in a mud hut and was a swineherd. A t 2 1 y e a r s o l d , a f t e r s i x years as a slave, he ran away. Walking many miles to the sea, he found a ship that took him back to England. By now, the Romans had been chased out; they were no longer the rulers, and the country was in ruins. P a t r i c k s a i l e d a c r o s s t h e channel and wandered through Europe, and then on to Rome, and found that by the year 410 A.D., the center of all Roman power had been conquered as well. His past was really dead, s o h e d e c i d e d t o g o b a c k t o England to think, pray and live v e r y q u i e t l y t h e r e . W h i l e i n prayer, he felt certain that God was calling him back to Ireland, to bring all those tribes together and make Ireland a Christian land. But first, Patrick went to France and studied religion there for ten years. In the year 432 A.D., Pope Celestine made Patrick a Bishop a n d n a m e d h i m " P a t r i c i u s " . Now, Bishop Patricius sailed for Ireland. The Irish people were not interested in Christianity and tried to stone him to death. The Bishop and his men fled and found shelter for the night in a barn near the shore. The barn belonged to a tribal king named Dichu. He thought the Bishop and his men were robbers and wanted to kill them. Patrick held out his hand and smiled, and a golden aura shone on his face. Dichu put down his weapon, his fierce dog stopped growling (according to legend), a n d D i c h u b e c a m e t h e f i r s t Christian in Ireland and the barn, the first church. P a t r i c k t r a v e l e d a l l o v e r I r e l a n d . H e a l w a y s h a d a drummer with him. When he arrived at a village, the drummer w o u l d d r u m , a n d t h e p e o p l e would come from their houses to listen to him (as in drumming up business). P a t r i c k s h o w e d t h e m a shamrock, like a three-leafed clover. Patrick explained the idea of the Father, the Son and t h e H o l y G h o s t . ( I f n o shamrocks are handy, use the water, ice and steam idea). T o d a y , t h e s h a m r o c k i s Ireland's national flower, and as more and more tribal kings and their people became Christians, they came together to worship and be united as a country. Bishop Patricius drummed the snaked out of Ireland and i n t o t h e s e a ( a c c o r d i n g t o legend), and built hundreds of c h u r c h e s . W h e n h e d i e d o n March 17 (between 461 and 492 A.D.), the Pope declared him a saint and had him buried on church grounds in Downpatrick, Ireland. In the U.S., St. Patrick's Day means party time. In Ireland, it means Holy Time. *** May your troubles be less and y o u r b l e s s i n g s b e m o r e a n d n o t h i n g b u t h a p p i n e s s c o m e through your Door. *** International women's Day, (La Festa della Donna) has been celebrated on March 8, in Italy for decades some say it may h a v e b e g u n a s a g r a s s r o o t s movement outside Italy in New York City where on March 8, 1857, garment workers went on strike, leading to the formation of the first women's union. In 1 9 4 5 , t h e U n i o n o f I t a l i a n Women proclaimed that March 8 should be set aside to celebrate a l l w o m e n . A y e a r l a t e r , i t became a nationally recognized day for women. The mimosa tree which blooms in March with its b r i g h t y e l l o w f l o w e r s a n d refreshing scent, became the symbol of La Festa delle Donne. Its perfumed branches are given b y f a m i l y a n d f r i e n d s t o t h e women in their lives as a gesture of appreciation and love. My daughter Caterina, named after her maternal "Nonna" has a March 8th birthday. Following a W o m a n ' s I n t e r n a t i o n a l Conference she attended in Italy, Caterina wrote: "While Italy is beautiful and Italian life is full of great food and good friends, it is n o t a l l a n t i p a s t o a n d r o s e s . Italian women are hardworking a n d t h e y h a v e t o b e . T h e unemployment rate for women in Italy is 16,8 percent, in southern I t a l y f o r w o m e n u n d e r 2 5 i t reaches the unbelievably high rate of 66 percent. This means the supplier side of the labor force has all the power. *** In Venice, at an International C o n g r e s s o f B u s i n e s s a n d Professional Women, there were 1,200 women from 46 countries. Women from around the globe, places like Nepal and Nigeria, Iceland and Papua New Guinea were represented. I found them h u n g r y f o r k n o w l e d g e a n d s u c c e s s . W h e t h e r t h e y represented the private of public sector, they all wanted better w o r k a n d a b e t t e r l i f e f o r themselves and others. I spoke with women from places like Turkey, Botswana, Jordan and Germany. They told me about t h e c h a l l e n g e s t h e y f a c e d a s w o m e n w o r k i n g i n t h e s e f a r a w a y p l a c e s . I w a s b o t h refreshed and saddened to find out that they faced the same challenge as we do in America, b a l a n c i n g w o r k a n d f a m i l y , managing others effectively and staying safe in a complex world. One of the speakers said "Tutto il Mondo è Paese", meaning "the whole world is one country". It sure feels that way after getting to know women from all over the worlds". *** International Women's Day is a good time to check out Lucia C h i a v o l a B i r n b a u m ' s b o o k , " L i b e r a z i o n e D e l l a D o n n a , Feminism in Italy" from your local library. I had it on my bookshelf and re-reading Lucia's book I was surprised to learn that as early as 1 9 4 5 a p o s t - w a r a n t i - c h u r c h Italian communist party leader, born in Genoa on a Palm Sunday in 1893 named Palmiro Togliatti was decrying Italy's historic subordination of women and called for women's full political and economic equality. "In traditional Italian culture, a woman was good if she was a s e l f l e s s w i f e a n d m o t h e r , subordinating herself to husband, family, church and society. Yet equal rights were written into Italy's 1948 constitution, and what may be the most advanced feminist legislation of Europe was placed into the Italian code after 1968". *** S t . J o s e p h D a y o n M a r c h 19th, is also Italy's Father's Day. St. Joseph Day until 1998 was also a National Holiday. But b e c a u s e I t a l y h a d s o m a n y holidays, the Italian government felt some cutbacks to the holiday calendar were needed, so St. Joe had to go. St. Joseph Day is also a big holiday for boys and girl's named Joe or Josephine as that is their Name Day (Onomastico). In years past Name Day parties were often more elaborate in observance than birthday parties. Joseph, the Foster father of Jesus Christ, a carpenter by trade is also the patron saint of orphaned c h i l d r e n , t h e d i s p o s s e s s e d homeless and the hungry. In Italy and in the U.S. many families a n d I t a l o - A m e r i c a n organizations create St. Joseph Day Tables. Instead of meat, there is fish, vegetables, fruits, pastries and bread. Vegetables of different kinds are fried in an egg batter and served hot or cold. T h e m o s t c o m m o n w a y t o prepare spaghetti sauce for St. Joseph Day is with the finocchio ( f e n n e l o r a n i s e ) p l a n t , h a r d boiled eggs and sugar. Another t r a d i t i o n a l d i s h i s p a s t a a l l a Milanese. It is a concoction of western Sicily, made with fresh sardines and/or anchovies, the green part of the finocchio plant, pine seeds and raisins. It usually is only made for the St. Joseph f e a s t s . T h i s d i s h , n o d o u b t , comes from the Arabic influence that ruled Sicily many centuries ago. Other important ingredients of St. Joseph's Altar are the dried fava beans that remind us of the severe drought in Sicily centuries ago. Donations to the p o o r f r o m v i s i t o r s t o t h e S t . Joseph tables are collected by the hosts and passed on for worthy charitable programs. ***

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