Venetian feasts and gondole

It is an annual appointment (the first Sunday of September) from which Card. Luciani did not want to be absent. To that one of September 3, 1978, once the conclave was finished, he wanted to bring with him three Cardinals to enjoy the regatta. But God had thought differently... The appointment was with the entire world in Saint Peter's Square for the Mass of beginning as Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church...

Card. Luciani with Rowing Champion,

Carla Paubacco, and some of

the Regatta winners

Is it possible to imagine Venice without its Carnival? The feast of the colours, the masks, the chopped paper, the music ... and the difficulties in getting-around, with so many people arriving there during those days. Even there is place for prayer. I remember seeing in St. Mark’s Basilica - inside the chapel of the Holy Sacrament - a girl wearing fancy dress yet in an attitude of deep prayer...


St. Mark 's Square

Fancy dresses in front of the Ducal Palace

Piazzetta dei Leoncini

and the Patriarchal Palace

The following images show the author with the typical Venetian mask: the baùta

The author during the Redentore's Feast 2002 on the provisional bridge which

crosses the Giudecca Channel and reach up to the Redentore's church

The Redentore is one of the Venetians’ most treasured festivities, and is a tourist attraction thanks to the spectacular firework display in the evening.

It falls on the third Sunday in July, when Holy Mass is held in the presence of the Patriarch, followed by a religious procession.

The Patriarch Angelo Scola after celebrating

the Redentore's Mass 2002

But the special moment of the festivity takes place on Saturday night: with the unbeatable backdrop of Saint Mark’s Basin, a play of lights and reflections produce a kaleidoscope of colours with the silhouetted spires, domes and bell towers of the city behind.

The Redentore's Regatta 2002

Ther plague
In the three years between 1575 and 1577 the Serenissima was tormented by the plague: aided by the high density of the population, the disease spread through the city, causing terrible losses. Almost 50,000 died, which was more than a third of the city’s inhabitants.

The vow
On September 4, 1576, the Senate decided that the Doge should announce the vow to erect a church dedicated to the Redentore (Redeemer), in return for help in ending the plague.

The end of the plague
On July 13, 1577, the plague was declared definitively over and it was decided that the city’s liberation from the terrible disease should be celebrated on the third Sunday in July.

The Redentore today
At sunset the well illuminated boats, decorated with boughs and coloured balloons, begin congregating in Saint Mark’s Basin and the Giudecca Canal. In the boats people eat traditional food, waiting for the firework display, which begins at 11.30pm and lasts until after midnight.

St. Mark' s Basilica main door, just restored,

the day of its inauguration - April 25th, 1987

Concert of gondolieri

Patriarch Luciani loved to make a trip by gondola. It is said that nobody has been in Venice without having 'experienced' a trip by gondola... It is possible that one will want to continue ! Well, the first time I got on it, there was an expert gondolier who had carried Card. Luciani on his gondola...