Festa di San Marcellino, Sacerdote e Martire

June 2nd is the feast of Saint Marcellino, priest and martyr, the very one named in the Roman Canon. San Marcellino fills Piedimonte d’Alife with the most glorious sights and sounds, and this for nine days, culminating on June 2nd, with the Solemn Mass, Procession, and return of his statue to its niche.
I took this photograph this morning after Pontifical High Mass in the Church of San Marcellino. Note that the saint, holding the palm of martyrdom and the Book of the Gospels, is vested in a cotta and red baroque stole. By means of his image the saint himself becomes present in the midst of the people who love him and implore his protection.
During the nine-day solemn observance the statue is enthroned on a special altar close to the people, and surrounded with flowers and lights. The saint’s relics are venerated with great devotion, and the people, together with their priests, pray the Supplica, a traditional form of popular prayer in southern Italy. Here is my translation of the Supplica to San Marcellino:
O most powerful Protector, Priest and Martyr, Saint Marcellino,
behold us, humbly prostrate at thy feet.
Full of confidence, we have recourse to thee.
By the graces with which thou wast filled full by God,
and especially by that burning charity
that led thee to procure the glory of God and the salvation of souls,
we beg thee to take under thy protection
our persons, our families, our relatives
and all our ecclesial community.
Turn thy clement eyes upon thy children
and upon those devoted to thee
and by means of thy efficacious intercession,
obtain for us from God,
more than temporal goods,
goods that are eternal.
And Thou, O Most Holy Trinity,
grant us, through the merits of our holy Patron,
the grace that, by his intercession, we ask of Thee,
so that all may know how much Thou lovest Saint Marcellino,
and so be inflamed to glorify ever more on earth
the one who lived and died for the glory of that faith in Christ
that we all profess. Amen.