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February 2nd was the feast of Candelmass. It is commonly considered as the imminent end of winter "Alla Candelora, dell'inverno seme fora." (“At Candelmass, the seeds poke through the winter”.)The faithful crowded the parish churches for the religious ceremony of the blessing of the candles, particularly those who came from the countryside.After the Mass, the parish priests distributed a large candle to each family for the head of the house and smaller ones for each family member. The blessed candle was received with devotion and kept at home as a sacred object, only to be lit in certain circumstances. Nuggets of small blessed candles, in the form of a cross, were placed inside the front door, in the windows, in bedrooms, in the stables and on crosses planted in the middle of fields.

Carnival

Carnival officially started on January 17^th. Essential to every table were tasty ravioli. At midnight on Shrove Tuesday the big bell tower of S. Giovanni announced the death of carnival and the beginning of Lent.

Lent

Once the excesses of Carnival were over, Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, a period of 40 days in preparation for Easter. During Mass, the faithful received ashes (obtained by burning the palms of the previous year) which the priest placed on their head with the admonishment: “Remember, O man, that you are dust and to dust you shall return".

Holy Week

The most important events were the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. On Palm Sunday peasants brought bundles of palms to church for them to be blessed by the parish priest and then they took part in the procession. The blessed palm, considered sacred, would be placed on crosses in the fields, on trees to keep storms at bay, on grain stores, on the tops of haystacks, at the head of the bed, on the corners of sacred images, in window and  door frames, the doors of stables; a branch would stay next to the holy water stoop at the head of the bed. Before the recent liturgical reform carried out by the Vatican Council II, Holy Wednesday saw the beginning of the reading of Offices in Latin in church, reserved for the village elders: the youngsters took part by hitting a rhythm with their sticks on the floor at the end of the evening recital of Matins to recall the flogging of Jesus. In the days of Holy Week, the women were busy doing their Easter cleaning of the house.On Holy Thursday, after the "gloria" of the Mass held in the morning, the bells were tied so that they stayed silent as a sign of mourning until the Mass of Holy Saturday. The sound of the bells was replaced by the roar of "ciòccole" agitated by a noisy group of boys who patrolled the streets to proclaim aloud the times of sacred functions. During those days some people fasted until Holy Saturday. In the afternoon a pilgrimage was made to visit the so-called "sepulchres" set up in the parish churches in a triumph of decorations, lights and flowers.On Good Friday people attended the "Procession of the Dead Christ." At dusk the local band carried the coffin of the Dead Christ through the main streets of the village. The coffin was draped in black velvet and preceded by the Confraternities. On Holy Saturday the bells were untied and rung to announce the resurrection of the Saviour. The priest went from house to house, blessing each one.

Easter

Boiled eggs were widely used at Easter, the shell of which was coloured red, blue, green and yellow. Yellow was obtained by putting the eggs to boil with onion skins, while according to folklore red had the power to stop almost any evil influence.Alongside the eggs the use of "scuccètta" was widespread.  One player held an egg in his fist, showing only the top and the other, also with an egg in his fist, hit the egg in the other player’s hand with the tip of his, lightly at first and then ever more rapidly and harder until it broke. The winner picked up the other’s broken egg and went in search of other players and other winnings.At the conclusion of the Easter celebrations, Easter Tuesday celebrated the feast of S. Croce who was venerated in the church of S. Michele Arcangelo or dei Frati.

Feast of the Assumption

This was the feast of mid-August (August 15th). In the ten days preceding the festival, after dinner, groups of people went from the village to the church of S. Maria Assunta on the holy plain, reciting the Rosary and singing hymns in honour of the Virgin.  There was a procession of baskets, that is, families of peasants brought offerings of grain to the church.  The grain was contained in wicker baskets which the young peasant women carried on their heads. The use of the basket is very old: it dates back to the time of the Farfa monks when, on the day of the Assumption the lessees of big estates belonging to the Farfa monks paid the tribute, placing it on the altar of S. Maria Assunta.

The Virgin of Loreto

On December 9^th the population lit large fires of straw and brushwood. They were lit in honour of the Virgin of Loreto and to light the way to the Cottage of the gentle Lady who came from afar with Jesus in her arms.

The closing feast of the old year

At about 23:30 a funeral procession began to do a round of the village streets. A row of wreathes preceded the band; torches lit the path of the high priest who officiated at the funeral. An enormous papier-mâché figure representing the old year followed. Then there was the hearse complete with black feathers and pulled by donkeys. On the cart was the coffin that would accept the remains of the dying year and that would be burnt at midnight.