The Tablet . Stories | Diocese of Brooklyn

Italian-Americans paid tribute to St. Fortunata in Bensonhurst last Sunday, July 22. Devotees of the virgin and martyr, patroness of Baucina, a small province in Palermo, Sicily, came from around the tri-state area for the procession of the statue, which includes a depiction of the saint’s life and martyrdom, and to attend a bilingual Mass in English and Italian in her

honor at Regina Pacis.

“Viva Santa Fortunata” Italian-Americans exclaimed as they commemorated the life and martyrdom of St. Fortunata with Mass at Regina Pacis and a procession through the streets of Bensonhurst, last Sunday, July 22.

An ornate casket containing a statue of the young saint, patroness of Baucina, Italy, rested on a platform in the early afternoon as members of the Societa Santa Fortunata and their families chatted in Italian outside the organization’s clubhouse on the corner of 77th St. and 17th Ave.

Directed by Ciro Quattrocchi, now in his 13th year as Society president, and his father, John, the procession stepped off around 2:30 p.m.

American and Italian flags flanked the society’s red and white banner, leading the way along the asphalt for children and adults who donned costumes and carried props to represent 14 scenes of the saint’s life, Christian conversion, persecution, death and glory in heaven.

Sandra DiFalco depicted the young saint converting to Christianity. Her parents, Fanny and Augustino, played her godmother and a Catholic bishop, respectively, while friend, Madeline Taormina, dressed as a guardian angel.

“My husband and I have dressed up for the procession for 30 years for sure,” said Fanny, whose six-year-old grandson Salvatore Murgolo, portrayed an altar boy assisting the bishop.

“It’s a tradition of my parents and grandparents. It’s a blessing to have such faith for more than three generations. When we’re down and out, we talk to God and then to St. Fortunata for help,” she said.

Female members of the Society, who say the rosary together on the first Saturday of every month, walked with armfuls of lilies as the Italian marching band heralded the approaching statue.

Residents stood on porches to see about 25 men dressed in white with red bands tied around their waists bear the statue encased in a 1,000-pound bronze and glass casket adorned with angels and decorated with a crown, palm frond and lily on the uppermost part. Newly constructed seven years ago, the statue and case are replicas of a statue at St. Fortunata Church, East New York.

Walking alongside the casket were 68-year- old Dominick Locascio and 77-year-old Nicky Greco, both of whom emigrated from Sicily in the 1960s. They collected and pinned donations on streamers around the statue en route to church.

“We come from the same town as the saint. We appreciate this saint all over Sicily,” said Locascio.

Five-year-old Anthony Tantillo is too young to appreciate the significance of this feast but he’s determined to follow in the footsteps of his father, Diego, and grandfather, Anthony.

“I helped with the statue today. I helped carry it. I did everything,” he said.

According to Ciro Quattrocchi, everyone from the youngest to the oldest members of the family observe this saint’s life in Baucina, a small province of Palermo, Sicily, where her remains have been venerated since Feb. 14, 1790. The remains are taken out in procession for two days every February and September.

Italian immigrants who came from Baucina to New York for a better life founded the Societa Santa Fortunata in Little Italy in August, 1900. The Society was a way for them to observe traditional festivities, preserve religious practices and provide a decent burial for countrymen and their families in this new land.

Over the years, they helped build St. Fortunata church, convent, rectory and school in East New York. The Society relocated to Bensonhurst in 1976.

Quattrocchi, a parishioner at St. Bernadette, Dyker Heights, and his father also carried the custom of the procession to Bensonhurst.

Today, 120 families from around the tri-state area come back to Brooklyn to continue the march as well as their forefathers’ religious observances and fundraising efforts.

Since many local residents return to Baucina for the traditional Festa di Santa Fortunata in September, Brooklyn’s St. Fortunata Society commemorates the saint’s feast in July.

Although Quattrocchi, who chairs the foreign language department at Bishop Ford H.S., Park Slope, where he’s taught for 27 years, is unable to join his countrymen in Baucina, he derives great satisfaction from honoring the saint locally and passing the tradition onto the next generation.

Just before 4 p.m., the parade arrived with great fanfare at Regina Pacis. Msgr. Ronald Marino, pastor, was the main celebrant of a bilingual Mass in English and Italian. Father Vincent Miceli, pastor of St. Fortunata parish, East New York, and Father Ellis Tommaseo, parochial vicar of St. Dominic, Bensonhurst, concelebrated.

On the previous afternoon, the statue and casket were paraded through the streets to St. Dominic’s parish.
Hundreds in the pews listened as Msgr. Marino, who is of Sicilian descent, offered his homily in both languages “to be sure that everyone, not only those who speak Italian, and especially the younger people who want to be part of this, understands what’s being said.

“It’s not easy to walk in the streets of Brooklyn like this nowadays… Today people looking out windows do not know, do not understand” this religious feast, he noted. “All they see is devotion, fortitude, strength.”

He recounted the life of the third-century pagan girl from Palastrina, near Rome, who died a virgin and martyr.

The 14-year-old was converted by her three brothers and refused to renounce her faith, even when pressed to marry the Roman magistrate’s son. For giving witness to her faith, she endured severe torture and was eventually beheaded.

Msgr. Marino called Fortunata “a true martyr and a true saint....Think what would be if you and I were put to the test… I wonder how many of us would say ‘I will not renounce Jesus Christ.’

“One thing you need to do always, year after year, generation after generation is remember what this day stands for … a person whose faith in Jesus Christ is so strong she died for it,” he said.

Mass closed with the Inno a Santa Fortunate (Hymn to St. Fortunata) and the statue was carried back to its place of honor in the Society’s clubhouse.