COURIER LIFE, JULY 16-22, 2021 5
due to the COVID-19 pandemic
was the event’s second cancellation
in 118 years.
For lifter Dan Mace, Sunday’s
procession felt like a
homecoming.
“You always remember
how much you miss something
when you don’t get to do
it for a year,” said Mace, who
has lifted the Giglio each year
since he was 12. In 2010, he became
an apprentice capo, or
captain, of the lift.
For others, the dancing
of the Giglio served as a reunion.
“It’s great to be back,” said
94-year-old Joe Martino, who
celebrated not only the lifting
of the Giglio Sunday, but also
seeing his friend Joey Langone,
70, for the fi rst time in
person since before the pandemic.
“Where’s the oxygen?” Langone
joked between lifts.
The two tuned in to last
year’s livestream, but said
nothing compares to being
there in person.
“This is something spiritual,
I wouldn’t miss it for the
world,” Martino said. “The
only time I missed it before
the pandemic was during the
war.”
And still, for some, it was
their fi rst time.
“This is like a carnival,
such great energy,” said Alexandra
Finch, who attended
with Clarissa Passarinho.
Finch donned an Italian fl ag
in her hat.
This year’s feast includes
a nine-night Solemn Novena,
celebrated by Monsignor David
Cassato of Bensonhurst’s
St. Athanasius Roman Catholic
Church, with prayers dedicated
to a special intention
each night. Sunday’s Novena
will be dedicated to those who
have died from COVID-19.
Among those honorees
are Joseph Furante, a lifter
of over 50 years who died of
COVID-19 on Feb. 5, 2020. He
was 81 years old.
Furante’s son, John, helped
lift the Giglio in his honor.
“He said something bad
would happen, he knew,” John
said of his father’s illness. “It
was the worst thing in the
world.”
Also among the crowd Sunday
was Republican mayoral
candidate Curtis Silwa, who
received resounding applause
from the crowd.
The Williamsburg festival
was founded by Italian immigrants
from the town of Nola
in 1903, who imported many
traditions from the old country
into modern festivities to
honor their patron saint, San
Paolino (Saint Paulinus in
Latin), and the event that led
to his canonization.
According to legend, the
town of Nola was invaded by
pirates from North Africa in
410 AD, who abducted and
enslaved local young men.
Paolino is said to have offered
himself as a slave in exchange
for one woman’s son, and he
was taken back to North Africa,
but only until a Turkish
Sultan heard of his heroic acts
and ordered him freed. Upon
his return to Nola, Paolino
was greeted by townsfolk carrying
lilies.
The tower is carried
through Brooklyn, and in
Nola, to symbolize Paolino’s
return. Furthermore, the boat
paraded through the streets
on Sunday is meant to represent
the ship that returned
him from captivity.
The next big lift will be the
Night Dancing of the Giglio,
scheduled for Wednesday, July
17 at 7:30 p.m.
Additional reporting by
Caroline Ourso
Participants lift the seven-story Giglio during the Annual Italian Parish Feast in Williamsburg on Sunday, July
11. Photos by Caroline Ourso