barca di san pero

7/27/2019 Barca di San Pero

1/1

9

Barca di San Pero: St. Peters BoatBarca di San Pero: St. Peters Boatur people were deeply religious and they

incorporated their religiosity in their daily

lives and work. The rhythm of the year fol-

lowed the rhythm of the liturgy and the

church and local celebrations. One such celebration or

religious custom was la barca di San Pero.St. Petersboat. In June, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of St

Peter and Paul. Our people were neither great theolo-

gians nor biblical scholars, but simple, yet religious peo-

ple who had creative ways of inserting or using ordinary

ways to express extraordinary things. Permit me to insert

myself into this narrative

It was June 1948; I was almost 7 years old and was in

Cavaione in the Bleggio of the Val delle Giudicarie visit-

ing with my mom and sister my nonni and family. It was

June 28th.Nona Teresa and Zia AngelinasaidLouisfemte la barca de San Pero? Lets make St.

Peters boat. They proceeded a far filo`they did a

filo`they gathered meat the kitchen table and

explained how St Peter and St Paul had missionary jour-

neys to their churches scattered everywhere and traveled

by foot and by boat. (They could not have been more

biblically literate since they simply recounted the narra-

tives found in the Acts of the Apostles) Here is what

we did..

Nona broke an egg and removed the yolk. She got a large

jar and placed a liter of water in itwe placed the egg

white into the bottle and placed it into the water and then

on the window sill between la finestra e I scuri

between the window and the shutters. I have a memory

of being a bit of the New York skeptic not exactly sure

what was to happenI went to bed and got up as if it

were Christmas morning andYes! There it wasSt

Peters boatwhatever might have been the mystical

forces or simply the chemistry and the cold night air of

the mountainsbut there it wasa form of a ship. St.Peters ship. Wow!

There followed a profound discussion among I

vecithe elders as to what the next couple of months of

weather might bring. If the ship or its figure was

enlarged, the prognostication was that there would be a

hot and dry summer. If, instead, the sails seemed flat

more like a life raft of a shipwreckthe weather that

summer would be shipwrecked. I learned indeed about

St Peter but I think I learned or sensed the wisdom of

these mountain peasants that read the signs of times in

all that surrounded them.

I need to thank Alberto Folgheraiter, the brilliant and

prolific raconteur of the ways and customs of our peo-

ple. At lunch in a villa overlooking the city of Trento, he

reinforced my memory and explained how it was a cus-

tom in all the villages of the Trentino. In his bookLa

Terra dei Padri.Storie di gente e di paesi, he presents the cus-

tom and the illustrations of this article. This story is

trueand in the words of Albertoit is Storie minime

di quei chi non ha storiaSmall stories of those who do

not have historybut, Alberto, they doin the Filo`.Thanks

PS The picture below is the doorway of the kitchen

where we had prepared the barca and the window is

where we placed the jarit is also the doorway of my

kitchen of my house where I return twice a year. (I made

the bench)

OO