In the depths of winter, on 17 January, rural Italy celebrates one of its most popular saints: Saint Anthony the Abbot, the Egyptian monk regarded as the father of monasticism. In many regions his feast is marked by two gestures repeated for centuries: great bonfires are lit and animals are blessed. Fire and livestock, two essential elements of peasant life, come together around the figure of the hermit saint.
Who Saint Anthony the Abbot was
Anthony lived in Egypt between the third and fourth centuries and chose the solitary life of the desert. His biography, written by Athanasius of Alexandria, recounts the temptations the devil put him through and his long life of prayer. He is considered the founder of Christian monasticism.
In Western iconography he is recognisable by certain fixed attributes:
- the tau-shaped staff, shaped like the Greek letter T;
- the little bell;
- the piglet at his feet;
- the flame, which he sometimes holds in his hand or which burns beside him.
The pig and the Antonines
The link with the pig has a historical explanation. In the Middle Ages the hospitaller order of the Antonines ran hospitals throughout Europe. Their pigs were allowed to roam freely in towns, recognisable by a little bell, and the lard was used in their institutions. Hence the association of the saint with the pig, which then extended to all domestic animals.
The Antonines were also famous for caring for those suffering from a serious medieval poisoning caused by contaminated rye, which produced burning sensations. The illness was called "Saint Anthony's fire", and the name has remained in popular usage. The bond between the saint and fire has this root too.
The blessing of the animals
On 17 January, in front of country churches and in many towns as well, horses, cows, sheep, dogs, cats and other animals are blessed. Once it was a rite of great economic as well as religious importance: livestock was the wealth of the peasant family, and its health decided the fortunes of the year.
In many stables an image of the saint was hung to protect the animals. In several regions it is also said that on Saint Anthony's night animals acquire the gift of speech: a motif that recalls the similar one of Christmas night, and that expresses the respect reserved for creatures considered part of the family.
The bonfires
Fire is the other great protagonist of the feast. All over Italy, on the eve or the day of the saint, bonfires are lit in squares and fields. The midwinter fire has a meaning that goes beyond Christianity: it is light in the darkest period, warmth in the coldest season, purification and renewal.
The Fòcara of Novoli
The most spectacular bonfire is probably the Fòcara of Novoli, in Salento. It is a gigantic pile built from bundles of vine shoots, gathered and arranged with craftsmanlike skill in the days before the feast. On 16 January, the eve of the feast, the Fòcara is lit amid fireworks and great popular participation.
The farchie of Fara Filiorum Petri
In Abruzzo, at Fara Filiorum Petri, the feast of the farchie is celebrated: enormous bundles of reeds tied together, several metres tall, prepared by the village's districts and then raised and set alight on the evening of the eve. Local tradition links the rite to a legend according to which the saint protected the village from an enemy army by turning the oak trees into blazing torches.
Other fires
Saint Anthony's bonfires, with different names and forms, are lit in many other regions: in Sardinia, Campania, Molise, Lazio. In some places the embers or ashes are kept as a sign of protection for the home.
Fire as a symbol
Why did a hermit saint become the lord of fire?
- The devil and the flames. Anthony's temptations were depicted amid the flames of hell, which the saint overcomes.
- The fire of illness. "Saint Anthony's fire" tied the saint to the burning of the body.
- The midwinter fire. The feast falls at a time when bonfires were already widespread as seasonal rites.
- The domestic fire. In folk legends Anthony is sometimes the one who brought fire to humankind, stealing it from hell with his staff.
In short
- Saint Anthony the Abbot is celebrated on 17 January with bonfires and the blessing of animals.
- The link with the pig derives from the medieval hospitaller order of the Antonines.
- The Fòcara of Novoli is a huge bonfire of vine shoots lit on the evening of 16 January.
- The farchie of Fara Filiorum Petri are great bundles of reeds set alight on the eve.
- Fire unites Christian symbols and seasonal midwinter rites.
