Festa del Santissimo Salvatore a Pazzano (Sicilian: label=[[Central-Southern Calabrian|Calabrian]]|Festa dô Sarvaturi; 'Feast of the Holiest Saviour') is a three-day Catholic festival celebrated in Pazzano, Reggio Calabria, Italy, every first weekend after 5 August. It was originally the Byzantine celebration of the transfiguration of Christ, still observed today by both the Catholic and Orthodox churches on 6 August.
It is divided in a civil and religious program.Starting nine days before the feast, Novena (Calabrian: Sicilian: novina) is celebrated, consisting of the adoration of the Saviour's statue and the recitation prayers for nine days. Novena is preceded by a litany.
The current wooden statue used in the celebration was created in 1797 by Serrese sculptor Vincenzo Scrivo, discovered thanks to a restoration made in the 1980s. In 2006, another little restoration was made, and that year the feast began at the border with Stilo at Via Nazionale.
Pazzano-Australian emigrants to Sydney (Australia) in Narrawena suburb celebrate Santissimo Salvatore with a similar statue of John the Apostle.[1]
The religious procession relives three periods of Jesus' life.
Litany played and sung at PazzanoBelow, a piece of the litany, sung in Latin and played by a band:
The documentary Festa, by Giuseppe Fiorenza, tells and describes the feast of 1992.[3]