Santa Croce celebrates its patron, for Saint Joseph "A nisciuta delle ceni"

In Santa Croce Camerina, the community gathered for one of the most heartfelt moments of the religious calendar: the Eucharistic Celebration in honor of Saint Joseph, the city's main patron. The Mass, presided over by don Salvatore Bertino, former parish priest of the Mother Church, represented a moment of intense participation and reflection. During the liturgy, the Anointing of the Sick was also administered, a gesture that annually draws numerous faithful and underscores the value of care, protection, and closeness to the most vulnerable, elements deeply connected to the figure of the Saint.

The celebration is part of the broader context of traditions dedicated to Saint Joseph, which in Santa Croce Camerina find one of the richest expressions in Sicily. The “Saint Joseph's Dinners”, the heart of popular devotion, continue to be a strong identity symbol: festooned altars, votive bread, and ritual dishes tell a story that unites faith, memory, and solidarity. In recent years, these traditions have attracted thousands of visitors, transforming the feast into an event capable of combining spirituality and cultural enhancement of the territory.

At the end of the celebration, as per tradition, “A nisciuta delle Ceni” took place, the moment when the Dinners are opened to the public, allowing citizens and visitors to admire the setups and immerse themselves in a rite that has its roots in the Nineteenth Century. It is a passage that symbolically marks the beginning of the most intense days of the feast, when houses transform into places of hospitality and the city becomes a widespread path of faith and culture.

This year, participation was extensive, confirming the strong bond of the community with its patron and the ability of the feast to renew itself without losing authenticity. Santa Croce Camerina thus continues to preserve and pass down an intangible heritage that represents one of the most distinctive traits of its identity.