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Two musical works, relatively unknown in America,  will be among the selections at the "Viva Italia" concert at St. Michael's Cathedral in Springfield on Saturday, Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. It will include a mixture of rarely heard pieces including a sonata for trumpet and strings by Galuppi Baldassare and a concerto for two oboes by Antonio Vivaldi. T...

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Who says that religion is outdated? It seems the Order of Friar Minors of San Francesco Stimmatizzato have taken their new pastoral mission in stride, ending up being a mediatic sensation while at it.  Last Sunday a group of Franciscans, along with young members of the diocese of Florence, have entertained passerbys and onlookers with a modern danc...

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It takes more than a pretty face to be the queen of San Gennaro. It takes a commitment to service and community advocacy, so it makes perfect sense that this year’s queen of the 92nd annual Feast of San Gennaro is Marieteresa Porcher. And it seems no one is prouder of the 15-year-old than her mother, Karenbeatrice Porcher, whose family is from Sici...

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A collection of relics of Saint Padre Pio will be on display Saturday, Oct. 6, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 907 S. Dixie Blvd., as part of a national tour commemorating the 50th anniversary of his passing. Padre Pio was born Francesco Forgione on May 25, 1887, in the town of Pietrelcina, Italy. He later took the name Pio in honor of Pope Pius I...

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Mark your calendar now for St. Joseph’s annual Spaghetti Supper. The first week of October has featured this Pine Bluff Italian cuisine since the 1920s.  People come from near and far for the authentic Italian meatballs with hand snipped parsley and many secret ingredients. Carry-out orders, chaired by Connie Boutwell, will be available on both Tue...

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The Society of Saint Joseph will kick off October as Italian Heritage Month with a mass celebrated by Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Sunday, September 30 at 12pm at St. Leonard of Port Maurice Church, 320 Hanover Street. Attending the mass will be Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Speaker of the House Robert De Leo, and members of the Italian American Legislative...

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The Basilica of St. Mary’s most lasting structure isn’t the wooden shed where its first parishioners attended Mass in 1868. Nor is it the majestic co-cathedral where parishioners now worship on the edge of downtown Minneapolis. Rather, its leaders say, it’s the Basilica community, who, for 150 years, have worshipped, served, welcomed immigrants and...

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The rainy week of weather finally broke just in time for the St. Anthony’s Italian Festival in Glassboro last Saturday, Sept. 15. Attendees packed the Glassboro Town Square, on Rowan University’s campus, to enjoy an afternoon and evening of Italian music, games and the thing Jane Damico of Glassboro came to the festival for specifically. “Food,” Da...

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Of Massachusetts’ 6.8 million citizens, 13 percent — or more than 1 out of 8 residents — are of Italian descent. That’s second only to the Bay State’s Irish community, which comes in at nearly 20 percent. In nearby Rhode Island, those claiming Italian descent number 19 percent or nearly 1 in 5. Still, Teddy deCaro and the Rev. Flavio Gillio are ne...

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This past Saturday served as my normally scheduled weekend rotation for the Advance. It happened to be the same day I was invited by San Gennaro festival orchestrator, Mort Berkowitz, to ride on a float through Little Italy.  (The feast runs through Sunday, Sept. 23.) One of my assignments on September 15 was to report on the experience. And a wond...

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