108. Good Friday in Little Italy

Good Friday in Little Italy. Image©Ruth Lor Malloy 2011

Wish you were in Italy?  A popular annual festival of the Easter season is the parade featuring one of the most sacred events in the Christian calendar. This year, the Good Friday procession in Little Italy is on April 22 and it starts about 3pm. Thousands of people, Italians and others, will probably be lining the streets five or six deep as parishioners from the church of St. Francis of Assisi re-enact the painful events. Many of the members will be dressed in Biblical-styled costumes. “Roman soldiers” will even appear to beat Jesus Christ, the founder of the Christian religion, as he carries a heavy, wooden cross on his way to be executed.

The event will also have parishioners parading in military uniforms, complete with campaign medals. Church members will accompany statues usually kept inside the church.

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi is at 101 Grace Street (two blocks south of College and west of Bathurst). Tel. 416-536-8195. Some of its masses are in Italian.  The parade goes south from there along Grace St., and then north  to head eastward along College.  Webs: stfrancisofassisi@rogers.com and http://www.stfrancis.ca/ENG/easter_procession.htm (parade route). 

St. Helen’s church also has a Good Friday street procession. It is at 1680 Dundas St. West (near Lansdowne) and it starts at 7pm. This church has many Portuguese parishioners. Tel. 416-531-8188. Will I see you there?

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