The festival celebrating the Madonna seemed to be a source of hope and pride for the Italian Americans. Although the festival has remained, more or less, in the same area, Italians are no longer the majority in “Little Italy.” I can’t help but wonder how non-Italians currently feel about the festival. Furthermore, I wonder if any traditions were modified because of this ethnic change in the community. Many traditions are no longer in practice; however, I can’t help but wonder how some were created in the first place.

One aspect of the festival I found interesting was the barefoot parade. It is interesting to see such a tradition in New York City only because realistically, it must have been highly unsanitary. It’s almost ironic that this tradition was formed as a way to alleviate a type of pain by suffering in another way. In reality, it could potentially just make the situation far worse, especially if they were hoping to cure a disease. Of course, I understand this wasn’t the point of the parade – being barefoot was simply a means for the Italian Americans to pray and hope to receive divine aide.

Another aspect of this passage I found interesting was the act of donating clothing. According to tradition, if children were cured by some ailment due to the prayers of the last festival, those children would wear new clothing during the current festival, and later donate it to the church for the poor. This act is very similar to the idea of “paying it forward.” Perhaps this tradition was created simply because they could not physically repay a divine source, or perhaps it was created because charity was considered an act of repayment. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to see that the idea of helping another as a payment for receiving the help from someone else could have been used decades before the idea was popularized and labeled as “paying it forward.”

This passage has definitely left me curious, and I hope to one-day experience the festival firsthand. I would love to see which traditions have prevailed throughout the years, traditions that could have been created over time, and traditions that are no longer done.

-Christina Torossian