When we first learned about the extent of the Italian immigrants’ dedication to the Madonna in Harlem during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, many people in the class were shocked at how devoted they were. They sacrificed time and money, and even inflicted physical pain on themselves to illustrate their respect for the Lady of Mount Carmel. However, the fact that this devotion has transcended generations and cultures is possibly more incredible.
To me, it was not very surprising to hear that a new group of immigrants from a different country adopted the religious and cultural customs of their new home. On the other, hand I would never have expected the new immigrants to continue the legacy of utmost sacrifice and loyalty to the Madonna that is described in Elizabeth McAlister’s article. I was under the impression that the idea of having a life that revolves around the Madonna was a strictly Italian quality. Robert Orsi spends so many pages explaining that the Madonna is inter-connected to the Italian idea of the domus that I made the assumption that if a culture didn’t share the same Italian ideas of the domus, than they wouldn’t share the devotion to the Madonna. While many Italians still practice this type of devotion, I think that it is hard to argue against the fact that the devotion to the Madonna is no longer strictly an Italian or domus-related practice. In fact, new groups of immigrants from Haiti, as well as many other countries, have taken on this devotion and made it their own.
One statistic that stands out to me is that when the article was published in 1998 there were only 750 Italian Americans still living in the neighborhood, surrounding the Madonna. Yet, the festa still goes on every July. Although, there is still a large Italian involvement in the festa, the festa is now celebrated by a diverse conglomeration of peoples, cultures, and languages. One story from the McAlister particularly illustrated to me the fact that many cultures have a similar type of devotion to the Madonna that the old Italian immigrants had in the early twentieth century: the story of the mother who promised to only dress her daughter in blue and white until the time of her First Holy Communion. The making and keeping of such promises in modern East Harlem by Hispanics, Haitians, and many other immigrants is the epitomization of the enduring nature of devotion to the Madonna that seems to continue to rise above all other concerns.
