According to tradition, in 1251 the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, an English friar of the Carmelite order, and promised protection to anyone who would wear the Brown Scapular — a garment worn over the shoulders, which today serves as the prototype for all devotional scapulars. Since then, Carmelites and Catholics at large venerate the Lady of Mount Carmel, whose feast day falls on July 16.
In Italy, devotion to the Lady of Mount Carmel is particularly strong, especially among fishermen, as she is deemed the patroness of seafarers.
In coastal cities in the region of Campania — home to Naples, Ischia, Ercolano, and Pompeii — and Latium — home to Rome and Civitavecchia — believers celebrate the feast with processions that usually start in the town’s main church and continue out to sea, with hundreds of boats carrying crucifixes or religious symbols to enact a maritime display of faith.
Picturesque and prayerful
In Naples, believers carry the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on their shoulders until they reach the harbor. There, the statue is lifted onto a boat and paraded through the waters of the Bay of Naples and out into the open sea.
During the celebrations, which include a blessing of the waters to ask for protection for all seafarers, Neapolitans flock to boats of all shapes and sizes or line up along the harbor piers to get a land-based view of the picturesque boat procession.
In Torre del Greco, a town 20 miles south of Naples, the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is paraded in the water and escorted by a large fleet of fishing boats.
The famous coastal town of Sorrento, located opposite Naples across the eponymous bay, celebrates this feast with an evening boat procession and fireworks.
In Terracina, Latium, believers celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the Sunday after the official date of July 16. Accompanied by hymns and prayers, this heartfelt maritime parade culminates in a collective prayer for the protection of fishermen and seafarers.
In Rome, which is not directly on the ocean but is traversed by a river, believers also celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the Sunday after the official date.
The Roman celebration stands out from other maritime processions as it takes place on a river rather than in the vast open sea. According to a local tradition, in 1535 Roman fishermen found a statue of the Lady of Mount Carmel while sailing along the river back to the city center. Once they realized the nature of their catch, they immediately changed course and redirected their boat to the neighborhood of Trastevere, home to the local chapter of the Carmelite friars.
Today, on the third Sunday of July, Romans re-enact this discovery with a heartfelt boat procession on the Tiber.
Small boats flock to the spot where fishermen are believed to have found the statue in the 16th century and sail back to Trastevere as enthusiastic locals cheer them from Rome’s many bridges. As readers can imagine, sailing a statue along a tight river is not an easy feat. Every year, the feast for the Madonna della Fiumarola — literally “Madonna of the River,” as she is informally known — requires the close collaboration of priests, coast guard members, and river-savvy local volunteers. Luckily, the Madonna of Mount Carmel is watching over.
