Italian Pastor To Visit North End for Saint Anthony's Feast

Don Paolo, pastor of the Cheisa Di Sant’ Antonio in Montefalcione, Italy will be making a special visit to the North End in September.

Don Paolo, who also serves as the chairman of the Festa di Sant’ Antonio in the small mountain town, will bring with him the blessed relic of Saint Anthony for a special viewing and Mass on Sept. 15, the Boston friends of Montefalcione, Avellino announced this week.

Together with the members of Saint Anthony Society, Fr Antonio Nardioani and people of Saint Leonard Parish, the Friends of Montefalcione will welcome Don Paolo with a celebratory mass in St. Anthony’s honor on Sunday, Sept. 15. A reception and dinner in Don Paolo’s honor is also being planned. Information regarding these events will be coming soon.

Montefalcione, Avellino is the birthplace of many immigrants who settled in the North End of Boston during last century. As they did in their homeland, a small group of these immigrants began the annual celebration of the Feast of Saint Anthony in the historic neighborhood in 1919.

Today, the North End’s Saint Anthony’s Feast is the one of the oldest and largest street festivals in the United States. The Festa in Montefalcione has been celebrated for nearly 400 years by the people of that town. The two feasts are held simultaneously on the weekend of the last Sunday of August.