鱿鱼视频app

Many volunteers have watched it balloon from 500 to half-a-million participants, some flying in from the United States, others with high profiles such as Toronto鱿鱼视频app mayor and police chief.

鈥淲e do our job with our heart, with our soul and dedication and then it鱿鱼视频app the people who make it a success,鈥� said Tony Piliggi, 70, who joined the original planning committee at the urging of a friend 40 years ago. 鈥淚t鱿鱼视频app something people really like, they come from everywhere. All walks of life, all nationalities. It鱿鱼视频app something really appreciated by the community.鈥�

Last year Piliggi worked on the procession just a week after having a kidney operation. He acts as a stage manager of sorts, organizing how the procession will run and explaining where people are needed on Good Friday.脗 脗 

鈥淚t鱿鱼视频app just a pleasure to see the devotion that people bring. The mothers and grandfathers they cry and give themselves to the religion,鈥� said Piliggi, whose children and grandchildren also watch or participate.脗 脗 

St. Francis of Assisi parish was originally built by Irish immigrants in the early 1900s. But as the Irish presence in the downtown core dwindled a wave of Italian immigrants took its place in the 1960s. That鱿鱼视频app when the procession really took off. Parishioners originally performed a play inside the church followed by a short outdoor procession.脗 脗 

Today, preparation for the procession officially starts on Ash Wednesday. 鈥淏ut to be honest we never stop,鈥� said Fr. Raymond Falzon, O.F.M., associate pastor at St. Francis of Assisi.

Five thousand people volunteer their time, 200 actors dress in costume, several contribute on behalf of their club or association and 10 are the main co-ordinators who oversee their own section, including: public relations, contacting schools, character recruitment, costumes, clubs/ associations, statues, setup, procession marshalling and liaising with the Toronto Transit Commission, city hall and the police.脗 

The College and Dundas streetcars must be stopped in order for people to process from the church on Grace and Mansfield Streets, to Dundas, down Montrose, to College, Manning and through area side streets.

A collection is taken up during the procession to help cover costs. Parishioners volunteer their time to sew costumes, which are stored in the church basement, to help minimize expenses. The College Street Business Association has been a financial supporter from the beginning.脗 

A Portuguese, Maltese and Italian parish band processes with the group while playing music.脗 

Club members wheel eight life-sized statues, except for the statue of Christ which is carried on shoulders. Some statues include Jesus meeting Mary on the way to Calvary, the crucifixion of Christ, Mary Magdelene and Mary, the sorrowful mother.

In recent years Sylvio Amelio, an Italian artist who has sculpted bronze statues for the parish, has flown in for the procession. There is an exhibition in the parish hall that displays Amelio鱿鱼视频app designs as well as art work from the children鱿鱼视频app catechism class, props for the procession and sketches for the costumes.

Theme for this year is 鈥淐elebrating our faith and heritage.鈥�

鈥淧eople come in for different reasons and we take both faith and heritage aspects and celebrate both and hopefully the main part is looking at the self-giving sacrifice of Christ to humanity and (people) will learn from that,鈥� said Falzon, who has headed the procession for the past five years.

There are banners describing the Stations of the Cross as a catechesis for those who come to watch as spectators.脗 

The procession includes all 14 stations with someone new standing in for Christ, Mary and other characters in each scene. The same people re-enact the scenes every year, cutting down on rehearsal time.脗 脗 

Joe Rauti has been taking up his heavy wooden cross and playing the part of Jesus for 38 years. He鱿鱼视频app only missed one year for a back operation.

Rauti abstains from eating for up to three days beforehand to prepare for his role.

鈥淚 have a drink, but I don鈥檛 eat much. Good Friday I don鈥檛 eat anything, no bread, no water, no wine, nothing.

鈥淚 carry the cross for my body (and) for my spirit because I don鈥檛 want to make a mistake. I鈥檓 68 years old, but my body鱿鱼视频app not the same as when I was 19 or 20.鈥�

The fact that Rauti has maintained good health all these years strengthens his faith.脗 

鈥淔or me I feel like a young man. I鈥檝e never been sick. One year I had no shoes. It rained, it was cold and a lot of people say 鈥沷h my God look at this guy.鈥� One lady said 鈥泃his guy who carries the cross never gets a cold because God needs him to carry (it).鈥� 鈥澝� 

While Rauti doesn鈥檛 show any signs of stopping any time soon, he hopes when that time comes a young person will replace him.脗 

鈥淚 hope young people can come to start it, to practise it, to feel it, to believe in God.鈥�

鈥淚 think there is starting to be a transition as there is a younger generation, but it is their baby. (The older generation) are the ones who are the glue who binds it,鈥� said Francesca Maio, 25, who is in her third year of law at the University of Windsor.

鈥淏ut we all seem to meld together because we鈥檝e worked so closely and so long together. The age isn鈥檛 something that separates us.鈥�

Maio鱿鱼视频app grandmother brought her mother Joanna to watch the procession as a child right after they had immigrated to Canada from Italy in 1968. As a mother, Joanna passed on the tradition to Francesca and her other two children, driving the family in from Mississauga. Now as adults they all still participate.

鈥淲e鈥檝e almost become like a little family, the people who鈥檝e been organizing it for years,鈥� said Francesca Maio. 鈥淎nd hopefully (it鱿鱼视频app) something I can share with my children some day.鈥�