“QUANNE UENNE SANTE NORIE A CASALUIERE”
In 1993 Plautus' Tittino, Giambattista Recchia, an unforgettable character from Casalvier, published a collection of village stories.
The first story concerns the arrival of the relics of Saint Honorius in Casalvieri.
The remains of the Martyr Saint arrived on a cart pulled by oxen from the Catacombs of Rome in 1747.
They were welcomed by the people with great enthusiasm and immense devotion all the way from Canalara to the Collegiate Church in the village.
This is the text by G.Recchia
LA MENUTA E SANTE NORIE
The elders of my districts used to tell “ca na uòla se iéua alla messa aglie Resieglie, ca la chiesa e Casaluiere l’ èrane chemenzata afaa tanto’ ènne e ne la fenéuane mè” .
And this is true: while the Roselli church was built in a short time, the construction of the Casalvieri church, on the other hand, took many years, perhaps a century or more; in any case, both churches were built by the people of Casalvieri and belong to them.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the church of Casalvieri was also completed, and the people of Casalvieri wanted a protector of their own, all from Casalvieri.
The lord of the time, who held the title of Marquis and undoubtedly belonged to the family “and chisse Jachebbieglie“; He made himself the interpreter of the will of our villagers and manifested it to a prelate of Sora from a noble family to whom he was related, so that he could report it to the Pope:
On the throne of Peter sat Benedict XIV, the famous Prospero Lambertini of Bologna, an upright and cultured man who dedicated himself exclusively to the Church with a lifestyle and image so incisive that an anecdote makes them even more remarkable.
The story goes, by the way, that when he was elected Pope, he moved to Rome and left word for his brother to visit him only if invited: but throughout his entire pontificate he never invited him!
After much insistence by the prelate of Sora, Pope Benedict descended one day at the end of the year 1746 into the catacombs of San Callisto and addressing a prayer to all the Christian martyrs, saints of the Church of Rome because they died for the faith, he said: whoever wants to become the protector of Casalvieri and wants to go to Casalvieri, let him make a sign!
A few days later he went down into the catacombs again and noticed that a saint had given the sign he had hoped for: he had moved and raised his left leg slightly forward! And this was Saint Honorius.
He decreed motu proprio that Saint Honorius was henceforth protector of Casalvieri and that the sacred remains and image be transferred to the church of Casalvieri.
They immediately set to work; they organised themselves and, having collected sufficient funds, they called upon the best goldsmith in Rome and the best sculptors in the Vatican to arrange the urn to hold the Saint's remains and a new statue depicting his image.
Once the work was finished, the translation began towards the end of April 1747.
Our ancestors went to Rome by all means: carriages, carts and carts; it was said that companies were formed that also went on foot.
S. Honorius arrived in Sora in early May and was exhibited in the church of Santa Restituta for a few days.
The journey to Casalvieri began a few weeks later.
The procession was immense: “Sante Noreie teccàua alla Maonna e la Cerqua e la gente stéua still in Sora”.
He passed through Schiavi and when he entered the territory of Casalvieri, at Fernace, the bells of all the churches rang festively and, amidst songs and hymns, flower displays and flowers, he reached the church of the Madonna delle Rose towards evening, passing through Tittarocca and Frettèta.
The entire population flocked to Roselli as well “the old, the young and the sick who were petut’ l in Sora”; amid joy and jubilation, solemn Vespers were celebrated until late in the evening.
The Protector stayed in this church for a few weeks.
By the way, it is said that some discussion arose among our villagers as to whether Sante Noreie should stay in Roselli or continue on to Casalvieri. “Se raqquentàua che glie prime ecéuane ca Sante Noreie la sera stéua a piée la chiesa e la emane glie retreuàuane a cape ca se léua stare aglie Resieglie; e gli èute ca la sera stéua a cape e la emane glie retreuàuane a pie ca ueléua l a Casaluiere” .
However things turned out, what is certain is that our ancestors rediscovered the spirit of brotherhood that had always united them and decided to bring Sante Noreie to Casalvieri and left as a souvenir in the church of Roselli a canvas with the image of the saint displayed until recently in the back of the right aisle.
One morning at the end of May 1747, after a solemn rite celebrated in the church of Our Lady of Roses attended by all the diocesan clergy and which lasted until noon, amidst a sea of people, Saint Honorius set off for Casalvieri where he arrived in the early afternoon.
The whole village rejoiced with joy, was festively decked out: drapes and blankets fluttered from the balconies and windows; amidst flowers, singing, crying and emotion, the Saint entered our church and was displayed above the high altar: above the tower and below the phoenix, symbols of our community to this day.
“Mi ere glie tuocche chemenzèrene le fenziune releggiose e glie Uiéspere e seccei na cosa bella!
Na pourella and Aleuite era sapute e la menuta e Sante Noreie e allora ca semmana prima s'abbiè e uenne a Casaluiere p’ aspettaglie.
Ma uenne chiène ca pertàua ncape ne quartare che ddente ne bieglie citre e quèsce quattordec’ ènne che nen cammenèua: era strùppie a quando dann’ era nate” .
Our distant grandmothers took her in and refreshed her with the hope and wish for a miracle.
In the early evening, between two wings of the faithful who had opened up to make way for her, she entered the church packed with people amidst singing and praying, and right in the middle of the aisle “nchianà nterra gli quartare che glie daughters” and crying and with a trembling, moved voice shouted “Holy Noreie miracle!” .
The people, three times, in a loud, sonorous voice, sounding out the syllables “Repeat after it: San-te No-re-ie mi-ra-co-lo!”
The cries and pleas were alternated with the prayers of the clergy.
The first prayer was officiated by the Roselli canons and the Franciscan friars of the Vicalvi Convent; the second prayer was officiated by the archpriest of Casalvieri with all the priestly clergy; the third prayer, which was the most moving, was officiated by the archpriest of Casale, the oldest of all, who they said was originally from Casalvieri.
After a solemn procession with the entire ecclesiastical body around the church, exiting through the left door and re-entering through the right, the archpriest of Casale stopped in the middle of the church and placed his right hand on the boy's head, invoking the Protector's grace by addressing a heartfelt prayer to him. There was silence, astonished and hushed all of a sudden, the boy's mother cried out once again “Holy Noreie miracle!” and all the faithful followed her in shouting three times. Then she descended
once again a superhuman and unexpected silence.
The church was crossed by a shadow of mystery; even the dim glow of the candles seemed to waver in the solemnity of expectation; neither a voice, nor a sigh, nor a breath; an invisible breath of faith seemed to suffocate even the silence of death that had become higher and deeper. The miracle took place: suddenly two drops of sweat ran down our Protector's cheeks: the boy from Alvito got up slowly and walked: he went with his arms outstretched towards Sante Noreie weeping with infinite joy.
Sante Noreie had performed her first miracle.
The people rejoiced, shouted, prayed, cried; the bells began to toll and it was already late at night; the news spread throughout the valley in a flash; shortly afterwards, the bells of Roselli and Casale also began to toll.
The next day, small, red flowers had suddenly sprouted on all the meadows and roadsides: “glie sciure e Sante Noreie” .
For several days, the faithful and pilgrims flocked from all parts to pay homage to the saint, and the celebrations lasted for over two weeks; Sante Noreie was taken to all the districts of Casalvieri amidst jubilation and great solemnity.
This was repeated in May 1947 on the occasion of the second centenary of the saint's arrival in Casalvieri, and in that same year, a small chapel was erected between Plauto and Vitello, by all the faithful of the two districts, dedicated precisely to Saint Honorius.