Mid-Lent

Mid-Lent (Italy)

Between March 8 and April 7; fourth Sunday in LentIn Italy Mezza Quaresima, or Mid-Lent, is a day of respite from the otherwise severe restrictions of Lent. Parties, dances, and street celebrations take place throughout the country, and many feature effigies of Quaresima that resemble a lean, witch-like old hag—in stark contrast to the fat man who represents Carnival.
In Abruzzi, according to custom, the effigy of Quaresima is pierced with seven feathers and suspended on a rope stretched across the street. On each Saturday in Lent the villagers pluck out one feather to signify the end of one of the seven weeks of the Lenten season.
CONTACTS:
Italian Government Tourist Board
630 Fifth Ave., Ste. 1565
New York, NY 10111
212-245-5618; fax: 212-586-9249
www.italiantourism.com
SOURCES:
FestSaintDays-1915, p. 52
FestWestEur-1958, p. 92

Celebrated in: Italy