Positano, the hamlet of Montepertuso celebrates its rebirth with a wonderful light show
Positano. Tonight the fraction of Montepertuso he relived the solemnity of the Madonna delle Grazie celebrating what is rightly defined as one of the most beautiful festivals of the entire Amalfi coast.
A party that has always represented the most important moment for the whole community, the one that awaits for a whole year and that also attracts people from Positano who now live far from their homeland but who do not give up returning to experience the greatest emotion and strongest all year round.
After the solemn procession that accompanied the statue of the Madonna along the streets of the hamlet and after the Holy Mass celebrated by Mons. Michele Fusco, the wait for the light show which evokes the fight between the Madonna and the devil.
According to legend in that basin that today is Montepertuso lived men and women who tried to obtain from the environment and from their organizational skills the necessary to live. One night they were awakened by very strong thunder that accompanied the tremor of the ground. At the same time a very bright light coming from the mountain illuminated the village and in that light a woman’s figure appeared. The first to be hit by that beam of light was a young girl who, overcoming her fear, had begun to walk towards that figure of her when she heard a voice that said to her in a motherly tone: «Do not be afraid anymore, the devil has been defeated and his efforts against this mountain are over. Come with me, accompany me to that hill, where I will stop forever “.
Popular devotion says that that night the devil proposed a challenge to the Madonna: who between them was able to pierce the mountain first would have dominion over the people who lived in the village. Our Lady accepted the challenge and left the first move to the devil. He raged against the rock but, despite all his attempts, he only managed to scratch it. But it was the turn of the Virgin, who in an instant, with her index finger, pierced the mountain from side to side. The demon, defeated, fell on the rocks where, according to some, one is still visible today gigantic footprint imprinted in the stone. While the Madonna was welcomed by the inhabitants of the place.
Tonight was an even more exciting re-enactment because he returns after two long years of stoppage due to the pandemic. At the first flash of light, many felt a thrill thinking about how long they had to wait to see the spectacle of the re-enactment of the legend.
The lights illuminated the sky and the mountain, but they also illuminated the hearts of all present for what represented a rebirth after a long dark period.
And this evening really represented a great rebirth for Montepertuso.