2025
The Spadone Mass and the Historical Reenactment of January 6th

The solemn rite of the Solemn Mass “of the Spadone” returns to Cividale del Friuli in 2025: the ceremony will be celebrated as usual on the day of the Epiphany. A fascinating tradition that will recall the 659 years since the birth of one of the most evocative liturgical rites in the Catholic world, during which the celebrating priest greets the faithful holding the sword in his right hand and the Gospel in his left, symbols of the temporal and spiritual power of the Patriarch. The appointment is therefore for Monday 6 January 2025 at 10:30 in the Cathedral of the ducal city; at the end of the ecclesiastical celebration, around 11.45, there will be a historical reenactment in costume, with hundreds of figures, of the entry of Patriarch Marquardo von Randeck which took place in Cividale del Friuli in 1366.
According to tradition, the patriarchal head of Aquileia took possession of the city of Cividale and its territory by introducing the Mass of the Spadone, a ceremony borrowed from the Germanic world, combining liturgical forms of the ancient Aquileian-Cividalese Church of the 12th century with the political-civil ritual of the Holy Roman Empire. The community will welcome the Patriarch who will enter from Porta San Pietro accompanied by the Major Ministers on horseback, continuing along via Silvio Pellico, piazza Foro Giulio Cesare, Largo Boiani and piazza Duomo, where the long-awaited ceremony will begin in which the Patriarch will receive homage from the various representatives of the society of the time, such as princes, nobles, farmers, castellans, and masters of arms. The procession of the Cividale Community, ready for the arrival of the Patriarch, will parade from the historic Porta di Ponte, continuing along the Ponte del Diavolo, Corso Paolino d’Aquileia, Piazza Duomo, Largo Boiani, Piazza Foro Giulio Cesare, Via Silvio Pellico, Piazza Diaz and Piazza Dante.
In the afternoon, from 2:30 pm, the themed party will follow with various medieval animation activities: Medieval animations in honor of the investitures
Archery, medieval music, exhibition of birds of prey, fire eaters, medieval duels and drum rolls.
more info: www.cividale.com/en/ritorno_del_patriarca
For information:
Informacittà +39 0432 710460 - informacitta@cividale.net
turismo@cividale.net
Organized by:
Informacittà +39 0432 710460
informacitta@cividale.net
turismo@cividale.net
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