Madonna Del Lume Associazione

Tampa Marian Procession in Honor of Our Lady of Light

Executive Summary

The Fraternal Society of St. John the Apostle (“FSSJA”) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring men of all vocations to live liturgically in their personal and professional lives. Our vision is to organize an annual Catholic Marian procession in the Tampa Bay area in the mode of the great festivals and events in New York, Boston and the Northeast. We will do this by carrying a nearly century-old, 24-man processional bier (known as a vada or a vara in Italian) which the FSSJA saved and restored from an aging Catholic men’s group in Milwaukee. Finally, in order to help grow awareness and participation for future events, we intend to invite a special guest (or a prelate of similar stature) to inaugurate our first annual procession. Our first rehearsal will be held onSunday, November 16, 2025 at Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Church in Tampa. Our first actual procession will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2026 in Ybor City outside of downtown Tampa.

Why Host a Procession?

Our Forgotten Catholic History

Processions have been events in public life – religious or secular – since ancient times. In every culture, time and place, public anniversaries, triumphant heroes, religious festivals, and innumerable other events have been marked by parades of local leaders and dignitaries. In this way, the entire community reaffirms its values and traditions, while inspiring onlookers and participants with a sense of purpose.

While anti-Catholic commentators, critics and agitators often argue that Roman Catholic processions are pagan, anti-scriptural, and violate the commandments forbidding the making of and worshiping of graven images, noting could be further from the truth. Processions were common place in Biblical times, with numerous recorded accounts stretching from David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant, to the impromptu procession surrounding Our Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. With this background, and that of the Roman Imperial tradition (the Triumphs of victorious generals being the best-known examples), it is unsurprising that Catholics began incorporating processions into the life of the Church as soon as the faith was legalized under Constantine.

Prior to the Reformation, this “culture of processions” was universal in the Church: both East and West. But the first Protestants rejected processions as “Popish” idolatry and superstition and began a concerted effort to stamp them out of popular piety. Thus, this tradition survived in traditionally Catholic lands (like Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Austria and their colonies), but died out in Protestant regions such as Germany, Scotland and England (and were forbidden in Ireland by the British authorities). In time, Catholics in those Protestant lands – and the countries overseas where they settled – forgot the old ways. Sadly, even after Catholic Emancipation in Protestant Europe, “native” Catholics often considered processions from fellow Catholics such as Italian or Polish immigrants as unusual and “foreign”.

Catholics Need to “Take Up Space” in the Public Square

Laymen sometimes think of the propagation and preservation of the faith as something only for clergy. But we know that all Catholics, whatever their circumstances in life, have been called to proclaim the Gospel (CCC 905, 1816; Evangelii Gaudium, no. 120). But, as laymen, our role in the battle is clearly different from that of laymen. Regardless of what problems we may see in Rome or in the hierarchy more generally, we laymen can do very little. The FSSJA exists to help men fight these spiritual battles where they can: in their homes, parishes and communities. A key part of this is (re)introducing popular devotions such as Marian processions.

Public expressions of popular piety like processions are vital manifestations of living the Catholic faith. These acts serve as a testament to the presence of the Church in society and provide opportunities for both evangelization and Catholic solidarity. We as Catholic men owe it to our faith, our posterity and our sacred honor to “take up space” in the public square. We have a mission to show that our Catholic faith is the fabric of Western Civilization and that, without it, the civilization is doomed. Finally, as our culture – and our cultus – has become more profane, we have seen a dramatic rise in public sacrilege of all kinds. Public sacrilege requires public reparation. The act of engaging in a procession – particularly one in which a heavy processional bier is carried – is an important public act of reparation.

Salvaging a Historic Vada

The FSSJA contacted Catholic leaders from around the country to learn from other groups that were already organizing annual processions. An FSSJA Board member who was originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, contacted longtime Catholic men’s group there which he had been involved with as a child: the Madonna Del Lume Society. Sadly, this society has been shrinking for some time, and no longer had the manpower needed to carry their nearly century-old, 24-man processional bier (known as a vada or a vara in Italian) shown here in a historical photograph. The FSSJA was able to successfully rescue this Vada and ship it to Florida where it is now being repaired to give it new life in Tampa.

Who is the Madonna Del Lume?

The apparition of the Madonna Del Lume (Our Lady of Light) will be deeply meaningful for the Tampa Bay area – already having deep ties to the Jesuits as well as Italians, Spaniards, South Americans and Filipinos.

In 1722, Jesuit priest Giovanni Antonio Genovesi of Palermo, Sicily, asked a visionary to find out how Our Lady would like to be depicted. The Madonna appeared to the woman as she wished to be portrayed, asking three times to be called “Most Holy Mother of the Light.” The image depicts an angel appears kneeling next to the Virgin who, holding a basket full of hearts in his hand, presents them to her from the left side, where the divine child, who was in the arms of his Mother, one by one he takes them and, not less with his gaze than with contact, he inflames them and inflames them with charity. Fr. Genovesi carried the image on preaching missions, spreading the devotion around western Sicily.

At that time, Sicily was part of the Spanish empire through which the Jesuits spread this new devotion. In 1732, for example, a Jesuit priest brought a painting of the Mother of the Light from Palermo to Mexico. The Jesuits held a drawing to let heaven determine which of their churches would get the sacred image. Three times the new foundation in León won the draw. The painting arrived in the town on July 2, 1732, then the Feast of the Visitation. This devotion spread throughout the Spanish empire, becoming popular throughout South America and the Philippines.

Every year, the people in Sicily take the original painting out of the Church in Sicily and process with it through the streets. This devotion spread to America – taking root primarily in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and San Francisco, California where immigrates from that area in Sicily settled. A generous benefactor donated a beautiful reproduction of this painting to the FSSJA which was consecrated by H.E. Archbishop Cordileone – himself a devote through its connection with San Francisco – in March of 2024.

Proposed Procession Route / Itinerary

Proposed Schedule:

7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.	Set up / unloading Vada from trailer
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.	Crowd gathering / lifting team assembly
10:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.	Welcoming remarks from special guest & Re-consecration of the Vada
10:20 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.	Welcome remarks from the FSSJA
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.	Rosary (Lead by special guest)
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.	Procession
12:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.	Lunch truck lunch service (free lunch tickets for workers, crew, etc.)