The Feast of St. Anthony

Today begins the annual Feast of St. Anthony celebration in Boston's Italian North End.  It's a weekend-long event not to be missed!  And despite the forecast for Hurricane Irene to hit hard this weekend, the chair of the feast said the feast will go on, as it has since 1919.

This feast is the largest feast in all of New England.  It features delicious food, parades - the Grand Parade on Saturday at noon -  musical entertainment, culinary demonstrations, and, of course, Mass.  This year, Giada de Laurentiis will host the Saturday 2pm cooking session, followed by the sales and signing of her cookbook, Giada at Home.  On Sunday, there is the Caprese Challenge.   Anyone can join the Challenge that seeks to find the budding culinary talent who can 'put their unique spin on the tradition Caprese Salad'. The feast ends at 11pm on Sunday with a candlelight parade to the Chapel of St. Lucy, whose feast is celebrated in the North End on Monday.

During the Grand Parade, which lasts for about 10 hours (yes, that's right - 10 hours), a 700 lb statue of St. Anthony is carried down the streets of the North End and people pin $1 bills on the statue and on the ribbons streaming down from the statue.  The statue appears again at various times throughout the Feast.  The money raised supports a variety of North End charities, including little league and and the feast itself.

Now you may be asking just who is St. Anthony and why such a big feast.  To many Italians, St. Anthony is the Saint of all Saints.  A Franciscan, St. Anthony of Padua is considered the saint of miracles, the finder of lost items, and the patron of the poor.  Italian Catholics probably pray to him more than any other saint.  Maybe even all Catholics pray to him more than any other saint.  Thus, the big feast.

I'll be sad to miss the Feast this year.  And I'll be sad to miss Giada.  But here is a nice video of a delicious Giada recipe that one will find everywhere at the Feast.  Enjoy!