Sciacca, 22 November 2015. A contingent of Constantinian Knights, headed by Commander Elio Zuccarello, attended a religious service, held at the Church of ‘San Michele Arcangelo’ (‘St Michael the Archangel’), to mark the Feast of Christ the King. Before the celebration of the Eucharist, the Delegation of Knights, who had received a warm welcome from parish priest Don Pasqualino Barone, carried in procession a reliquary of the Holy Thorns of Christ from the Church of San Salvatore (Badia Grande) to the Church of San Michele Arcangelo. Prior to officiating the Liturgy of the Mass, Don Pasqualino Barone, in a brief historical account, retraced the events leading up to the discovery of the Holy Thorns by Saint Helen, mother of St. Constantine, Emperor and founder of the Equestrian Order. Don Barone also remembered how the Holy Reliquary was part of a donation made by the ‘d’Angiò Family’ back in 1383. Adding to his presentation, he explained to an attentive congregation that the Holy Thorns can only ever be carried in solemn procession on ‘Quasimodo Sunday’ (‘Dominica in Albis’, the first Sunday after Easter) and on ‘Christ the King Sunday’. This was authorised following a decree issued by the competent bishop. At the end of the liturgical celebrations, in an atmosphere suffused with deep religious emotion, the Holy Reliquary was offered to the faithful to be kissed. Among those present were the following Knights: Elio Zuccarello, Erasmo Miceli, Giuseppe Lipari, Salvatore Notarianni and Baldassare Cacioppo.
