The customary investiture ceremony of new Knights and Dames took place on Sunday, August 25, on the occasion of the festivities of the Holy Martyr Alexander (whose relics are preserved by the d’Alessandro family) at the ducal chapel of the d’Alessandro castle in Pescolanciano. The entrance of the approximately 14 honourees was organized in all the details of chivalric tradition, thanks also to the support of the celebrating chaplain Father Luigi Castiello, Commander of Ecclesiastical Grace, assisted by the delegate chaplain Father Giuseppe Graziano, Vice Prior, who took over from H.E. Most Rev. Mons. Giancarlo Bregantini due to unforeseen personal commitments.
The overwhelming ceremony, celebrated in the religious area where the sacred relics of the Holy Martyr Alexander, brought to the castle in 1656 by the first Duke Fabio d’Alessandro by Apostolic indult of Pope Innocent X, are kept, was attended by a significant number of faithful and family members. On the occasion the new collection of donations for the purchase of wheelchairs, which the Molise Delegation will donate to health care facilities for the elderly or directly to the local needy, was announced and implemented. Delegate Duke Ettore d’Alessandro of Pescolanciano then welcomed the Knights with their families and friends to the various apartments opened for the occasion, including the museums apartments managed in collaboration with volunteers (Foundation Intramontes) and the municipality, focusing on details of local and family history. In the continuation a delicious breakfast was prepared with typical local products, carefully followed in details by the Secretary Knight Comander Giuseppe D’Amico (who also took a commendable interest in the organization of logistic in the castle), at a restaurant near the village of Macchia d’Isernia, where the fortress of the Vice Delegate Knight Giulio De Jorio Frisare was located.
Finally, in the afternoon, the event concluded with a round table discussion, held in a Buonicontri-d’Alessandro room of the Pescolanciano castle, to commemorate the cultural figure, with his scholarly works, of Professor Antonino Di Iorio from Molise, official hagiographer of the Ducal d’Alessandro family and “legitimist” historian of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. To him, in his memory, the Molise Delegation sponsored the issuance of a Medal of Merit, collected by his son Pasqualino Di Iorio, who thanked the Delegate, on behalf of all, and his cousin Ivano.