Page 12 - Italian-American Herald - March 2023

12 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | MARCH2023 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD
IT’S ALL GOOD
Out of the mouths of babes: A mother’s horror and dad’s hilarity
By Charlie Sacchetti
Here's a nice story that happened at church on a recent
Sunday. As we sat behind a lovely family of five, at
7:30 a.m. mass, we couldn't help but admire the three beautiful children seated with their mom and dad in their pew. The little boy of about 2 1⁄2 years old, his sister who looked to be about 4 and the older brother about 6, behaved beautifully for the first half of the mass. Mom and dad were obviously loving parents who showed much affection to
the children in the way of hugs and kisses. However, as will happen with little kids in church, things started to change. As the little girl sat quietly and drew on a pad, the little guy decided that he wanted to do the same and began to carry on a bit. Well, the mood became contagious and before you could
LOCAL
say "Hail Mary," the parents were engaged in damage control, trying their best to calm things down and re-establish peace among the gang. Many of us, who have attended services with our small children can easily relate to situations like this and recall the anxiety they caused us as we tried to get our little angels under control.
Seeing this reminded me our "turn at bat" so to speak, many years ago, during
a crowded 8 o’clock Sunday mass. As my wife tended to our newborn son, our little daughter of 3 wiggled into the aisle with
a tissue to wipe the end of the pew, as if cleaning, declaring out loud, "This is a crap house," horrifying her mother and causing me to laugh almost uncontrollably. She had picked up this phrase from me, I guess, as she heard me comment on the condition of my car’s interior while cleaning it just the day before as she “helped” her daddy.
As my thoughts returned to the present, I glanced at the corner of our pew and noticed a pamphlet unfamiliar to me at any stage of my over 70 years of attending mass.
To me, it was the most thoughtful piece I have ever seen provided to the congregation and it seemed that the Holy Spirit himself dropped off this message in anticipation of this event and others that were both similar and plentiful in most if not all houses of worship. As I read the message, I acted upon an urge to help the dad out and handed
him the pamphlet. Upon reading it, a calm engulfed him and soon spread to the rest of the family. All was peaceful again ... a minor
Easter miracle in real time! To our pastor,
or whoever it was who came up with this idea, God bless them for caring and for their thoughtful anticipation. IAH
Charlie Sacchetti is the author of three books, “It’s All Good: Times and Events I’d Never Want to Change;” “Knowing He’s There: True Stories of God’s Subtle Yet Unmistakable Touch,” and his newest, “Savoring the Moments: True Stories of Happiness, Sadness and Everything in Between.” Contact him at worthwhilewords21@gmail.com.
Verdi Band of Norristown celebrates a century of music
By Rev. Monsignor John C. Marine
If you have ever attended an Italian religious feast, or even an Italian festival in the Delaware Valley over the last several years, there is a good chance that the music that accompanied the festa was performed by the Verdi Band of Norristown. Pa.
Years ago, the Philadelphia area had many such bands, like the Banda Bianca, the Joseph Liuzzi South Philadelphia Italian Band, and many others. The Verdi Band is not only the sole survivor of this important piece of Italian- American history, but it is thriving and active, now in its 102nd consecutive year. Not even the recent pandemic stopped its music.
With with over 50 musicians among its membership, the Verdi Band performs at patriotic concerts and Fourth of July parades. But it is best known for its stirring Italian symphonic marches played at “La Festa.”
These marches accompany the statues of Jesus, Mary and countless patron saints through the streets of the “Little Italy” neighborhoods in Norristown, South Philly, Wilmington, Del., Hammonton, N.J., and many other towns in the tristate area.
While a procession takes place in the street, it is not a military parade. And so the distinctive music performed by the Verdi
Band appropriately heralds the arrival of the sacred into our secular world. Those marches contain the beautiful melodies our ancestors brought with them from their respective regions of Italy and Sicily to their new home in America. When they heard that music
and saw the statue of their patron saint from their Paese, they were somehow carried in their minds back home to Montella, Sciacca, Benevento, and many other places.
It was to provide such nostalgic memories that prompted Loreto Marsella, an extra- ordinary musician and an immigrant who settled in Norristown, to organize the Verdi Band in 1920. Now many generations later, Kenneth Laskey, himself an accomplished musician and resident of Norristown, leads the band and continues the legacy.
If you are an Italian American, you know the feeling of goosebumps that we get, the lump in our throats, when we witness the procession at the festa. It is a uniquely Italian- American religious experience, whereby we take our faith out of the church building and carry it into the world. And like everything Italian, music and food have to be a part of that experience.
The sight of the statue coming out of the church, saluted by the music of the band provides one of those moments in life when,
The Verdi Band of Norristown marches in a local procession. The band has performed throughout the region since 1920.
even for a few seconds, heaven touches earth and we get a glimpse of what it will be like when we are gathered around God’s throne in heaven, singing His praises. That is the legacy our forefathers and mothers left to
us, to carry on. And the Verdi Band and its members believe that is its ongoing mission.
But providing music for processions is not all the band does. When needed, the Verdi Band has a soprano and tenor soloist who sing Italian Neapolitan songs and operatic arias, as well as Broadway tunes when the band is in concert engagements at an Italian festival or community concert.
The Verdi Band welcomes interested musicians. The band rehearses weekly, May
through September, at Holy Saviour Italian Club Hall, East Main Street in Norristown. If you are connected with an organization or church and are interested in engaging the Verdi Band for your festival, you are invited to contact its business manager Joanna Catanzaro-Laskey, at (484) 686-7611.
You do not have to be an Italian or Catholic to be a member of the band. You just have to love Italian music and have an “Italian heart.” When the Verdi Band performs, it is truly a labor of love.
Rev. Monsignor John C. Marine is pastor or St. Bede the Venerable Church in Holland, Pa. He has been a member of the Verdi Band since 1968.