All over the island of Sicily, Easter week is marked by slow-moving processions and displays of penitence and mourning. Every town, like Noto, has its own traditions. There are religious reenactments, processions with religious symbols and dress and public prayers.
On Palm Sunday drum beats from a procession on the street below our house reached us as we sat in the kitchen. A procession with drummers and religious “confraternities” passed by in a solemn slow group. Each churches’ confraternity had its own cloak and hood designating their parish affiliation.
All in the procession were male. Followed by a group of parish members that included women and children.
In Sicily the Catholic religion and its symbols are woven through the simple rituals of everyday life. 
MedFlies 
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