If the Sydney suburb of Five Dock were miraculously transported to Italy on 15 August, it would be deserted; its shops shuttered, scraps of paper and empty water bottles skittering across Great North Road, footpath chairs sinking into the melting bitumen, and a handful of nonnas trudging to church on the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption.
Like a streetscape in a zombie movie, but with distant strains of Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma.
Because in August in Italy everyone, tutti quanti, is at the beach. It’s a holiday month; the heat is beastly; and nothing, but nothing, happens. It is the month of il dolce far niente.
Except two things. Mangiare tanto and processions of L’Assunta—because it is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.
And both happened last Sunday (17 August) in Five Dock. It was a tad chilly at first, but the sun warmed the thousands who were sauntering along the streets and that vibrant Italian gioia di vivere (in English, joie de vivre) was radiating everywhere.
It was a multicultural gastronomic experience, with everyone discovering Italian connections. In his welcome to country, local Aboriginal elder Uncle Michael West recalled growing up next to an Italian family and swapping the family ginger beer for his neighbours’ vino.
The local Federal MP, Sally Sitou, whose parents were Chinese Laotian refugees, recalled her mother making spaghetti bolognaise with lashings of soy sauce.
The stall for Berliner donuts was selling “the finest Nutella bomboloni.” And of course the Italian fare up and down Great North Road was overwhelming. There was gnocchi and gelato, limoncello and cannoli, fettuccine and olives and salami and porchetta rolls and arancini and pizza. Pizza to die for; pizza to die from if you overdid it.
One poor sweating pizzaiolo was moving his pizza peel in and out of the oven like an overwound metronome as customers queued to gobble it up.
Pasta e basta, as the old saying goes. A good pasta is more than enough happiness for the day.
But before the mangiare tanto there was the procession with L’Assunta, an image of the Blessed Virgin carried on a litter borne shoulder-high by four strapping portatori. One of them was wearing a vivid red Ferrari jacket.
It began at about 9.30 am, led by Bishop Daniel Meagher. The Giuseppe Verdi Marching Band, resplendent in Navy blue uniforms, struck up O Maria Quanto Sei Bella.
Two confraternities and uniformed schoolchildren from All Hallows primary school in Five Dock led the crowd slowly up Great North Road, past the fun fair, past the tyre shop, past the personal trainers and the 24/7 gyms, the pharmacies, past the lily-scented funeral parlour stall, to Henry Street.
Right there Bishop Meagher gave a brief homily, preaching to photo-snapping, selfie-taking visitors and curious onlookers on second-floor balconies about the perpetual intercession of the Mother of God. Then came a decade of the Rosary, with council staff silently mouthing the words.
And off they went with the band playing another popular Marian hymn. At Garfield Street the procession halted again to pray the Litany of Loreto. Holy Mother of God, Mother most chaste, Gate of Heaven, Morning Star, Comforter of the Afflicted… A few elderly women blew kisses to the little statue.
Finally, the procession ended at the main stage, where Bishop Meagher blessed the festivities of Ferragosto and the band played the Australian and Italian national anthems.
Dignitaries paid tribute in ever-ascending crescendo of praise for Five Dock’s Ferragosto. It was the best Italian festival in Sydney, the best in New South Wales, the best in Australia, and the best in the Southern Hemisphere. But even politicians run out of words. It was time to finish the festa and begin the feasting.
And L’Assunta? She would remain there for the rest of the day, presiding over the festa, a silent reminder of the deep Catholic heritage of Five Dock, of generations of Italian migrants who, as Sally Sitou commented, had paved the way for later waves of migration, exotic flavours in the multinational melting pot.
“You were here when we needed you the most. You were building the Snowy Hydro; you were building the pylons that put up the Sydney Harbour Bridge. And because of the contribution of Italian Australians, it was easier for successive waves of migrant migrants to come here,” she said.
“So as one migrant community to another, I want to say thank you for the hard work of the Italian Australians to this area, because you made it possible for other migrants to come to this country, because you demonstrated that migrants make a strong and valuable contribution to this community.”
The Catholic Weekly spoke with three young men who helped carry L’Assunta along Great North Road. Why did they make the effort? Why did they bother? “To honour Our Lady, of course,” said Chris Gatto. His mates Julian Perin and Marc Depergola nodded. “I mean, she’s an inspiration for me, and I think, I hope she’s an inspiration for everyone who sees her.”
Marc was the guy in red. “I thought we had to wear cassocks,” he said. “But this is pretty good.” A Ferrari jacket is better than a cassock? “Better than a cassock.”
