The volume of Giuseppe Schirò Sacred Songs of the Albanian colonies of Sicily, was published in 1907 and printed in Naples at La Tipografia Editrice Bideri.
This volume represented from the beginning one of the most significant editorial and scientific results relating to the immense patrimony constituted by the Sicilian-Albanian literature intimately linked to religion.
The scholar's aim was to prevent the loss of this very rich heritage made up of sacred songs, which represented the tradition and cultural identity of the Albanian colonies in Sicily. His work was immediately appreciated by the scientific community and by local religious institutions.
Collecting in one volume the oral tradition of these sacred songs, which had been handed down for some since the foundation of the Albanian colonies, meant averting the feared loss of the cultural identity of the Albanian colonies of Sicily and allowing this tradition to persist in the future.
Thanks to this simple but fundamental intuition, this volume is still today a fundamental tool for the conservation and dissemination of the Albanian language and above all to keep alive the memory of the Sacred Songs of the Albanian colonies of Sicily, which for generations the faithful have sung to celebrate the faith and magnify the Madonna Odigitria.
This volume was the subject of great interest on the part of the Organizing Committee for the 250th anniversary of the Foundation of the Collegio di Maria di Piana degli Albanesi which was celebrated in 1991.
The Collegio di Maria, established between 1731 and 1733, although its foundation had already been decided in 1718, was together with the Oratory for celibate priests of the Greek rite of Piana degli Albanesi (1716) and the Greek-Albanian Seminary of Palermo (1734), the Institute that played a great and significant role in the difficult and arduous struggle undertaken by the Apostle of the Albanians of Sicily, Fr. Giorgio Guzzetta, and by Fr. Antonino Brancato for the safeguarding and promotion of traditions, ritual, language and culture of the Albanians of Sicily.
To celebrate this important local institution, the Committee, on the proposal of Professor Antonino Guzzetta and a very young Matteo Mandalà, decided to have an anastatic reprint, now very rare, of the volume Sacred Songs of the Albanian colonies of Sicily published in 1907.
In this regard, it is necessary to report the writing of the page that Giuseppe Schirò dedicated to illustrious personalities who defended the cultural identity of the Albanian colonies of Sicily:
"To the venerated memory
of my illustrious fellow citizens
P. GIORGIO GUZZETTA
founder of the Albanian seminary
in Palermo
and other pious works in Piana
P. ANTONINO BRANCATO
founder of the Collegio di Maria in Piana
for the education of Albanian maidens
P. DEMETRIO CAMARDA
author of the essay on comparative grammatology
on the Albanian language
and other valuable writings
all tending to illustrate
the homeland idiom
which constitutes one of the most solid foundations
of the right of nationality
d. e c."
The volume Sacred Songs of the Albanian colonies of Sicily by Giuseppe Schirò therefore constitutes a fundamental heritage, which each of us should have and jealously preserve as it represents one of the tangible signs of the Arbëreshe identity.
Salvatore Vasotti
© visitpiana.com
The anastatic reprint of this volume was strongly desired by the Organizing Committee for the 250th anniversary of the Foundation of the Collegio di Maria di Piana degli Albanesi:
Presidente Papas Sotir FERRARA
Segretario Diacono Giovanni STASSI
Papas Gjergji GUZZETTA
Papas Elefterio SCHIADA'
Suor Margherita CARLINO Superiora Collegio di Maria
Prof. Antonino GUZZETTA
Prof.ssa Pina ORTAGGIO
Prof.ssa Maria Teresa DI FIORE
Prof.ssa Rosaria MANDALA'
Prof.ssa Vitalina FILPI
Avv. Vito LO VERDE
Sig. Francesco ARDIZZONE
By purchasing this volume you can concretely support the protection of the cultural heritage of Piana degli Albanesi.
Use the code VISITPIANA10 to immediately get a 10% discount
Kommentarer