Saint Ubaldo Day

Saint Ubaldo Day is Jessup, Pennsylvania's observance of Gubbio, Italy's La Festa dei Ceri. Both celebrations honor the life of Bishop Ubaldo Baldassini who was canonized as Protector of Gubbio. The eve of his death anniversary, May 15, is marked in Gubbio by a procession known as La Corsa dei Ceri. Jessup conducts a nearly identical "Race of the Saints" on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

The procession through the streets features small statues of Saint Ubaldo, Saint George, and Saint Anthony, in order. They are mounted upon immense wooden pedestals each hoisted by a team of "Ceraioli" (runners) clad respectively in yellow, blue, or black.

The borough of Jessup, a suburb of Scranton, organized and presented to the Luzerne County court for incorporation in December, 1876, grew in subsequent decades along with the anthracite coal industry. The demand for miners brought many European immigrants to the Lackawanna Valley. Italians came to Jessup mostly from Gubbio and other communities of the Umbria region's Province of Perugia.

Jessup's new sizable Perugian enclave transplanted the tradition of La Festa dei Ceri in 1909. It continued only until 1952 but was revived for the borough's centennial celebration 24 years later. Certain years since then had up to 30,000 spectators joining Jessup's population of under 5,000 for the event, attracting national news media. Today, it is administered by the community's Saint Ubaldo Society and coupled with Jessup Hose Company No. 2's weekend-long carnival and picnic.

Gubbio, incidentally, is "Sister City" to Jessup resulting from a process that began in May, 1978 and was formally completed in May, 2004. As customary in Italy, Gubbio refers to Jessup as its "Città Gemellata" or "Twinned City". 2009 will be celebrated as the 100th year anniversary of Saint Ubaldo Day in Jessup and numerous commemorative celebrations were planned by the Saint Ubaldo Society to mark the occasion.

Saint Ubaldo Day begins early in the morning with roving musicians from Valley View High School about town and an intimate ceremony at Saint John's Catholic Italian cemetery. Members of all three families, Sant' Ubaldo, San Giorgio, and Sant' Antonio, then gather together for a frittata breakfast. Participants then process to Saint Mary's Assumption Church for a special Mass followed by "L'Alzata".

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