In 1366 Marquard of Randeck, German bishop of Augsburg, arrived and Cividale del Friuli receiving a broadsword. He would remain patriarch of Aquileia until 1381. Since then, on 6 January, the day of the Epiphany, the rite of the Mass of the Broadsword is renewed: a deacon on the altar holds a large sword in his right hand vibrating three blows in the air as a sign of greeting, while with the other hand he holds the Gospel Book, the codex of the fifteenth century, to his chest. Celebrating the rite today, in the cathedral of Cividale, was the deacon for the Archdiocese of Udine, Assosolm Dominique Mandjami, originally from Togo who, as tradition, addressed the clergy, arranged in the choir and the faithful. The celebration is meant to symbolize spiritual and temporal power.
The mass is followed by a re-enactment outside attended by more than 250 participants in period costumes, but today this part did not take place due to adverse weather conditions.
"The Mass of the Broadsword is one of the most beautiful Friulian traditions, which has its origins over the centuries and has never been interrupted", in it there are "suggestions in the past suitable for contemporary society and useful for setting a future vision of our region", commented the deputy governor of the FVG with responsibility for Culture Mario Anzil on the sidelines of the "Mass of the Broadsword".
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