Our Lady of Trapani of La Goulette

Marian vocation of La Goulette (Tunisia)

La devoción a Our Lady of Trapani in La Goulette (La Goleta), Tunisia, is closely linked to Sicilian and, in general, Italian immigration, which was established in this port at the end of the 19th and first half of the 20th century. This community carried with it the venerated Marian image of Trapani (Sicily), and organized a great annual procession around August 15, which became one of the most significant Catholic public demonstrations in the country.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Our Lady of Trapani in La Goulette (La Goleta), Tunisia, is closely linked to Sicilian and, in general, Italian immigration, which was established in this port at the end of the 19th and first half of the 20th century. This community carried with it the venerated Marian image of Trapani (Sicily), and organized a great annual procession around August 15, which became one of the most significant Catholic public demonstrations in the country.

From the point of view documented historythe procession of the Virgin of Trapani in La Goulette is held at least since the beginning of the 20th century, and the press and information agencies describe it as a tradition of "a century" of antiquity. After the independence of Tunisia (1956) and the departure of much of the European population, the procession was interrupted for decades, but in the twenty-first century it has resumed more limited around the parish of San Agustín and San Fidel in La Goulette. Today, Tunisians and descendants of Italians are proud to refer to this image as the “Virgen de Túnez”.

As regards tradition / legendIn the popular context, it is common that the idea that the image was "brought by Sicilian fishermen" or that it arrived on a ship in providential circumstances, following a devotional scheme very widespread in Marian seaports of the Mediterranean. However, available sources do not accurately document a concrete miraculous episode or an exact date of the image's arrival; rather, they confirm that devotion was progressively consolidated with the stable presence of Italian and Sicilian communities in La Goulette. Where archival data are not available, these details should be considered as unverified pious tradition.

The image and the sanctuary

La Goulette's advocation reproduces the famous Madonna di Trapani, image of the Virgin with the Child of strong roots in Sicily. There it is a late Gothic Marian sculpture, associated with the Carmelite church of the Annunziata in Trapani. In Tunisia, the venerated image in La Goulette is a Devotional replica of that Madonna, carried or commissioned by the Sicilian community; the journalistic sources present it as a Marian processional image carried in walks, without specifying with certainty the material (wood, plaster or other) or specifying the author or date of execution. It does not contain, in the documentation consulted, a detailed description of his iconography in La Goulette; by analogy with the original Sicilian, it may be assumed that it is a Virgin standing with the Child in arms, but this point is not explained in the sources on Tunisia.

The cult focuses on the church of Saint Augustine and Saint Fidel in La Goulette, Latin Catholic parish that acts in fact as the local sanctuary of the Virgin of Trapani. This church is the starting point and arrival of the procession and the place where the image is exposed. The chronicles present it as a parish of Latin rite dependent on the Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Tunisia, but no consta in the sources consulted that have the official title of minor basilica, national sanctuary or other specific rank beyond their status as parish church.

Sponsorship and coronation

In the Tunisian context, Our Lady of Trapani of La Goulette is popularly known as “Virgen de Túnez”, an expression that indicates a strong symbolic identification with the city and the country. The news sources point out that Tunisians from different backgrounds, beyond the Italian community, participate in the feast and consider it a shared identity. However, no consta in the documentation available a formal decree that the official patron of La Goulette, of the city of Tunisia, of a diocese or of the nation is proclaimed, so its patronage must be understood mainly in the field of the popular devotion and the local Catholic community.

As for a canonical coronationthe sources consulted on the Virgin of Trapani in La Goulette (recent news, devotional testimonies and historical reviews) do not mention any act of official coronation recognized by the Holy See or by the diocesan authority with specific decree. So, to this day, does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

La main party of Our Lady of Trapani in La Goulette is celebrated around the August 15, solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, following the Sicilian tradition. The procession usually takes place on the 15th or 16th of August, according to the year, and includes the celebration of the Eucharist, the exit of the image on a walk from the church of San Agustín and San Fidel and a tour of the streets of the harbour district.

Recent press reports describe the procession as one of the major Marian manifestations of contemporary Tunisiawhich brings together "hundreds of faithful and curious" in the Tunisian capital. There are Latin-rite Catholics, descendants of Italians and Sicilians, as well as Muslim neighbours and non-Christian people attracted by the festive character and cultural dimension of the celebration. The devotion has also become a sign of coexistence and dialogue in a largely Muslim context, and the invocation is often invoked as "Virgin of peace" and of unity between communities.

The sources emphasize that, in the 20th century, the procession of August 15 became the the largest Marian procession in Tunisiaespecially in the years when the Italian colony was larger. Although the number of participants was reduced after independence, the party currently maintains a remarkable religious and cultural interest, and has experienced some revitalization with the participation of both Tunisian and Italian communities.

Link to the Rosary

The information available on the Virgin of Trapani in La Goulette focuses mainly on the Festive processionthe solemn mass and the intercultural dimension of the celebration, without expressly detailing concrete practices of prayer of the Rosary officially linked to the sanctuary. In the sources consulted no consta the existence of specific co-fradies of the Rosary or of particular indulgences related to this advocation in Tunisia.

However, in Marian Catholic spirituality, especially in contexts of emigration and minority, the Rosary The devotion to the Virgin is usually naturally accompanied. Sicilian and Italian fairies have traditionally cultivated the prayer of the Rosary in the family, in parishes and in the vigil before the great Marian parties, and it is reasonable to think - although not explicitly documented - that the Rosary has been and is a usual practice among the devotees of Our Lady of Trapani in La Goulette.

More broadly, the Rosary allows us to contemplate, together with Mary, the mysteries of the life of Christ: the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin, celebrated liturgically on August 15 and in Marian spirituality, find a particular echo at the feast of the Virgin of Trapani. Thus, praying the Rosary before this image helps the faithful to join the faith of Maryto intercede for peace and coexistence in Tunisia and to keep alive the believing memory of the generations of immigrants who carried this devotion to the other side of the Mediterranean.