If you’ve never heard of Efisio, don’t berate yourself. Neither had I. My guess is that most people outside Sardinia would be scratching their heads, but there, and especially in their capital city of Cagliari, Efisio is a superhero, who stood by them not only in life, but also, many centuries later, in death.
His story begins not in Sardinia but in the Roman colony Aelia Capitolana, which was established in Jerusalem after it was sacked by the Romans. His father, Christofero, was Christian, but his mother Alessandra, was a pagan, and when Christofero died, she brought Efisio up as a pagan. He was taken under the wing of the Emperor Diocletian, and became a Roman soldier. He was sent to Italy to join Diocletian’s fervent campaign to stamp out Christianity, and posted to Sardinia to lead the army in fighting rebel tribes in its interior, but it is said that while he was riding his horse to Naples, he was thrown down by a flash of light, and heard a voice saying “I am Christ, the one you persecute”. If you think that story sounds eerily familiar, you are right. It is almost exactly the same as the story of the Conversion of St Paul, but ancient writers thought nothing of recycling plots!
However it happened, Efisio decided to become a Christian, and was baptised. This brought him into conflict with his former patron, Diocletian. How could he persecute Christians when he was one himself? How could he persecute anyone, if he was ruled by a God of love? Efisio was arrested, imprisoned, tortured and beaten in a cave, supposedly underneath what is now his church in Cagliari.
Despite the torture, and his mother’s urging to give up his faith, Efisio would not do so. Not wanting to stir up trouble in Cagliari, the governor of Cagliari ordered him to be taken over 20 miles from the city, to the town of Nora, where there was a Roman military camp, to be killed there. There he was beheaded on the beach.
A friend in time of plague
Efisio’s refusal to harm the people of Sardinia, at such great cost to himself, impressed them, and devotion to their own local martyr grew. By the 11th century, he had become their Patron Saint. Thirteen hundred years later, though, came the event that would really cement his position in their hearts and in the cultural life of their nation. In 1652 plague was sweeping across the Mediterranean – the same plague hit England in 1665 – killing many thousands of people. The people of Sardinia prayed to their Patron Saint for help, promising that, if they were delivered from the plague, they would take the statue of him which stood in his church, out on procession from Cagliari to the place of his martyrdom at Nora.
Personally, if I were being taken out for an annual outing, the place of my martyrdom wouldn’t be my first choice of a good day out, but plainly Efisio didn’t see it like that. The plague abated, and every year since then Cagliari has come to a standstill on May 1, so that they can fulfil their vow. This year, the 363rd since the processions began, Philip and I were there to watch.
St Efisio’s procession – sights, sounds and scents
The procession is huge. Every town and village in Sardinia seems to have representatives in it, dressed in their own local costumes, which are many and various. First come the traccas, decorated ox-carts, then the walking procession, singing the Rosary in Sardu, the national language. After these have passed, the cavallieri, horseman and women on horses adorned with bells, ride through the streets. Finally the great and good , the local councillors and other officials come on horseback – some obviously more used to riding than others! And, at the end of the procession, greeted with real excitement and affection comes the ox-cart carrying the statue of Efisio. “The Saint is coming”, said the people standing in the crowd next to us, almost breathlessly.
The watching crowd of many thousands joins in the procession as the Saint passes, and the whole throng make their way eventually around to the City Hall, where rose petals are thrown on the road before Efisio’s cart, so many that the road runs with rosewater and the whole air is filled with the scent.
Most of the crowd disperse at this point, but Efisio’s ox-cart trundles on, and some determined people travel with it, out of the city, towards Nora. It takes several days to get there, stopping at various points for services or overnight rests, but on May 3, Efisio reaches Nora, before returning the next day to Cagliari, and the church which is dedicated to him.
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