The curtain fell on the 369th edition of the festival , the golden chariot returned to its "secret room" just as the statue of Sant'Efisio, after the triumphs of faith and colors, was placed back in its niche lined with red velvet in the right altar of his church in Stampace. "Passau su santu, passara sa festa", the old people of Cagliari love to repeat, with a hint of nostalgia.
But if the gaze is already projected towards the next, round, edition number 370, brothers and sisters must deal with a problem not insignificant: the health conditions of the ancient simulacrum, which emerged battered from this year's trip . A statue that, despite the care and attention, also fully shows "years and ailments" of its venerable age.
The mutilation of the index finger of the right hand this year is just another "accident along the way" of the seventeenth-century simulacrum of Saint Efisio that occurred during the votive procession in May. The x-rays taken during the last restoration in 2010 reveal, mercilessly, the state of health of the precious wood, starting with that "incriminated" right hand.
For several years, the Superintendence has repeatedly "called" the Archconfraternity of the Gonfalone, as owner of the statue and guarantor of the cult and devotion to Sant'Efisio, to a more careful and severe control especially in the many (too many?) movements and transfers made during the votive procession in May. And the most radical decision could be that, from now on, of carrying a copy of the simulacrum in procession.
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