Pannese Society Winter Pannese Society. Meeting of Members

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1 Pannese Society Meeting of Members The Pannese Society held two membership meetings at the Pannese Social Club located in Providence RI. There, the new members who attended were sworn in and introductions took place. We introduced ourselves and explained our connection to Panni and what we would like to get out of the society. We also had a brief history of the Society, discussed the miracle, and went over amending the original bylaws. Since approving the amending of the Bylaws we are pleased to annoance that since 1909, we now have female members. Cont P.4 Trip to Panni A trip to Panni will be taking place in August Please Contact us if you would like to go. Writers Needed The Society is in need of a person from Panni to communicate with the society of the happenings in Panni. The Miracle The Statue has been restored and to our amazement, a miracle took place. Next Page

2 The Miracle Seen in the Providence Journal and known throughout Panni, crown being sent from Panni PROVIDENCE Last year, Joseph Spremulli, 81, took over the presidency of the Pannese Society of Providence from his cousin. But getting his cousin to turn over a statue of La Madonna Del Bosco, or Madonna of the Woods, from the Church of the Assumption in Panni, Italy, that belonged to the society wasn t so easy. The statue, which had come from Italy in the early 1900s, had once stood in the Holy Ghost Church on Atwells Avenue but languished in a Federal Hill garage. Made of wood and plaster, the statue once had gold crowns on the Madonna s and child s heads. The crowns are missing now. The statue s plaster had cracked, and in the back it had come off in chunks. I was haunting him, haunting him, haunting him, Joseph Spremulli said about getting his cousin to reveal where the statue was stashed. His cousin wouldn t give it up. Finally, Louis Spremulli told Joseph where it was and let him move it to an office in Silver Lake. Louis was in good health, Joseph Spremulli said. Two weeks later, his cousin was dead. Joseph felt bad, that taking the statue had somehow contributed to his cousin s death. Everybody told me, Don t give the statue away. Spremulli had no intention of giving it away. He started talking to it. He asked the Madonna to give him a sign. Blood, tears, anything, to let him know that the Holy Mother wanted the statue restored to the society and the society reawakened for all those whose families came from Panni. He and another society member found a sculptor to repair the statue. Before the sculptor left with it, Spremulli took photographs to document the needed refurbishment, especially on the back. The artist did the work, repairing the plaster and repainting the blue-robed Madonna. Then Spremulli got the photographs back from being developed. On the back of the statue, near the saint s left shoulder, missing plaster had described in white an image of the Virgin Mary, holding a bouquet of flowers, with a little bird at her feet. We feel she s telling us something for the society, Spremulli said. 2

3 He and his son, also named Louis Spremulli, said in a news release: Since this is the Year of Faith with the Catholic Church, we consider this a sign to support our actions of recovering and reuniting our saint back to our society. To our society it is an apparition from the Virgin Mary. Handcrafted cardboard crowns now grace the heads of the mother and child. Spremulli said the assistant mayor of Panni visited in July and said that after the statue was refurbished, he would donate new crowns. The Spremullis wrote to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, asking Bishop Thomas J. Tobin to investigate our story and make a determination on why these images appeared on the statue. Tobin wrote back, saying, in part, The Church, as you know, is always very cautious about declaring particular phenomena to be the result of divine intervention. It is very probable that the images on the back of the statue are from natural causes chipping of the paint and deterioration of the statue rather than from any supernatural cause. Your desire to restore the statue to its original beauty is commendable and it can certainly serve as an object of devotion, a legitimate sacramental for the use of the faithful. Although the statue has been repaired and the image is no longer visible, Spremulli said he is looking for a place to give the statue the respect it deserves, perhaps by making a shrine in the Young Pannese Social Club on Pocasset Avenue, and roping it off. In the meantime, the society is selling religious candles bearing a picture of the saint and the story of the apparition. Each candle is $5, and the money will go toward the restoration. Our society considers this a message from the Virgin Mary, La Madonna Del Bosco, that she is aware that we are bringing her home, the story on the candle concludes. Spremulli said he feels his prayer was answered. Now, when he speaks to the Madonna, Spremulli said, he can almost hear her saying, Take me home. Trip to Panni Some members of the Pannese Society are planning a trip to Panni in August Please, If you are interested reach out to us. You can spend the whole trip in Panni or venture throughout Italy or even throughout Europe. You can travel Solo and meet up in Panni or travel with others. A great way to visit Italy and Panni. Going with others relieves some of the stress one can concour when traveling overseas. If you ever wanted to travel to Italy and see Panni now is the time. 3

4 Meeting of Members Updates and changes to the original bylaws took place. Updated Bylaws will be made available soon. Some of the older outdated items will not remain in the bylaws. The older articles that will be removed are ones such as hiring the the society band to play at funerals and the Society Doctor making house visits. The Society, whose main mission is keeping the heritage alive and the educating of the Italian culture, is now be set up to spread international. In addition, woman are encouraged to join and relationships with the people of Panni and Pannesi s from around the world are being made. Wikipedia & Facebook To help get national and global recognition, we have plans to edit the Wikipedia website under the Panni. Wikipedia is one of the most popular websites in the world. By editing this we will link our website with them and mention about the society to anyone who searches Panni. This will hopefully allow us to come in contact with cousins and will also attract people who are looking up info on family names. We also have a Facebook page. The page was set up as an organization and people can like the page to connect to it. We already have over 100 likes from people all throughout the world. These people all have Pannese names and its amazing to see people who share the same last name who able to link to their website. It will put the society in the international spotlight. Wikipedia comes up first in almost every web search. By adding all the family names to to include more history of the people of Panni and include all the Pannese family names. 4

5 Writers In Foggia We are currently in search of a person in the Foggia area who would like to write on the current on goings in the Panni, Foggia region to include in our newsletter. It would be great to add to ones resume or for someone looking to better ones English and writing skills. If anyone knows of anyone please contact us. What we may do is approach the schools looking for a professional high school/college student who wish to enter the global scene. This will also strengthen our education sharing program. Panni - August 2013 In August of last year the people of Panni celebrated their traditions of honoring their patron saints. For the entire month activities are set u for this celebration. This town of 800 is flooded with people from all over the world. The population rises to about 2,500 and the town is very busy. From the pictures you can see how the saints are paraded through the town, bands and invited guests as well. The people of Panni are dedicated to the Catholic religion, family, and their heritage. A trip is being planned for August

6 La Madonna Del Bosco We are please to announce that La Madonna Del Bosco has found a new home. The statue will reside at 15 George Waterman Rd in Johnston RI. The crowns will be donated from the town of Panni. The church was founded in 1913 and has a strong relationship with the people of Rome and members of the Vatican. Monsignor Carlo F. Montecalvo is currently in Rome and the church offers Italian classes.