Saint Restituta

It is said that in 284 DC the young christian Restituta was hard fought for not agreeing to profess pagan rites. She was first imprisoned and then cruelly martyred. Her execution has been particularly painful, she has been covered with tar, left tied in a boat and made it plunge into the depths of the sea at the mercy of the flames. But a divine miracle directed the flames toward her oppressors and spared her. An angel then pushed the boat into the bay of San Montano. The angel then appeared to be another woman, a Lacco peon named Lucina. In a premonitory dream, the angel evealed that the young martyr would land lifeless on that beach. Lucina found the sand covered with fragrant flowers, lilies of Santa Restituta (Pancratium maritimum). The whole story is recalled by May 16 to 18 in a performance where an ancient wooden statue of over five hundred years is carried in procession.