145 DOI: 10.4312/mz.58.1.145-160 UDK 272-5(450):616-036.22"2020":783 Can Social Media Replace a Suspended Rite? An Example from Central Italy Fulvia Caruso University of Pavia ABSTRACT In 2020 and 2021, the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic suspended or limited important rites and the web became the place to fill the void. In March 2020, I started to conduct virtual fieldwork on this development from the perspective of what happened to the pilgrimage to the Holy Trinity of Vallepietra (Central Italy). Keywords: Covid-19, pilgrimage, virtual compensation, communitas, devotional music IZVLEČEK V letih 2020 in 2021 so bili številni pomembni verski obredi zaradi pandemije Covid-19 prekinjeni ali omejeni. Splet je postal prostor, ki je zapolnil nastalo praznino. Od marca 2020 sem nastale izredne razmere raziskovala s terenskim delom na spletu in opazovala razvoj dogodkov ob romanju k Sv. Trojici v kraju Vallepietra v osrednji Italiji. Ključne besede: Covid-19, romanje, virtualna kompenzacija, communitas, nabožna glasba MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 145 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 145 28. 07. 2022 12:07:56 28. 07. 2022 12:07:56 muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1 146 The contemporary scenario, in which media and technologies are more and more ubiquitous, has led ethnomusicologists to move more and more towards the study of the impact of technology on musical performance (Giannattasio 2017). For some time now, the pervasiveness of the “media of live forms” (Han- nerz 1992) has been used by individuals or groups to invent virtual lives or to reverberate in the network of what happens in specific places (Wood 2008). The world of religion has also benefitted extensively from social networking (Ingalls 2019) and as a result many traditional rites had to enter somehow in dialogue with the internet (Macchiarella 2017). The extraordinary situation of the global lockdown necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic offered in 2020 and 2021 an unprecedented context in which to investigate the role of the media of life forms in contemporary so- ciety. In Italy, for example, people were forced to stay at home for a very long period, 1 and the use of the social media grew exponentially. As a case in point, many important religious and other calendrical rites in Italy were inevitably suspended during the various Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. In some cases, however, cultural associations, brotherhoods, religious societies, or single individuals used the internet to fill the void created by the suspension of a rite by both promoting actions from home and sharing recordings of previous events online. Since March 2020, when the lockdown necessitated that everyone stay at home, I began creating a remote ethnography (Podjed 2021) or virtual field- work (Cooley, Meizel, and Syed 2008). In the process I collected web user behavior concerning various contexts and repertoires of ethnomusicological interest and paid particular attention to some of the Catholic ritual calendar events that were suspended at the time. In this paper, I will concentrate on the pilgrimage to the Santuario della Santissima Trinità di Vallepietra (Holy Trinity Shrine in Vallepietra) in Cen- tral Italy, a ritual that I know well from previous fieldwork undertaken between 1999 and 2009 that was devoted to the role of music in this specific pilgrimage (Caruso 2008, 2015). This has allowed me to orient myself in understanding the behaviors produced by the pandemic and in the analysis of whether they are aligned to the behaviors customarily observed by the pilgrims during their visit to the sanctuary. In March 2020, I started an “ethnography of the digital” (Podjed 2021), recording what was happening on social media, in particular the Facebook 1 In response to the growing pandemic of Covid-19 in the country, the Italian Government im- posed the first severe national lockdown on March 9, 2020, restricting the movement of the popu- lation except for circumstances pertaining to necessity, work, and health. This lasted until June 15, 2020. In October 2020, a second progressively more restrictive lockdown came into force, lasting until the end of April 2021. A third less restrictive lockdown started March 6, 2021, terminating on July 31. After that, restrictions were aimed only at those who had not had vaccinations. MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 146 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 146 28. 07. 2022 12:07:56 28. 07. 2022 12:07:56 Fulvia Caruso: Can Social Media Replace a Suspended Rite? 147 pages devoted to the shrine, and contacted some of the pilgrims, now friends, to better understand what was happening. I wanted to understand if pilgrims would have used those pages to somehow compensate for the absence of the visita (visit) and how. I was preoccupied with the following questions: Did the traditional songs performed at the shrine have a role and which role? Which songs formed a part of the repertoire? Did the significant distancing from the ritual practice have an impact on their performances? Did the nature of the visit change once the lockdown ended? From March 2020 to July 2021, I continued monitoring those Facebook pages and was able to collect sufficient information to find some answers to the questions formulated. The Pilgrimage to the Holy Trinity of Vallepietra On a cliff of Mount Autore, situated between the Italian regions of Lazio and Abruzzo, at a height of 1.300 meters, there are caves which, during the twelfth century, were adorned with frescoes of sacred images, probably the work of Benedictine monks. The main fresco offers an image of the Holy Trin- ity, crafted according to the Byzantine tradition. The fresco depicts three iden- tical Christs who make the gesture of blessing by the folding of the thumb and ring finger of the right hand over each other. This sanctuary has been a place of ritual importance since the Neolithic Period, as revealed by archaeological evidence (Brelich 1955); it has risen in prominence from the early nineteenth century onwards (Simeoni 2006). The steep ledge on which the sacred site is situated has been the centur- ies-long object of pilgrimage for villagers from neighboring regions (Lazio, Abruzzo and Campania), located within a radius of approximately hundred kilometers. Many pilgrims still travel to the sanctuary on foot, covering tens of kilo- meters, often at night. Normally the visita takes place with groups of people from the same village, called compagnie. 2 Those who travel there by car wait for those who come on foot in the proximity of the sanctuary, in order to make the visita together. The sanctuary is open from May 1 to November 1, a period during which pilgrims visit the shrine. The moment of greatest influx of pilgrims coincides with the two main feasts linked to the sanctuary: the feasts of the Holy Trinity and of St. Anna. The first is movable and takes place on the Sunday following Pentecost (also movable, therefore in a period from April to June); the second is on July 26. Differently from the other devotees, the inhabitants of Vallepietra per- form their devotions twice through specific processions. The first occurs every 2 Devotees of the Holy Trinity shrine of Vallepietra are normally grouped into compagnie; the ex- ception is devotees from Vallepietra and Subiaco, who are organized into official brotherhoods. MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 147 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 147 28. 07. 2022 12:07:56 28. 07. 2022 12:07:56 muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1 148 February 16, to celebrate the appearance of the image of the Trinity at the shrine; the second coincides with the opening on May 1. The rest of the open- ing period is dedicated to welcoming pilgrims both to the village and the shrine. As I witnessed during my previous fieldwork, pilgrims’ thoughts are fo- cused on the pilgrimage all year long. The most intense moment is the brief instant when the worshippers’ gaze meets the eyes of the Trinity in the fresco within the cave, but the whole journey and especially being at, and near, the sanctuary is crucial. The importance of the physical place clearly emerges in the sentiments expressed by shrine devotees. Its beauty, the difficulty in reach- ing it (especially for those who arrive by foot), the emotion it evokes, and the number of people that take part are all key elements of the visita. As in every pilgrimage (Turner 1978), it is a remarkable journey in which all the senses, heightened by the effort shown by pilgrims, play a crucial role. In my study of this specific pilgrimage, however, hearing has a very important – probably the most important – one. It is not by chance that the founding legends of the sanctuary are so well expressed in the main song, the Canzonetta in lode alla Santissima Trinità (Song in Praise of the Holy Trinity), and that this song is performed again and again by all the compagnie during their visita. The Canzonetta consists of twenty- seven verses – octosyllabic-line quatrains with a consistent rhyme scheme (en- velope rhyme scheme) and a truncated fourth line (ABBX) – alternating with a refrain also composed of octosyllabic lines with a consistent rhyme scheme and yet again shortened last line (ABBX). Neither the author nor the date of composition of the song’s lyrics is known. In terms of the stanza, the meter and the language, the song would not appear to date from before the second half of the nineteenth century, suggesting that it is probably a modification of earlier songs and texts. The lyrics of the first verse followed by the refrain are as follows: Italian original English translation Tutti quanti genuflessi Siamo noi qui venuti Onde tutti a noi ci aiuti O Santissima Trinità Viva viva sempre viva Quelle Tre Person Divine Quelle Tre Person Divine La Santissima Trinità All of us genuflected We came here Where all of us will be helped By the Holy Trinity Live live always live Those three divine Persons Those three divine Persons The Holy Trinity The basic way to perform the song is quite simple, the pitches encompassing the interval of a fifth and moving in stepwise fashion. A four-measure phrase MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 148 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 148 28. 07. 2022 12:07:56 28. 07. 2022 12:07:56 Fulvia Caruso: Can Social Media Replace a Suspended Rite? 149 is repeated in almost identical fashion every two lines of the text for both the verse and the refrain. The treatment of the text is syllabic, the rhythm following the accents of the words. Each compagnia can sing the Canzonetta in unison or polyphonically; the singing can be accompanied or not by one or more instruments, the instru- ments sometimes forming a band. The nature of the musical performance de- pends on the ability of the compagnia to present itself compactly and in a dif- ferent way from the other compagnie. Through the paradigmatic analysis of hundreds of versions collected over the years, I was able to identify the two most used versions of the melody (see Figures 1 and 2), which are performed with dozens of variations 3 from com- pagnia to compagnia either separately or alternated between verse and chorus. Pilgrims confirmed my view that once the two versions were performed to- gether, superimposed to create polyphony. The main versions are found in the examples provided below. & 8 1 2 œ j œ œ j œ . ˙ Vi va vi va œ J œ . œ . ˙ Sem pre vi va œ j œ . œ . œ ‰ ‰ j œ Que le tre pe œ j œ œ j œ . œ rson di vi ne - - - - - - - - & œ j œ œ j œ . ˙ Que lle tre pe œ J œ . œ . ˙ rson di vi ne œ j œ œ j œ . ˙ La San tis si ma œ j œ . ˙ U Tri ni tà - - - - - - - - - © Figure 1: The more widespread version of the song. 4 & 8 1 2 œ j œ œ j œ . ˙ Vi va vi va œ j œ . œ . ˙ Sem pre vi va œ j œ . œ . œ Que lle tre pe œ j œ . œ . œ U rson di vi ne - - - - - - - - & 5 œ j œ œ j œ . ˙ Que lle tre pe œ j œ . œ . ˙ rson di vi ne œ j œ œ j œ . ˙ La San tis si ma œ j œ . ˙ U Tri ni tà - - - - - - - - - © Figure 2: The second main version of the song. Other songs performed at the sanctuary include the Canzone sul miracolo eseguito da S. Anna (Song about the Miracle Performed by St. Anne), that is sung by the compagnie who make the visita to the shrine in the period close to the 3 At least 26 and 17 variants respectively. 4 In Figures 1 and 2, the syllables in the Italian word “person” are divided as “pe-rson” rather than “per-son” to reflect the exact manner of performance concerning which syllables correspond to which pitches. MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 149 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 149 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1 150 day of the commemoration of St. Anne. Its poetic and musical structure is analogous to that of the Canzonetta. Pilgrims also sing specific songs to the Holy Images prior to leaving. These songs are not typical of this sanctuary but can be found in other sanctuaries in the same area of Central Italy, changing only small parts of the text. 5 All these songs, mixed with prayers, invocations, voices, and Mass celebra- tions, overlap with the whispering of people who have made their visita and are talking, singing, playing, and taking great delight in being there (see Fig- ure 3). During the Holy Trinity and St. Anne feasts in particular, the huge number of pilgrims and the sounds they make create an amazing soundscape, amplified by the structure of the cliff with its very high and concave rocky wall. Figure 3: Feast of the Holy Trinity, June 10, 2006. The compagnia of Anagni leaves the shrine accompanied by its band, while other compagnie are waiting to get into the cave of the fresco of the Holy Trinity. The singing reaches its climax at the shrine but accompanies the whole pil - grimage, from the departure from the pilgrims’ hometowns to their return. The sanctuary’s identity is clearly affirmed in the verses from Canzonetta in lode alla Santissima Trinità: “La montagna risuona di canti” (“The mountain resounds with songs”). It is through the different renditions of the Canzonetta that the compagnia demonstrates its presence and faith, adapting the song to its specific needs at any given moment, depending on the place, the emotions conveyed, and the composition of the group itself, but also on the composition and renditions of the surrounding compagnie. 5 For a more detailed description of all these songs see Caruso 2008 and 2015. MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 150 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 150 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 Fulvia Caruso: Can Social Media Replace a Suspended Rite? 151 In the words of Giovambattista, a pilgrim from the village of Anticoli Corrado: Here it feels as if you were a bearer of the faith and the performance of the song is powerful because I am expressing all this power, this joy with the Supreme Being. In this moment, the only thing that exists for me is the compagnia, my group, even though there are oth- ers. It is one single entity in which personal identity no longer exists. (Interviewed by the author in October 2007) 6 The words of this pilgrim clearly express the need to create communitas that is specific to the experience of the pilgrimage (Turner 1978). To share the same devotion at the sanctuary creates a special bond that becomes stronger within the compagnia that shares the entire experience from home to the shrine. In February 2020 the usual procession of Vallepietra took place, but after a few days everything had to be suspended due to the introduction of the lock- down. The sanctuary could not open on the first of May and all events were canceled. At the end of June, as we slowly exited the lockdown and the sanctu- ary reopened, visite resumed, but with safety measures 7 that discouraged many pilgrims until September when the rules were loosened. Unfortunately, November of 2020 brought new forms of closures, and re- strictions continued until the opening of 2021, which took place only with the prior and a few representatives of the various compagnie. Visite continued to be regulated by the prior, allowing only small groups (from one family up to fifteen people) to make the visita to the Holy Trinity. Virtual and Real Pilgrimage in the Time of Pandemic The first lockdown happened shortly before Easter. This had quite an impact on places which have strong performative traditions linked to the Easter cel- ebrations. Having undertaken several fieldwork expeditions dealing with nu- merous Easter processions, I began asking my friends how they were managing with the suspension of all rites. Through these discussions it became clear to me that the internet had become an arena that could compensate in some way for the absence of the rites. I then started to do e-fieldwork, observing, documenting, and reflecting on what brotherhoods, compagnie and cultural as- sociations were creating on the web regarding religious rituals, and continued researching also after Easter. 6 Original statement of the interlocutor: “Qui è come se fosse un portare la fede e la manifestazione del canto è forte perché io esprimo tutta questa forza, questa gioia con il Supremo. In quel mo- mento ci sono solo io Compagnia, il mio Gruppo, anche se ci sono altri. È tutta una massa fusa in cui il personale non esiste più.” 7 Only small groups, wearing masks, and maintaining social distance, were admitted to the Holy Trinity, and they could not stay at the shrine after the visit or sleep there, or nearby. MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 151 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 151 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1 152 I observed what was happening on the Facebook pages of the three main institutions that in various ways revolve around the sanctuary of Vallepietra: 8 These institutions/pages include the following: the Confraternità S.S. Trin- ità Vallepietra (Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity of Vallepietra, created and administered by Prior Paolo De Santis in 2014); the Santuario Santissima Trinità (The Holy Trinity Sanctuary, created in 2016 by Don Alberto, rector of the sanctuary), and Fede e tradizione al Santuario della Santissima Trin- ità – Vallepietra (Faith and Tradition at the Sanctuary of the Holy Trinity – Vallepietra, created and administered by Filippo Graziosi, active member of the Center for Studies and Documentation of the Sanctuary of the Holy Trinity, in 2018). What happened on these Facebook pages? The first two, in particular, re - acted quickly to the situation and became a strong point of reference for devo- tees who were in lockdown at home. On March 10, 2020, a letter from the mayor of Vallepietra and the rector of the sanctuary was posted on all the afore-mentioned Facebook pages: Given the restrictions that have also been applied to places of worship, in agreement with Don Alberto we decided to pray to the Holy Trinity on Sunday, March 15 at 10:30, each from their own home or place of work, to get this important message of faith to God the Trinity. 9 The initiative was welcomed by many who posted short videos on that day, and videos continued to be shared on all three Facebook pages in the days that followed. The inhabitants of Vallepietra participated at first by posting videos in which women were singing the Canzonetta or the final part of the Pianto delle zitelle (Lament of the Spinsters; a lament about the death of Christ sung only by the women of Vallepietra at the shrine on the Sunday of the Holy Trin- ity feast), showing the sanctuary from the village. 10 Vallepietra residents then started to post videos showing the streets of Vallepietra with the faithful look- ing out from their homes singing the Canzonetta. The idea was to pay homage to the devotees who do not live near the sanctuary, allowing them to at least see the holy place. Every Sunday, in fact, the president of the brotherhood posted short videos showing the sanctuary. 8 The web pages normally only provide official information, while the Facebook pages of commu - nities, as those examined here, host a chorus of voices and emotions through posts, photos and videos. 9 Original post: “Date le restrizioni anche ai luoghi di preghiera, d’accordo con Don Alberto ab- biamo deciso di pregare la Santissima Trinità domenica 15 marzo alle 10.30 ognuno dalla propria casa o luogo di lavoro, per inviare questo importante messaggio di fede a Dio Trinità.” 10 An example posted on March 15, 2020, can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/ live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=485168332365544 (Confraternità S.S. Trinità [n. d.]) . MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 152 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 152 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 Fulvia Caruso: Can Social Media Replace a Suspended Rite? 153 After March 15, the devotees started to post videos recorded in their homes or courtyards, with individual renditions of the Canzonetta. These renditions were instrumental, depending on the type of instrument the pilgrim had at their disposal at home. We have to consider that people were in self-isolation and could only perform alone for the most part, and with the instruments they had at home, if available. 11 In the following days, another kind of video appeared on the Facebook pages: photos of devotees with audio examples of sanctuary-related devotional songs recorded live during previous pilgrimages edited and mixed into the video footage. Some were photos of previous visite, some were photos taken for use in the video, and included drawings of rainbows, the symbol in Italy for “everything will be fine” which began to adorn the balconies and windows of the whole country. 12 This compensation through Facebook continued throughout the entire first lockdown. For the Holy Friday of Easter 2020 (April 10), Don Alberto, both the rector of the sanctuary and the parish priest of the church in the village of Vallepietra, decided to make up for the absence of the usual procession by playing a recording of a performance of the Pianto delle Zitelle over the parish bells amplification system. The event was recorded, showing the empty streets of the village and reproducing the audio of the Pianto and posted the same day on Facebook (also that of the Municipality). 13 To avoid gatherings that could be dangerous since Covid-19 was not com- pletely defeated, the shrine opened on June 15, after the feast of the Trinity (which in 2020 fell on June 7), and slowly pilgrims began to visit the sanctuary again. The rector established strict rules for the visite that severely limited the influx. During this period, the pilgrims’ requests to post photos and videos on the brotherhood and sanctuary webpages attesting their visite increased sig- nificantly. The photos generally show the pilgrims after their visita, posing in the forecourt of the shrine, while the videos show small compagnie singing as they approach the holy cave of the sanctuary. The posts reached their peak in September, when less stringent restrictions enticed many more devotees to go to the sanctuary. Only one video from home was posted in July. 14 11 An example posted on March 15, 2020, can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/alessio. deangelis.792/videos/10218892530297063 (Confraternità S.S. Trinità [n. d.]) . 12 An example posted on March 19, 2020, can be found here: https://www.facebook. com/1429536853955845/videos/202372934349382 (Confraternità S.S. Trinità [n. d.]) . 13 The video is in the following link: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=search&v=73442145 3760307&external_log_id=fd94a5d3-8a87-4068-851f-e6874fc3cf7c&q=Comune%20di%20 Vallepietra (Comune di Vallepietra [n. d.]). 14 The video is in the following link: https://www.facebook.com/renato.iacobelli/vide - os/3177118292334978 (Iacobelli 2020). It is not explained in the video, but the pandemic restrictions were stronger for some inhabitants of specific regions or for unvaccinated people. MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 153 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 153 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1 154 I had seen in the past that many compagnie often filmed their visite, es- pecially since smartphones became popular. However, these documentations were rarely posted online. The sharp increase in posts was determined by the conditions created by the pandemic. The sanctuary, as usual, closed at the end of October. Unfortunately, Cov- id-19 spread again, and the 2021 opening was also affected by closures and re- strictions such that pilgrimages on foot, gatherings and overnight stays around the sanctuary were prohibited. The rector of the sanctuary established a cal- endar of visite with the compagnie from May to September that allowed for restricted attendance. The February procession of Vallepietra took place but was limited to only a few people from Vallepietra and was live streamed on Facebook. The same thing happened for the opening of the sanctuary on the first of May. To com- pensate, some images and videos of the February 2020 procession, when 3.000 people participated, were uploaded to Facebook. In the following months all relevant religious events were broadcast live on Facebook. In 2021, the proliferation of video clips of previous and present visite continued, while the ad hoc production of renditions from home ceased. This is probably because the requirement to isolate at home has not occurred so peremptorily. The photos and videos resemble those posted in 2020. There are selfies or pictures of the compagnia taken by another visitor showing the group after their visita, photos or selfies taken in front of the caves, videos of the compagnia approaching the sanctuary, and walking, singing and playing, with the compag- nia’s banner in front. Media Compensations To summarize, during the first period of lockdown (March–May 2020), the posts uploaded to Facebook found new ways to somehow perform the tra- ditional songs of the pilgrimage, even if at home, mixing them with the na- tional rhetoric #andràtuttobene (everything will be fine). The reactions during that time were part of the need to create a “great narrative” that was seen throughout social and traditional media (Affuso et al. 2020) that all Italians were experiencing. But the pilgrims of Vallepietra contributed to the nar- rative with an already consolidated musical repertoire, using the traditional songs of the shrine. After that period ended, every post from home stopped and only documentation of what had happened or was happening at the shrine was posted. The sense of what happened is expressed well in the words of a devotee who had left Italy many years ago, and emigrated to Canada: MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 154 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 154 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 Fulvia Caruso: Can Social Media Replace a Suspended Rite? 155 When I was little, I always went with my mamma to the sanctuary. Unfortunately, we can no longer do this, but I still have the best memories of my mum on the bus. I know technology is good, because in minutes we know what we are all doing and where we are, but remember, memories are what keep us going and allow us to always remember. (Com- ment to a Facebook post on the page of the brotherhood) 15 We can learn about pilgrimage through reading related literature, but as I witnessed in my previous fieldwork, pilgrimage has a strong impact on the bodies of the participants. The deep feelings evoked during the visita, the intense involvement of the senses fix the experience not only in the mind but in the body itself. Posts on Facebook – both during the first lockdown and when the sanctuary reopened – were meant to reactivate the memories held from previous visite. That’s also why the videos only show a fragment of the visita and do not reveal the entire process involved in the visitation or present a montage of it in a kind of documentary format. There is no need for a long video or professional and creative editing to revive memories of the visit. In the above-mentioned video of July 12, 2020 (see Footnote 9), a devotee playing the Canzonetta from home even though the shrine was open, stated: “How much I miss not having been to the Holy Trinity. It is an emotion that touches you inside. WWW The Holy Trinity.” 16 As Regula Qureshi (2000, 810–811) so profoundly articulates: The physical sensation of sound not only activates feeling, it also activates links with others who feel. In an instant, the sound of music can create bonds of shared responses that are as deep and intimate as they are broad and universal. The ephemeral bond of a sonic event does not commit to physical contact – though it may elicit it. Experiencing music together leaves the personal, individual, and interior domain unviolated. At the same time, the experience becomes public, shared, and exterior. Such a reification of feeling and sensation, in turn, endows musical sound with a social existence coded as identity (“our” music) and with shared associations and connotations coded as aesthetics (art) […]. Even though participating, feeling emotions, exchanging impressions, and meeting old friends, are all crucial parts of the sanctuary visit, singing with friends and playing for friends is the primary way to convey these emotions and translate them into a shared expressive code. In the case of the videos posted in 2020 and 2021 when the sanctuary was re-opened, it is important to consider which moment of the ritual process was 15 This quote is a revised version of the original post. 16 The inscription “WWW” is used by Italians to signify “ Evviva!” – a word that is the equivalent of praising or honoring an individual. The most used sentence at the shrine is in fact “Evviva la Santissima Trinità” (“May the Holy Trinity be Praised!”). The original post in Italian: “Quanto mi manca di non essere stato alla Santissima Trinità è un’emozione che ti tocca dentro WWW La Santissima Trinità.” MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 155 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 155 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1 156 chosen. It is interesting that all the videos show the most emotional moment: when the compagnia has almost reached the cave with the Holy Trinity. It is in this crucial moment that the singing becomes intense, and emotions take over. As Giuseppe, from Anticoli Corrado, told me, “When you get to the Holy im- age, everything is done. You have already spoken with the Holy Trinity along the way. At that moment there is only silence.” 17 In more than ten years of documentation of the pilgrimage I was able to witness how the emotions intensify as the pilgrims reach the cave of the image of the Holy Trinity. The emotion explodes when they arrive at the threshold of the cave and the singing gives way to silence or crying. Once inside, crossing the gaze of the three identical Christs, the emotions slowly diminish. The experience of pilgrimage is strictly codified in every mode of behavior, from the way to dress to the ways to affirm the presence that includes small stones left at the foot of specific crosses, small ephemeral crosses made from twigs and secured with bracelets, and hair clips or other personal items left near the cliff’s ledge. Souvenirs are also bought at the stands to be given to those who were not able to go to the sanctuary or to keep as a reminder at home. Posting documentation of the visit online is a new way to affirm one’s presence there, but it cannot replace the visit itself. Concluding Reflections As Turner and Turner (1978) suggest, a pilgrimage is like a staging, and it happens best when it is shared with many people. As this study has illustrated, during the lockdown, the presence of aspects of the ritual pilgrimage to the Holy Trinity of Vallepietra on Facebook became the means to “be there” some- how, reproducing the core of the ritual: the musical performances. Part of the emotions, that emerged in interviews as well as the comments expressed on several posts, involved the profound depth of feelings of being together with thousands of people, and sharing the same form of devotion and emotional response to the visit. The reopening of the sacred site with a limited number of visitors produced the need to share their visita on Facebook, to share the experience with those who could not participate, and with all the pilgrims that stayed at home. No other Facebook page was created: the faithful accorded the pages of the sanctuary, of the village and of the brotherhood a status of officiality not bestowed on others. No music other than the traditional songs of the sanctuary were performed. 17 Interview conducted on March 12, 2006. Original statement of the interlocutor: “Quando arrivi all’immagine santa è tutto finito. Hai già detto tutto alla Trinità lungo la strada. In quel momento c’è solo silenzio.” MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 156 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 156 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 Fulvia Caruso: Can Social Media Replace a Suspended Rite? 157 The virtual presence at the shrine through the Facebook pages and its asso - ciated rituals circumvented the curtailing by the pandemic of physical presence and participation. Produced and packaged in a format directed to a specific so- cio-cultural milieu, the videos speak exclusively to those already familiar with the ritual who can be easily moved by these images through the memories they evoke. In this way the virtual world depicts behaviors enacted in the same fash- ion for centuries at the shrine, thus stimulating and recreating the communitas that normally occurs physically at the shrine. References Affuso, Olimpia, Maria Carmela Agodi, and Flacio Ceravolo. 2020. “Scienza, exper- tise e senso comune: dimensioni simboliche e sociomateriali della pandemia.” [“Science, Expertise and Commonsense: Symbolic and Socio-Material Dimen- sions of the Pandemic Experience.”] AIS Journal of Sociology 16: 57–68. DOI: 10.1485/2281-2652-202016-4. Brelich, Angelo. 1955. Un culto preistorico vivente nell’Italia centrale. [A Living Prehistoric Cult in Central Italy.] Bologna: Zanichelli. Caruso, Fulvia. 2008. Evviva la Santissima Trinità. [ Live the Holy Trinity.] Pescara: Carsa. Caruso, Fulvia. 2015. “The ‘Canzonetta in lode alla Santissima Trinità’: Roles and Rules of a Devotion Expressed through Singing.” In Multipart Music, Individuals and Edu- cated Musicians in Traditional Practices, edited by Paul Richter and L. Tari-Miháltzné, 125–140. Budapest: Institute of Musicology. Cooley, Timothy J., Katharine Meizel, and Nasir Syed. 2008. “Virtual Fieldwork: Three Case Studies.” In Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in Ethnomusicol- ogy, edited by Gregory F. Bartz and Timothy J. Cooley, 90–107. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Giannattasio, Francesco. 2017. “Perspectives on a 21st Century Comparative Musicology: An Introduction.” In Musicology or Transcultural Musicology? Perspectives on a 21st Cen- tury Comparative Musicology, edited by Francesco Giannattasio and Giovanni Giuriati, 10–28. Udine: Nota. Hannerz, Ulf. 1992. Cultural Complexity: Studies in the Social Organization of Meaning. New York: Columbia University Press. Ingalls, Monique. 2019. “Digital Devotion: Musical Multimedia in Online Ritual and Religious Practice.” In The Cambridge Companion to Music in Digital Culture, edited by Nicholas Cook, Monique Ingalls, and David Trippett, 150–167. Cambridge: Cam- bridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/9781316676639. Macchiarella, Ignazio. 2017. “Making Music in the Time of Y ouTube: Introduction.” Philo- musica On-line 16: 1–12. DOI: 10.13132/1826-9001/16.1873 . Podjed, Dan. 2021. “ Renewal of Ethnography in the Time of the COVID-19 Crisis.” Soci- ologija i prostor 59, no. 219: 267–284. DOI: 10.5673/sip.59.0.10 . Qureshi, Regula. 2000. “How Does Music Mean? Embodied Memories and the Politics of Affect in the Indian ‘Sarangi.’” American Ethnologist 27, no. 4: 805–838. https://www. jstor.org/stable/647396. Simeoni, Elisabetta, ed. 2006. Fede e tradizione: Alla Santissima Trinità di Vallepietra 1881– 2006. [ Faith and Tradition: To the Holy Trinity of Vallepietra 1881–2006.] Roma: Arte- mide Edizioni. MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 157 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 157 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1 158 Turner, Victor, and Edith Turner. 1978. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture. New York: Columbia University Press. Wood, Abigail. 2008. “E-Fieldwork: A Paradigm for the Twenty-First Century?” In The New (Ethno)musicologies, edited by Henry Stobart, 174–192. Lanham, Toronto, and Plymouth: The Scarecrow Press. Web Sources Comune di Vallepietra. [Municipality of Vallepietra.] [n. d.]. Facebook. Accessed December 7, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/comunedivallepietrapaginaufficiale . Confraternità S.S. Trinità Vallepietra. [Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity of Vallepi - etra.] [n. d.]. Facebook. Accessed December 7, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/ ConfraternitasstVallepietra/. Fede e tradizione al Santuario della Santissima Trinità – Vallepietra. [Faith and tradition at the Sanctuary of the Holy Trinity – Vallepietra]. [n. d.]. Facebook, public group. Ac - cessed December 7, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2238148483087564 . Iacobelli, Renato. 2020. “Quanto mi manca ad non essere stato alla Santissima Trin - ita ….” Facebook. July 20, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/renato.iacobelli/ videos/3177118292334978. Santuario Santissima Trinità. [Santissima Trinità Sanctuary]. [n. d.]. Facebook. Ac - cessed December 7, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/Santuario-Santissima- Trinit%C3%A0-1751090741791163. MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 158 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 158 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 Fulvia Caruso: Can Social Media Replace a Suspended Rite? 159 POVZETEK Ali lahko družbena omrežja nadomestijo prekinjeno izvajanje obredov? Primer iz osrednje Italije »Live media forms« (Hannerz 1992) oz. »žive medijske oblike« ponujajo orodja, ki so po- membno spremenila ustvarjanje glasbe in način uživanja v njej. Spremenila se je tudi vloga glasbe v vsakdanjem življenju, predvsem v pomembnih obrednih trenutkih (Giannattasio 2017). Italijo je pandemija Covid-19 od marca do maja leta 2020 potisnila v popolno zaprtje. Temu so sledile še številne stroge omejitve do konca leta 2020 in v večjem delu leta 2021. Vsi pomembni obredi katoliškega cerkvenega leta so bili v tem času odpovedani. Kulturna zdru- ženja, bratovščine, verska društva ali posamezniki so v nekaterih primerih odpoved obredov v živo nadomestili z virtualnimi obredi. Marca 2020 sem začela opazovati, zbirati in anali- zirati spletne objave pripadnikov teh skupin, predvsem na Facebooku, in poseben poudarek namenila njihovemu glasbenemu vedenju. V opazovani vsebini sem našla izseke iz posnetkov preteklih obredov, ki vključujejo zvočne posnetke in fotografije, pa tudi na novo ustvarjeno in posneto vsebino. V nekaterih primerih je šlo za neposredno spletno poročanje iz manjših dogodkov. Veliko družbenih akterjev je internet že uporabljalo kot orodje za ozaveščanje o lokalnih tradicijah med popolnim zaprtjem in poznejšimi ukrepi za preprečitev širjenja ko- rona virusa, v tem času pa je splet obenem postal prostor, kjer so mnogi našli zatočišče pred občutkom osamljenosti. Zanimivo je bilo opazovati, kateri vidiki ritualnosti so bili v procesu virtualizacije obredov bistveni in so morali biti nujno prisotni tudi v novi obliki. Izkazalo se je, da je glasba v različnih oblikah osrednjega pomena za izražanje pobožnosti. Po obdobju poglobljenega virtualnega terenskega dela sem se osredotočila na določene dogodke, ki sem jih preučevala v okviru terenskega dela pred pandemijo: to so procesije velikega tedna in romanje k Sv. Trojici v Vallepietri v osrednji Italiji. V pričujoči raziskavi se osredotočam na obred romanja k Sv. Trojici in nadaljnje raziskave sledečih vprašanj: Kaj se je zgodilo, ko so bile individualne, osebne prakse pobožnosti, pove- zane s čaščenjem na svetih krajih, prenesene v virtualno obliko? Kateri elementi ritualnega so bili preneseni na splet in kako? Ali je virtualni način izvajanja obredov spremenil doživljanje ritualnega s strani romarjev? Po krajšem uvodu o uporabi virtualnega prostora opišem romanje k Sv. Trojici v Vallepietri, ki temelji na mojem predhodnem terenskem delu in pridobljeni dokumentaciji. Nato opišem, kaj se je dogajalo med popolnim zaprtjem države od marca do maja leta 2020 in med nadaljnjimi omejitvami. Članek zaključim z analizo virtualnih nado- mestkov obreda, izvajanega v živo, ter analizo pridobljenih rezultatov. MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 159 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 159 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1 160 ABOUT THE AUTHOR FULVIA CARUSO (fulvia.caruso@unipv.it ) graduated with honors in Ethnomusicology from the Sapienza University of Rome, where she also obtained a PhD in Cultural Anthro- pology. She is currently Associate Professor in Ethnomusicology at Pavia University, where she is also the rector’s delegate for the third mission in Cremona. In 2017 she was Visiting Professor at the University of Jordan and at Tufts University. From 2016 to 2019, she was President of Pavia University’s five-year Master program in the Conservation and Restora- tion of Musical Instruments, and Scientific and T echnical Instruments. Her fields of research include music and migration, intangible heritage and its heritagization, music and rite, oral poetry and narrative styles, and visual ethnomusicology. O AVTORICI FULVIA CARUSO (fulvia.caruso@unipv.it ) je na Univerzi Sapienza v Rimu z odliko di- plomirala iz etnomuzikologije in doktorirala iz kulturne antropologije. Trenutno je izredna profesorica za etnomuzikologijo na Univerzi v Pavii, kjer je tudi rektorjeva predstavnica v Cremoni. Bila je gostujoča profesorica na Univerzi v Jordaniji in Univerzi v Medfordu (Tufts University). Med letoma 2016 in 2019 je bila predstojnica petletnega magistrskega programa za konserviranje in restavriranje glasbil ter programa za znanstvena in tehnična orodja na Univerzi v Pavii. Njena raziskovalna področja so glasba in migracije, nesnovna dediščina in dediščinjenje, glasba in obredje, poezija ustnega izročila in narativni slogi ter vizualna etnomuzikologija. MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 160 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd 160 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57 28. 07. 2022 12:07:57