February 2 (*) : Candlemas Mass with the “fiumaroli”.

Since the last century (1983) our Archconfraternity has restored the celebration of the rite of delivering blessed candles to sailors, fishermen, crews of river boats as well as sportsmen in nautical clubs and all those who live and work on the Tiber. In this way (on the Sunday closest to the date indicated) is perpetuated a ceremony of ancient tradition that has been held in Santa Maria dell'Orto since 1500. From a register of 1550, preserved in our archive, it appears that on the occasion of the feast of the purification of the Virgin or the feast of Candlemas, in our Church, which the San Michele did not separate from Ripa Grande, it appears that the crews of the various canals that landed at porto enrolled in the Archconfraternity to receive on the day of Candlemas (upon payment of a symbolic offering) the traditional blessed candles, which were delivered to all the crew and to the Captain, who also received a "worked candle" for the vessel. The candles were carefully stored by the crews next to the Holy Images and lit in case of danger, illness, storms and storms. The importance of the ceremony is also evidenced by the statute of our Archconfraternity, year 1676, cap. XLIV, where we read: "... the burden, and the care to provide the wax, undoubtedly belongs to the Guardians and Camerlengo, as well as to have all the Brothers and Sisters order to attend the Blessing and Procession on the day of the purification of the Blessed Virgin ".

Ash Wednesday: Holy Mass at 17:00

Fourth Sunday of Lent ("Laetere Sunday"): Blessing of the "Maritozzi"

The expression derives from the incipit of the Introit in the Mass of that day, which, in Latin, begins with Laetare Jerusalem, which means: Rallégrati, Jerusalem. Being linked to the Easter date, it can fall between March 1st and April 4th inclusive. On this Sunday the liturgy includes some signs of joy, which want to highlight a temporary softening of the Lenten rigor, announcing that Easter is now near. To better underline this moment of mitigation, for our very ancient custom - at the end of the Holy Mass - the loaves that in Rome are called "Lenten" are blessed and distributed to the people. They are the classic "Maritozzi" but more austere: smaller, without the traditional cream, very little sweet but containing raisins, which must remember the grape of Eucharistic wine. Bread, wine, therefore, as a "sign" of the Sacred Species. Remember that it is a devotional practice and therefore the small sandwich should be brought home and shared among family members.

Holy Thursday: Holy Mass at 18:00 - setting up and lighting of the ancient "Forty-Hour Machine". The church remains open to the faithful until about 24:00.

Second Sunday in May - Mother's Day: "Blessing of the roses"

This festival, born in the late fifties of the twentieth century, has above all a commercial connotation even if the "emotional" motivation is not entirely absent. Instead, to give a greater religiously symbolic sense, on the second Sunday of May - therefore in conjunction with the lay feast - in our church a Holy Mass is celebrated in honor of all mothers and of the heavenly Mother, in the month dedicated to her. To better honor motherhood and offer a small sign of devotion, white roses with the symbol of our Archconfraternity are then blessed and given to all the mothers present. The occasion also commemorates the anniversary of the conferral of the golden crown of the Sacred Marian icon by the Vatican Chapter, which took place in 1657. It should be emphasized that the honor of the coronation is a tribute to the great popular veneration as well as recognition of graces bestowed. In this sense, our Madonna dell'Orto is a "colleague" of many others much more famous and venerated: the Salus Populi Romani in S. Maria Maggiore, the Madonna del Divino Amore, the Madonna of Pompeii, the Virgen of Guadalupe patron saint of the Americas , Our Lady of Loreto, etc. .

8 June (*): see third Sunday in October, titular holiday

Third Sunday of October: Titular feast of S. Maria dell'Orto - Solemn pontifical at 11:00 at the end of which there is the traditional distribution of the blessed apples, in memory of the great devotion of the University of Fruttaroli that so adorned the church. On this occasion, the miracle worked by the Madonna dell'Orto in 1585 in favor of the first Christian embassy from Japan is remembered. The Ambassador of Japan to the Holy See (or his representative) also intervenes at the ceremony, presided over by a Cardinal. For decades, the miracle was remembered on June 8, but the anniversary was linked to the Titular Feast to give it greater solemnity.

November 2: in 1983 our Sodality, collecting the legacy of the long-extinct Archconfraternity of the "Sacconi Rossi", restored the pious devotion to commemorate on the shores of the Tiber Island all those who died in the Tiber, in more recent times also extended to all the deceased in any case without a name who died due to natural disasters, wars, etc. Having reconstituted the "Sacconi Rossi" on the initiative of the Hospital Order of the Fatebenefratelli, a Holy Mass is celebrated at dusk in their church of S. Giovanni Calibita followed by an evocative chanting procession by candlelight along the shores of the guided island from our Archconfraternity. At the end, recite prayers for the dead and throw a wreath into the river.

Penultimate Sunday of November: Holy Mass at 11:00 for the Cultural Association called "Group of Romanists", a well-known assembly that brings together the most eminent scholars and academics in terms of multidisciplinary studies on the city of Rome.

Last Sunday in November: Holy Mass at 11:00 in suffrage of the deceased Pizzicaroli and food retailers in general.

Third Sunday of Advent - ("Domenica gaudete"): Blessing of Christmas devotional objects

The Sunday of this name is the third of Advent and has all the liturgical characteristics of the "laetare" one, except that in this case the next goal is Christmas. The Latin word gaudete can be translated as "rejoice, rejoice [in the Lord]" and reflects the incipit of the Introit of the Mass of the day, taken from the words of St. Paul in the Letter to the Philippians (IV, 4-5). On this occasion, as Christmas is near, at the end of the Holy Mass small objects of devotion referring to the Christmas season are blessed and distributed to the faithful (or a Baby Child, or a Holy Family, etc.). The modesty of the gift must serve to underline the poverty of the One who was born in a cave and - precisely for this reason - to give greater value to the symbol and not to the object itself. .