The cult of Saint Giles the Abbot in Cerqueto has ancient roots. For centuries, the church dedicated to him was a pilgrimage destination for the entire Vomano Valley, and a papal bull issued by Pope Eugene IV in 1432, granting an indulgence to those who, after confession and Communion, made an offering towards the restoration of the church, then in ruins, attests to a devotion that was evidently already well established at the time. According to foundation narratives handed down through oral tradition, the settlement is believed to have grown around this “centre of faith”, extending along the slope into four districts—Castello, Colle, Casale and Piano—which form the characteristic horseshoe shape overlooking the Gran Sasso massif.

The feast falls on 1 September, a date whose significance for Cerqueto extends beyond the liturgical calendar. In the past, it coincided with the height of the summer season, when the village would fill up until its population had almost doubled with the temporary return of emigrants from Rome, the United States, Canada and Venezuela, all of whom waited for the patronal feast before leaving again.

The day still begins with a solemn Mass, followed by a long, winding procession carrying the polychrome statue of Saint Giles the Abbot through the streets of the village and along the roads surrounding the settlement, before returning to the churchyard. It is here that the blessing with the relics takes place, the most distinctive rite of the entire feast. The ceremony consists of a rigorously timed and synchronised sequence of precise actions, repeated for each of the numerous relics, with those of the patron saint displayed at the end of the ritual exposition. The priest imparts the blessing in chant, answered by the amen of the faithful and followed by a brief performance by the band, the tolling of the bell in the bell tower and a volley of fireworks fired from the rocky ridge overlooking the village. Together, voices, musical instruments, bells and explosions orchestrate the entire festive soundscape. Over time, the location of the rite has changed—from the loggia at the rear of the church, to the balcony and the area in front of the parish house, and finally to the church square overlooking the valley and the mountains—but its ceremonial structure has been preserved and perpetuated. Since the mid-2000s, the original Latin formula has also been restored.

The history of Cerqueto in the second half of the twentieth century is inseparably linked to Don Nicola Jobbi, parish priest of the village from 1963 to 1984. A young priest from the countryside around Mosciano Sant’Angelo, Jobbi was a cultural organiser and “agitator” who set out to become “a Cerqueto man among the people of Cerqueto”, working to promote the village’s economic and social life while helping to safeguard the expressive elements of its local culture. He campaigned to provide Cerqueto with roads, running water and essential services, founded an ethnographic museum and launched numerous cultural initiatives. Above all, from the time of his arrival he began using a tape recorder to document the community’s songs, prayers and ceremonies, beginning with the Feast of Saint Giles and the blessing with the relics. It is thanks to this early awareness of their cultural value that we have the earliest known sound recording of the rite.