Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Amaseno Lodge No. 3 of Chicago Heights hosted its 50th anniversary Feast of San Lorenzo and San Rocco from Aug. 9-11.
The lodge was formed in 1913 by immigrants from Amaseno, a small farming village 60 miles south of Rome. Settling in Chicago Heights’ Hungry Hill Italian enclave, they brought with them a deep devotion to San Lorenzo, an early Christian leader who was martyred for his defiance of the Roman Empire.
For decades, the spiritual center of Hungry Hill was San Rocco Church. Built on the highest point in the neighborhood and dedicated in 1906 to another of Amaseno’s favorite saints, the church soon began hosting a thriving parish festival in honor of its namesake.
Energized by the influx of emigrants from Amaseno after World War II, the society bought a building in 1961 and converted it into a clubhouse complete with a kitchen, bar and a pair of dining areas.
The group then commissioned the creation of a replica of the original statue of San Lorenzo. Handcarved out of a single tree trunk by the artists of Centro Domus Dei in Rome, the icon was carried in the society’s first feast in honor of San Lorenzo in 1974.
When San Rocco Church was shuttered and razed by the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1991, the lodge added San Rocco’s name to its feast and his statue to the procession.
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