Every seven years

people of Guardia hold a religious feast, probably unique in the world, dedicated to the Virgin Assunta. Documents show that this feast is more than four hundread years old but others say that its origin is surely older because of its medieval elements. In fact the are figures such as the disciplined or the flagellators with chains and the beaters (those who beat themselves until there is blood). The feast takes place in the second part of August, but it was not the same during the previus centuries. The most impressive part and centre of spirituality is the procession organized by the four dicstricts of the village (Croce, Fontanella, Piazza and Portella): they prepare pageants called ' misteri' representing, with epoch costumes, life and events of characters of the Old and New Testament. The parade walks through the village little streets for the whole week and every single district takes part in it with its mystery pageants and with the disciplined, who beat their shoulders with iron chains. On the Sunday there is the solemn processin withe the polychrome wooden statue of the Madonna Assunta. This state was founded in a place near Guardia, Limata, and was carried to the village with bloody penitence rites. For the people of Guardia the statue is actually a miraculous image and for it the procession must be done. On the Sunday, which is the last day of the procession, there are with the mystery pageants and the disciplined also the beaters: they are hooded people who beat their chest with a ' sponge ', a piece of cork in which 33 nails have been placed.
They beat their chest as penitence and it bleeds during the whole procession. In the past, these religious events were done to pray to the Madonna for the drought, for the bad weather, for famines, earthquakers or pestilences.
At the present time they are carried out for personal reason or moments of devotion but also to perpetuate an ancient tradition which involves all the people of Guardia, spectators and tourists from all over the world.