Two processions cross Modica on Easter morning: the risen Christ on one side, on the other the Madonna wrapped in a black mourning cloak. They «search» for each other through the streets until noon, when the two statues finally meet in front of the church of Santa Maria di Betlem.
What happens next exists nowhere else. The wooden Virgin, articulated like a puppet from the Sicilian opera dei pupi, opens her arms, bows and kisses her Son several times — vasa vasa is Sicilian for «kiss, kiss». Her black cloak drops to reveal a pale blue dress, white doves are released from the statue's base, and the bells and firecrackers go off all at once. The rite has been recorded since at least 1645; an evening version has been added since 2016, and the 2025 edition took place as usual on 20 April.
