The Confraternity of Santissimo Sacramento, the second oldest in Vasto after the Confraternity of the Gonfalone—which later merged into the Confraternity of the Sacred Thorn—was founded in 1542 by Prelate Giovanni Berardino de Amicis.
It was historically based in the collegiate church of San Pietro, where it remained active until the church was demolished following the 1956 landslide. After this event, the confraternity relocated to its namesake chapel, which, in 1853, had been adorned with the painting Christ Healing the Blind Man of Jericho, considered the masterpiece of Francesco Paolo Palizzi. Today, this artwork is preserved in the Municipal Art Gallery.
Currently, the confraternity gathers at the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, for which it is entirely responsible for maintenance. The brothers, recognizable by their white habit tied with a red cord and their red mozzetta with gold trim, take part in the city’s most important liturgical celebrations. They play a central role in the procession on May 3, when, on the Feast of the Holy Cross, they solemnly carry the relic of the True Cross through the historic center. This relic, once housed in San Pietro, is now kept in the Church of Sant’Antonio di Padova.
