The church opened on 7 December 1888, the vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and was blessed one day later.

The singers [serve] every morning at High Mass and at Vespers on Saturdays and the vigils of the feasts of obligation.

And let us also thank God for the prospect still of seven new priests being ordained here at Winona on Saturday, June 23 at 9 am, Vigil of the Feast of St.

The members are obliged to wear a black leather belt, to recite daily thirteen Paters and Aves and the Salve Regina, and to fast on the vigil of the feast of St. Augustine.

For it happened to be the vigil of the Feast of the Crucifix, and the once famous church was full of semi-clerical persons decorating it for the morrow, and of old ladies in strange caps, clattering about with pails and brooms.

The celebrations, going back to remote antiquity, were formerly very solemn, comprising many different events both sacred and secular, of which the most important is the striking nocturnal procession, the Processione dell'Illuminata, held on the evening of the vigil of the feast (27 January).

In 1204 King John granted Charter to the Borough which permitted an annual eight-day fair, commencing on 14 August, the vigil of the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady (15 August), in which "all might enjoy the liberties and quittances customary in the fair at Winchester".