Knots That Hold: A Sicilian-Greek Legacy Renewed in Cefalù

In Cefalù, the fishermen speak of "u nodu"—the knot—not as a tangle, but as a sacred intersection of strength. It is here, in this ancient coastal town, that a Sicilian-American and Greek-American couple have chosen to renew their wedding vows after 25 years of marriage—a ceremony binding together two storied Mediterranean heritages.

By GIOVANNA G. BONOMO

June 2025

In the ancient Sicilian coastal town where her parents were born, Sicilian-American Sara Penesis returns with her Greek-American husband to renew their vows after 25 years of marriage—bringing together two Mediterranean cultures in a celebration of heritage, family, and enduring love. While their July ceremony comes months after Cefalù's March observance of  Giornata degli Eroi del Mare, the connection to this annual event honouring the town's fishermen remains deeply significant. Sara's late grandfather, Salvatore Portera, who worked tirelessly on these same Tyrrhenian waters before immigrating to America, is among those remembered during this celebration—a heritage that Sara carries with her as she returns to her ancestral hometown. 

Those who dismiss culture as merely a relic of the past or an impediment to progress would do well to reconsider. French sociologist Olivier Roy warns of a global "deculturation" phenomenon with profound implications for society. Far from obsolete, culture functions as the essential foundation that binds families and communities together, nurturing intentional growth in ways no material wealth can achieve. At a time when destination weddings prioritize aesthetics over meaning, the story of Sara and John Penesis unfolds like an ancient Mediterranean mosaic—woven with threads of Sicilian and Greek heritage, bound by a shared history that stretches back millennia.

It is here, in this UNESCO World Heritage Site where Arab-Norman architecture meets Sicilian soul, that John and Rosaria "Sara" Penesis will renew their vows—25 years after their wedding—a love story stitched with Greek devotion and Sicilian passion, unfolding against a backdrop where land and sea conspire to enchant. This family's journey is not only a celebration of love, but a living example of how culture, when nurtured with intention, becomes a bridge between generations and civilizations and as in the Sicilian adage, 'L'amuri fa passari l'acqua' (Love makes you cross water).

Born to first-generation immigrants, Sara and John grew up in Chicago's vibrant Little Italy, where the air hummed with the echoes of distant shores. Sara's grandparents and family shared ownership in an Italian coffee house named "Amici del Sud," while Sara's grandmother owned a small tailor shop in the same neighbourhood. Sewing was a skill her grandmother learned as a little girl in Sicily. She brought that skill with her to the U.S. to work in a clothing factory, in Chicago, so that she could raise a family with Sara's grandfather, Salvatore, whose own hands had once hauled nets and navigated Cefalù's fishing boats—a legacy now celebrated during the town's Giornata degli Eroi del Mare.

"Growing up in a Sicilian-American family was like living in two worlds at once, the old and the new. My parents, both from Cefalù, brought the richness of their homeland into our home, and though we lived in the U.S., Sicily was always in the air." For Sara, Sundays were sacred, dedicated to her mother's slow-cooked ragù—a ritual as old as the island's sun-baked hills. Her childhood was steeped in traditions that traced their lineage to Sicily's crossroads of civilizations: Norman, Arab, and, deeply foundational, Greek. "Food was the heartbeat of our home," Sara recalls. Many Sicilian dishes carry traces of Sicily-Greek history with arancini sharing a kinship with Greek kourkoubines—both born of a land where rice and saffron were currency.  John's upbringing, shaped by his Greek immigrant parents, mirrored this reverence for heritage.

Life revolved around Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, where Byzantine chants intertwined with his father's stories of a homeland that once birthed colonies in Sicily itself. "My parents insisted I reply in Greek," John shares, laughing. Little did he know that the Greek language was tied not just to Athens, but to Sicily's ancient Magna Graecia cities—places like Syracuse, where both his and Sara's ancestors once walked. For John, weekends meant communal feasts of yemista (stuffed vegetables), a dish echoing Sicily's verdure ripiene, both reflecting the shared Mediterranean ethos of abundance and hospitality.

"We celebrated the common threads—like how Sicily's cuddura cu l'ova (Easter bread) mirrors Greece's tsoureki." Their romance, kindled at 15, blossomed through a dance of cultural parallels. Sara's Sicilian nonna's mantra—"A casa unni si senti l'amuri è a vera casa" (A true home is where love is felt)—resonated with John's Greek adage, "O gamos thelei ypomoni kai agapi" (Marriage needs patience and love). These philosophies, rooted in agrarian traditions of communal resilience, became their compass.

Holidays merged cannoli with baklava and American apple pie, while their children learned to conjugate verbs in both Greek and Sicilianu, a dialect peppered with ancient Greek loanwords. "We didn't choose one culture over the other," Sara explains. "Through our relationship, we didn't just fall in love with each other, we fell in love with each other's cultures. What I came to appreciate most about my husband's Greek heritage was the deep sense of Kefi, that joyful spirit approach to life that embraces celebration, music, dancing, and finding light even in hard times. John adds, "I've come to deeply appreciate the warmth, passion, and strength that runs through Sicilian culture.

In Sara, I see the values her family passed down to her by the way she cooks, brings meaning to everyday life, and nurtures. It's all rooted in love and traditions. She's truly 'L'anima della famiglia' (the soul of the family), and that has shown me the richness of living life with heart, loyalty, and deep connection to where my wife comes from." Choosing Cefalù for their vow renewal was a pilgrimage to the soul of their shared legacy. Sara's ancestral town, crowned by the 12th-century Duomo, is an architectural ode to Sicily's layered past: Arab-Norman arches frame Byzantine mosaics of Christ Pantocrator, a visual hymn to the island's Greek ecclesiastical roots. This coastal haven is also home to what art historians call "the second most important smile in the world" after the Mona Lisa—the enigmatic grin of Antonello da Messina's "Portrait of an Unknown Sailor," whose weathered face seems to carry the secrets of the sea that Sara's grandfather once navigated.

Penesis family photos by Peter Furla © Furla Studio

Walking Cefalù's seashore with their three grown children (Georgia Sara, Ariana Sara Angelos John) in 2022 was an emotional homecoming. "Renewing our vows in Cefalù, especially at the Duomo, the magnificent cathedral in the heart of the Piazza, feels like a beautiful full circle. This town holds my family's history, the stories of my parents and grandparents, and the roots of where it all began," Sara says, speaking of the land where their Greek-speaking ancestors once traded under the same sun in the Byzantine era when Greek liturgy still echoed in Sicilian churches. “Now, to celebrate 25 years of marriage here, with our children by our side, is incredibly emotional. Il Duomo isn’t just a stunning cathedral, its beauty, history, and spiritual presence reflects everything this milestone means to us: strength, faith, and the enduring nature of love.”

For Sara and John, the occasion is as much about honouring their past as it is about embracing the present. “At this stage in our lives, it’s about reflection and gratitude, recognizing the strength of our bond, the love that’s grown through these years, and the values we’ve passed on. Celebrating in Cefalù makes it all the more meaningful—it’s not just a destination, it’s home.”Their renewal ceremony, co-officiated by a Greek Orthodox archimandrite and a Roman Catholic priest, mirrors Sicily's own syncretic history. "It is important to us that both traditions are represented as we renew our wedding vows. Together, the two religious leaders will bless our union in the beautiful Cattedrale di Cefalù. We are very blessed to have Archimandrite Serafeim Demetriou participate, as he presided over our wedding sacrament 25 years ago."

The old fishermen of Cefalù have a saying: "La rete chi teni è chiù forti di la corda sola"—the net that holds is stronger than the single rope. Standing beneath the Duomo's towering spires, their hands clasped once more in promise, John and Sara's union embodies this ancient wisdom. Their marriage, like the masterfully woven nets that once sustained Sara's grandfather Salvatore , draws strength not from singularity but from the sacred intersections of two cultures, two faiths, two families—becoming a net resilient enough to hold all the abundance that love can gather.

Their union, like the fishermen's craft, embodies the wisdom of those who cast their nets into uncertain waters. The strongest marriages, like the finest nets, are not made of singular, unbroken lines but of countless crossings between cultures and traditions—each knot a decision to hold fast when the tides pull strong.