Prior to World War II on the Feast Day of San Antonio townspeople from Molise built wood fires in the town square and cooked in large cauldrons corn kernels, fava beans and wheat seeds. The majority boiled corn but fava beans and wheat kernels were also popular. The food would be eaten on plates without bread or any other embellishment. The focus of this Saint Anthony's celebration was not on the food, but on the communal activity of sitting round the "camp fires" and chasing away the winter blues. Saint Anthony's celebrations began around noon and ended late in the evening. People would gather round the fires and talk up a storm. However, because San Antonio was the patron saint of animals and his intervention was sought when there were problems with livestock, farmers took this saint's celebrations very seriously. At the end of the cook-out people gathered the embers they had used to cook the corn or wheat and stored them in bags. If and when a farm animal took ill they boiled water on these embers and then gave it to the sick animal with the understanding that this water had been blessed by San Antonio and therefore would help heal the farmer's pig or guard dog. In some countries animals are blessed on this day, but in Italy the blessing of animals takes place on the Feast Day of the other Saint Anthony in June. As farmers depended on their animals for their very survival the celebrations which took place in January and June were well-attended and appreciated.

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