Sicilians gathered on the slopes of Mount Etna to pray last night as a river of orange-black lava oozed towards the earthworks protecting a tourist resort.
A new fissure in the volcano opened earlier as emergency crews, blackened and sweating, battled to reinforce the mounds and divert lava away from the resort, Rifugio Sapienza.
Mount Etna is Europe's most active volcano, standing at 3,310 metres.
The Archbishop of Catania, Dr Luigi Bommarito, held a mass on the slopes to ask for God's protection against an eruption that has wrongfooted vulcanologists and worried the local town of Nicolosi further down the slope.
Folklore says it was saved in 1886 after the local archbishop held a statue of St Anthony before advancing lava.
Two main fronts sliding down the mountain appeared to have slowed, but the resort's kiosks were still menaced by magma that has consumed a warehouse, car park and ski-lifts, cut a highway in two and showered ash on to Catania airport.
It was closed on Saturday for the second time in two weeks while workers cleared the runway of debris, forcing 190 flights to be cancelled. It reopened yesterday. Vulcanologists say the eruption could last several more weeks.
Local guides who were born in the mountain's shadow are sceptical of assurances that Nicolosi, which has a population of 6,000, is safe.
"It is a terrible moment. Even our grandfathers can't remember it being like this," said Mr Giovanni Serafina.
Lava bubbled four kilometres from houses adorned with statues of the Madonna for protection.