Sorrento,
on Good Friday, changes its aspect: through the narrow streets of the historical
centre you will not hear the voices of tourists but the solemn music of the funeral
marches, the streets will not be invaded by cars but by long files of hooded
people, the lights of the sign-boards will give its place to the lighted torches
at the windows. In the whole peninsula not less than thirty processions are
organized on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
In Sorrento two processions are organized: the first one departing from the
Annunziata church, is the Solemn Procession of the Visit to the “Sepolcri”,
organized by the Main Confraternity of Saint Monica, it is also known as the
“White” procession because
of the colour of dresses and hoods worn by the participants and takes place in
the heart of the night between Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. According to the
popular interpretation, the Virgin Mary is looking for Her Son, who has been
taken prisoner and sentenced to death. On the night of Good Friday, on the
contrary, from the Church of the Servants of the Virgin Mary, parts the funeral
of the Dead Christ. The hooded people of the Main Confraternity of Death,
dressed in black as well as the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, that is carried
in the procession, follow the sculpture
of the Dead Christ, representing the finding of the Son by His Mother. If the
first one is
certainly more evocative and impressive, also because it takes place in the
darkest hours of the night, the second one is more solemn.
Both present an anologous development.
The processions are opened by the music band playing the sad and solemn notes of
the funeral marches. And then there are the symbols of the confraternity: the
“pannetto” (roll) and the “vela” (sail), the small Crosses, carried
mainly by children, and the mysteries, symbols of the Passion of Christ
ascending to the Golgota. The hooded people who walk slowly and solemnly, are
more than five hundred, everything in the dark with only the light of the lamps
and torches, giving the procession an atmosphere of unique misticism. It will be
difficult to hold our emotion hearing the Miserere, modulated by two hundred
singers, asking, with a Davidian psalm, the God’s pardon for the sins of
humanity. But the most touching moment is when the Virgin Mary statue is carried
in procession following Her Son, whose statue is a real masterpiece of the 18th
century sculptured in wood. Of
an unknown author, the statue of the Dead Christ, visible in the Church of the
Servants of Mary, could have been made, according to the popular legend, by a
man condemned to death who took refuge in the Church of the Main confraternity
of Death and payed his debt with the confratelli making this real masterpiece.
It is difficult to explain to a foreign visitor the deep meaning of these
processions for the Sorrentine people, far from being a folkloristic evidence
they are together popular faith, tradition, love to the own historical and
cultural roots. Don’t be surprised if in the heart of the night you see small
children taking flowers to the statue to Our Lady of Sorrows. Don’t be
surprised if groups of children, at four o’clock in the morning have the
strength and voice enough to break the silence of the night singing with all
their lungs the hymn to the Lady of Sorrows. It is the tradition going on. It is
the continuation of a ritual made before by their parents and grand parents.
For Sorrentine people the appointing with the processions is unmissable and
represent the essential meaning of Easter. Once the procession has ended and it
goes back to church good willings are exchanged. Attending them leaves a deep
mark in the soul of the most distracted or non-believing spectators.o del non
credente.
funeral
marches, the streets will not be invaded by cars but by long files of hooded
people, the lights of the sign-boards will give its place to the lighted torches
at the windows. In the whole peninsula not less than thirty processions are
organized on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
In Sorrento two processions are organized: the first one departing from the
Annunziata church, is the Solemn Procession of the Visit to the “Sepolcri”,
organized by the Main Confraternity of Saint Monica, it is also known as the
“White” procession because
of the colour of dresses and hoods worn by the participants and takes place in
the heart of the night between Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. According to the
popular interpretation, the Virgin Mary is looking for Her Son, who has been
taken prisoner and sentenced to death. On the night of Good Friday, on the
contrary, from the Church of the Servants of the Virgin Mary, parts the funeral
of the Dead Christ. The hooded people of the Main Confraternity of Death,
dressed in black as well as the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, that is carried
in the procession, follow the sculpture
of the Dead Christ, representing the finding of the Son by His Mother. If the
first one is
certainly more evocative and impressive, also because it takes place in the
darkest hours of the night, the second one is more solemn.
Both present an anologous development.
Of
an unknown author, the statue of the Dead Christ, visible in the Church of the
Servants of Mary, could have been made, according to the popular legend, by a
man condemned to death who took refuge in the Church of the Main confraternity
of Death and payed his debt with the confratelli making this real masterpiece.
It is difficult to explain to a foreign visitor the deep meaning of these
processions for the Sorrentine people, far from being a folkloristic evidence
they are together popular faith, tradition, love to the own historical and
cultural roots. Don’t be surprised if in the heart of the night you see small
children taking flowers to the statue to Our Lady of Sorrows. Don’t be
surprised if groups of children, at four o’clock in the morning have the
strength and voice enough to break the silence of the night singing with all
their lungs the hymn to the Lady of Sorrows. It is the tradition going on. It is
the continuation of a ritual made before by their parents and grand parents.