Posted on 04/02/2023 4:28:54 AM PDT by FarCenter
Madrid (AFP) – Spain's colourful Holy Week celebrations begin on Sunday, featuring centuries-old processions of the faithful carrying flower-covered floats topped with statues of Christ or the Virgin Mary that draw huge crowds.
Organised by various religious brotherhoods, or "confradias", the parades are held across the country in the week leading up to Easter Sunday, which this year in the Christian Church falls on April 9.
Depicting scenes from the story of the Passion of Christ, the floats are carried on the shoulders of members of the brotherhoods called "costaleros", often accompanied by solemn music from a brass band.
Other members of the brotherhoods accompany the floats wearing long robes with tall, pointed hoods that leave only two small holes for the eyes.
The precessions first appeared in the 15th and 16th centuries in Spain, which already had a tradition of biblical theatre depicting the Passion.
"Originally people went out on the streets with a cross," University of Navarra professor of church history Fermin Labarga told AFP.
They were accompanied by other members of religious brotherhoods who "performed acts of penitence" such as whipping their bare backs, he added.
These self-flagellations disappeared in the 18th century due to growing criticism that they "were not done out of devotion but for ostentation", Labarga said.
But the tradition of staging Easter processions continued.
The goal of the parades was to "remember the Passion (of Christ)" -- the week of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus -- and "strengthen belief", said Labarga.
While Spain, like most European nations, has grown increasingly secular in recent decades, the parades continue to draw huge crowds of all levels of devotion and all walks of life.
(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...
Weird that they dress up as democrats
I prefer the Spanish parades that celebrate the victory over Islam.
They are all dressed like Robert Byrd.
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