Good Friday

We took a leaf out of the Italians' book and had a school holiday today.  We went to the various churches, and into the crypt of the Duomo.  We even found a new pathway we'd never seen before. 

In the evening, the Passion was observed at several of our churches, but I couldn't face it with the younger set -- it's just too long to do in Italian.  So instead, we watched our movie "The Hiding Place" -- which we purchased at the Corrie Ten Boom House.  It is very spiritual and helps you see God even in the most adverse circumstances, so I thought it was appropriate enough.

At 9:00 tonight, though, I refused to stay home:  there was to be a procession starting at the Porta Romana (at the bottom of the hill) and ending at the Duomo (top of the hill in the Piazza).  How could I resist?

On our way down, we noticed that many of the shops and houses along the route had decorated with flowers, impromptu shrines, candles, and so on.  It was so beautiful to see.  At the bottom of the hill, there were people with torches, the priest, and one of our favorite deacons (the one who does incense with Jeremy). 

We started with several prayers, and then we started walking behind our deacon, who was carrying a gold crucifix.  As we went up, we sang hymns, including Stabat Mater, and said prayers intermittently.  There were spectators along our route (I think we're in several tourists' photos), and it was magical:  everyone was completely hushed and solemn.  Just beautiful.

When we reached the church, the stairs were lined with candles, and the archbishop was there at the top of the stairs to greet us.  Our family went into the choir stalls, and so we had a good view of everything that was happening -- which turned out to be a good thing, because the church was crammed to the gills by the time everyone had made it into the Duomo.  They even had a confraternity there (St. Joseph's?) with yellow satin robes and adorable hats that looked like a cross between a Medieval cap of some sort and a nightcap!

At the end of the procession, a corpus was brought in on a bier (covered in a gauze), along with a statue of the Blessed Mother.  The archbishop then read the gospel reading pertaining to the crucifixion and delivered a homily.  The religious and the parishioners venerated the cross.  And at just after 10, it was time to go home -- a beautiful ceremony.

Blessings on all of you,

Alexandra