Good Friday Rite in Trapani (Caltanissetta), Enna.
Easter in Sicily, a popular and significant religious event, is celebrated in many places across the island. In large cities as well as small villages, there are impressive processions and religious plays that recall the Passion of Christ and take place along the streets.
The Good Friday procesions, which are a dramatic dramatization of the Passion events, are the most memorable Easter celebrations. They combine pain, sacredness, folklore and realism to show the most authentic Sicily.
The procession of Mysteries takes place in Trapani on Good Friday. It lasts for 24 hours. For over 400 years, it has represented Christ’s passion and death through 20 sculptures that are kept in the Church delle Anime del Purgatorio. They are transported in procession by the religious corporations and taken along the main streets.
Each statue represents one station of the cross, after whom it was named. These statues are unique because they were made from a wooden skeleton mixed with glue and cloth. The local method of carchet is used to model their clothes made from fabrics.
Caltanissetta’s Holy Week is a unique event. It features 16 Sacred groups called Vare and some works of Neapolitan sculptors of the nineteenth century. Every statue is enlightened, decorated with flowers, and followed by thousands of devotees and torch bearers and a marching band. The Good Friday is when the city hosts the procession of Black Christ. This small, wooden crucifix from the XVth Century is highly revered by locals.
The procession of Black Christ in Caltanissetta — ph Lillo micciche
Enna Holy Week is one of the most stunning in the world. Every detail has been meticulously studied. From Palm Sunday to Wednesday, the confraternities make a procession to Duomo for adoration. The Good Friday procession, led by 15 Confraternities with the statues of Our Lady of Sorrows or of the Dead Christ and followed by the band and local authorities, is the culmination of celebrations.
The atmosphere is filled with emotion through the touching participation of devotees and people, the sound of slow footsteps, and the quiet, respectful composure.
The Confraternity of Maria SS is located in Pietraperzia. In centuries past, Del Soccorso has organized the Good Friday procession “lu signuri di li faci” which is known as the “our Lord of all the bundles”. Along the streets of the city, 80 men are carrying the vara on their shoulders along with the 8.51 mt tall Crucifix at which 200 white linen bands are tied. .
For the local residents, this is the most significant moment in the religious life of their community. It renews the ritual in the belief that it will continue an ancient tradition of faith, mercy, and faith. They want to pass this legacy on to the next generation as an inherited patrimony.
