HOLY WEEK IN VILLAFÁFILA
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HOLY WEEK IN VILLAFÁFILA |
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Holy Week is one of the most deeply rooted moments in Villafáfila, surely due to the large number of churches that came to count, below we will give references to moments of Holy Week, after the course of centuries ago, which will make us understand the tradition that has and reaching our days. The Holy Week celebrations date back to the Middle Ages, but we do not have documentation until well into the 16th century in the case of Villafáfila. They are liturgical celebrations around the death and resurrection of Christ, which consisted of a series of religious services in the churches by priests and other clerics, and processions through the streets organized by the various brotherhoods that emerged throughout of the centuries The first references we have are from the Brotherhood La de la Vera Cruz, from the year 1490 belonging to the parish of San Andrés, next to whose church was the hermitage and that after its disappearance passed to that of San Pedro. These references are indirect, because in the deed of expense that was made in the will of Yván de Collantes, that " Falling on Saturday thirteen days of the month of February 1490 ", appears the fulfillment of a testamentary mandate of this nobleman, who had been warden of the Villafáfila fortress: “ it was given to Vera Crus + one hundred mrs. What Rodrigo Herrada, Abbot, carried ”.
A fundamental element of these celebrations were the sermons given by foreign preachers that the council hired at its expense among foreign friars, generally Franciscans or Dominicans from nearby convents (Benavente, Vaderas, Toro). Thus, at least since 1538, the payment of the preacher's expenses is documented in the council's accounts. That year 5 ducats were paid to the friars of San Francisco de Benavente for the sermons of Lent. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the departures of the Holy Week preacher continue to be documented, in addition to the sermons for the rest of the year, and of the San Roque preacher. Until the 1970s of the 20th century, this custom was maintained by the town hall, which hired a preacher friar every year. During Holy Week the following sermons were said: Palm Sunday. Tuesday of passion: the sermon of the Tears, on the denial of San Pedro. Thursday the sermon of the Eucharist. Friday the sermons of the Meeting, which was preached from a balcony in the Plaza Mayor; that of the Seven Words and the Holy Burial. Easter Sunday. On Holy Thursday the Monument was put up to host the exhibition of the Blessed Sacrament in all the parishes, and this is stated in its factory books that are preserved; since 1557 in that of S. Andrés. The office of darkness was celebrated in all the churches during Holy Week, in that of San Andrés an axeman for darkness is already mentioned in the 1575 inventory. Since 1587, the expenses of the Ramos have been recorded annually. Generally formed by branches of laurels that were used to buy in Tierra de Toro, with which they went out to procession throughout the town, as it was one of the general processions, with the assistance of all the parish priests and the ecclesiastical council. Villafáfila has been a constant trend towards the weekly processional at night, which has led to the intervention of the episcopal authority. 1663 in the factory book of Santa María in her pastoral visit, the bishop of Astorga leaves an order: " that the processions of Holy Thursday and Good Friday be during the day and that they leave on time and return to the church with day", The processions of Holy Week have varied throughout the centuries both in the days of departure and in the routes. Some were typical of parishes such as Ecce Homo, which has been coming out of the parish of El Salvador since the 18th century, it did so on the afternoon of Holy Tuesday, since in 1767 it is noted in the church accounts “ five reales that they spent refreshments with those who carried the eccehomo of Holy Tuesday in the procession ” and three years later it is mentioned that the badges were taken out in the procession of Holy Tuesday. In 1861 it was already going out on the afternoon of Holy Thursday. Another of the traditional processions is that of the Holy Burial. This procession used to leave from the 17th century on the afternoon of Good Friday from the now defunct parish church of San Pedro, and currently it does so on the same day from Santa María del Moral, which processions the Christ of the Urn and Our Lady of Solitude to 1959 when it was replaced by La Dolorosa.
In 1673 the Cristo de la Urna is mentioned among the altars of San Pedro, it is a carving with articulated arms, as it was used for the celebration of the Descent, a ceremony representing the unfastening of Jesus from the Cross and his transfer to the grave. , which preceded the procession of the Holy Burial. Surely the Descent has been celebrated since the 17th century, hence the articulated invoice of Christ, but until the middle of the 18th century I have not found any documentary references. Together with the Christ of the Urn, the image of Our Lady of Solitude participated in the representation of the Descent, whose head is articulated so that she can respond affirmatively when presented with the nails, the crown and the body of Christ. The Brotherhood of the Vera Cruz, came out on the night of Holy Thursday, the brothers were of two kinds: light, and blood, or, of discipline. They all went with a tunic or white shirt and capirote or hood; the light ones carrying a candle and the second ones disciplining themselves during the procession. There were also women cofrades in 1717 there were 45, although what type is not specified. After the procession there was a refreshment consisting of <<tortas y vino>> la parva , this brotherhood stopped doing it around 1880. The rites and penances that took place throughout the night of Holy Thursday that made a large number of people stay awake, who made the vigil more bearable with a few drinks of wine, would be the origin of the custom of making lemonade and staying whole the night of revelry that the young people of Villafáfila have followed since time immemorial. The brotherhood of Jesús Nazareno was based in the church of San Martín, and must have arisen at the beginning of the 18th century. Thus, in 1714, in the factory book of the aforementioned parish, an inventory of liturgical objects is made and they are mentioned: " some liturgical liturgical objects in which Our Lady appears... some liturgical liturgical liturgical objects in which Jesus Nazareno appears ", from which it is deduced that since Before that year, the images of Jesus the Nazarene and of Mary who came out in the procession on Good Friday were taken out in procession. In the pastoral visit of 1715, the bishop of Astorga approved “ the rules and constitutions of the brotherhood that has been established again in said church (S. Martín) of Jesús de Nazareno ”, The last relationship is in 1906. |
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In 1744 the typical instrument of Holy Week in Villafáfila, the Trumpet, is already mentioned, it is made in the accounts of the parish of San Pedro. At certain times there were several trumpets: Jesus Nazareno, Soledad, Ecce Homo, San Juan, Cristo de la Urna.
Around the beginning of 1800, it was already customary to meet on Palm Sunday in the church of San Martín to auction off the money that they gave for carrying the images of Jesus, Our Lady and the crosses to ask for. In 1820 for Jesus they paid 6 bushels of bread, payable in August, 40 reais for carrying Mary and two bushels for the crosses to ask for. In 1821, 120 reals were paid for Jesus and 100 for Mary. Since 1831, in addition to those mentioned above, the image of Saint John and the trumpet have been auctioned, so it is to be assumed that since then the Encounter ceremony will be held, and that year they are worth less: Jesús 72 R., La Virgen 33 R. , S. Juan 9 R, the trumpet 9 R, and the crosses to ask for 7 reales. The image of the Virgin receives various names such as La Soledad or María.
The same images did not always parade in the processions, nor on the same days The Vera Cruz parade on Holy Thursday stopped doing so around 1880. That of the Ecce Homo, which paraded on Holy Tuesday, starting in 1861, began to do so on Holy Thursday in the afternoon. Surely when the parishes disappeared at the end of the 19th century, Holy Week would be reorganized by transferring the images of San Salvador and San Pedro to Santa María. 1906 the processions and images that paraded in them were the following:
In leap years, the staging of the descent is performed on Good Friday in the afternoon. During Holy Week the following sermons were said: Palm Sunday, Passion Tuesday: the sermon of Tears, on the denial of Saint Peter, on Thursday the sermon on the Eucharist, on Friday the sermons of the Encounter, which preached from a balcony in the Plaza Mayor; that of the Seven Words and the Holy Burial; and Easter Sunday. Around the 1940s, the representation of the staging of the descent disappears on Good Friday in the afternoon.
In the year 1959 Holy Week undergoes changes in images and processions, on Friday in the procession of the Holy Burial, two new steps are incorporated: the Virgen de los Dolores "Dolorosa" and Las Angustias, La Soledad from Friday afternoon passes to Saturday night procession only women, procession of loneliness, on Sunday with the image of El Salvador and the Virgen del Carmen, procession of the Encounter. it's done like that:
During Holy Week the following sermons were said: Palm Sunday, Passion Tuesday: the sermon of Tears, on the denial of Saint Peter, on Thursday the sermon on the Eucharist, on Friday the sermons of the Encounter, which preached from a balcony in the Plaza Mayor; that of the Seven Words and the Holy Burial; and Easter Sunday. Around the 1970s sermons disappeared. In 1992 and 1993 the image of the Christ of Mercy is taken out in procession, this last year a group of men constitute a brotherhood to said Christ.In the year 1994, Holy Week is increased one more day when the Brotherhood of Christ of Mercy leaves for the 1st time, procession of Silence, where the Miserere song is performed by residents of the town , thus remaining Holy Week:
In the year 2000, after six decades without representing the staging of the descent on Good Friday afternoon in leap years, it is recovered by the Brotherhood of Christ of Mercy. In 2006 and 2007 the image of Dolores popularly known as the "Dolorosa" was not adjusted to the 1st attempt, it was adjusted to the 2nd by a group of women, who after the fact decided in 2007, to make a brotherhood to said Virgin, In 2008 the list of processions is the same as in 1994, but on Friday afternoon in the procession of the Holy Burial, the image of Dolores is carried for the 1st time by the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Sorrows (La Dolorosa). In 2009, the Villafáfila Pro-Easter Board was formed. At the meeting held on March 25 in the library, the Pro-Easter Board of Villafáfila was partially constituted. This Board is currently composed of: 2 Representatives of the Christ of Mercy Brotherhood. Only 1 vote. 2 Representatives of the Brotherhood Our Lady of Sorrows. Only 1 vote. The parish priest of the town. Mr. Agapito Gómez García. 1 City Council Representative. Mr. Elías Rodríguez Rodríguez (Historian of Villafáfila). The purpose is to maintain and promote Holy Week in Villafáfila The proposed objectives are: 1.-Bring Holy Week closer to the entire population of Villafáfila and to anyone who was interested. For this, exhibitions, talks, colloquiums and all those activities that are considered necessary will be organized. 2.- Improve the state of the material: - will work for * Renew the clothing of the penitents. * Restore and take care of the Easter images * Fix and maintain the Church in an adequate state. 3.- Work in coordination with other Pro-Easter Boards in the area. As an inaugural activity in 2009, there will be a conference on Holy Week in Villafáfila, on Holy Saturday, April 11 at 5:00 p.m. in the library. The order of the day will be as follows: 1. History of Holy Week to the present day. Photographs will be projected. 2. History of the Vera Cruz Brotherhood. 3. Presentation of the Pro-Easter Board of Villafáfila. 4. Choose three individuals to belong to the Pro-Semana Santa Board in a personal capacity. 5. Debate on Holy Week in Villafáfila. In 2010, a proclamation on Holy Week was added, given for the first time by Ms. María Marcos Salvador. The Vera Cruz procession that paraded on Holy Thursday is recovered, which had disappeared around 1880, due to the inactive Pro-Semana Santa Board, trying to keep the historical similarities of said Procession, adapting some new initiatives such as the inclusion in the procession of carrying the Castilian cape. This increases a procession on Thursday night, looking like this:
In recent years the influx of public to the auction has decreased in great proportion, the amount of adjustment is much less in all the images, one of the main causes is the decrease in population and the loss of values and traditions. On Palm Sunday, the branches are blessed and there is a procession, before it was a day when young people used to wear a dress for the first time.
AUCTION OF SAINTS that have to parade in procession, on Palm Sunday afternoon after the Rosary, is done outside the church next to the east door for more than half a century, the auctioneer climbs on the pedestal that is on the cross outside , The highest bidders would take the steps auctioned, it is a moment of great happening, where the dispute of images between groups is seen. The trumpet is usually for the little ones, and Saint John, just as he is the Saint with the least weight, with whom we all begin the bearing of saints. The Urn is usually one of those that is worth the least money due to its great weight, Jesús Nazareno is the saint of the highest auction as he is the one with the greatest devotion of the people to whom people make requests for illness, improvement of the harvest, result of an event, etc. in this saint it is usually a person who adjusts it but then everyone who wishes wears it, it is not usually adjusted by a specific group.
Anecdotes always occur during the auction, how people from the same group send each other without realizing it, when the currency was in pesetas, sending one at a time and arriving not knowing how much it goes, or with the change to the euro The first year the auction was slow as it did not have a good relationship with the money that it was. and in the minds of each thousands more. The payment of the saint is made after the procession, there are references in 1831, a document was signed to pay in August and to repair at his own expense the possible damages that the image and trumpets suffered. Despite this, some did not pay, which is why, as of 1838, they are required to pay before taking the image, otherwise, the butlers will look for other people to carry the image. << LAS TINIEBLAS>> was the peak moment of the children's celebration, after the development of the act by the priest, people attended with carracks and carracons making them sound causing a great deafening roar, people putting great emphasis. It brings to mind the sounds, so clear, of childhood and Holy Week when the neighborhood, or collation, which was a parishioner, I don't know how many souls, was told with a dry note and strident echo, that there was an Office of Darkness. When it was warned that there will be a great earthquake at the end of time.
The two musical instruments, percussive ideophones, substituted — it was their "main use" — the sound of the bells, which remained silent, "during the Easter period to summon the faithful to worship." That of the Ecce Homo, which paraded on Holy Tuesday, starting in 1861, began to do so on Holy Thursday in the afternoon. Wednesday is dedicated for confessions. In 1993 the Christ of Mercy is taken out in procession, after a few days a group of men forms a Brotherhood to this Christ, where it is only made up of men. On Holy Wednesday night in 1994, the Brotherhood of Cristo de la Misericordia comes out for the first time in the procession of Silence with 30 brothers. Their tunics are dark green velvet, like the hood that bears a white cross, they wear a white sash, tunic and gloves
The brothers enter the church in two rows, carrying a cross, a banner of the Brotherhood, a lantern, a bell and a rattle that they sound one after the other with a certain pause, making silence prevail, they stand on each side of the Christ Thus, the priest opens the Holy Week processions, where he reads a poem to the brotherhood , takes an oath of silence from the brotherhood during the procession, and sings "Forgive your people. " They go out in procession through the streets, which is carried by eight people, halfway through the Town Hall square the Miserere is sung by the townspeople, it is one of the highlights of this procession, throughout the journey it is played the rattle and the shearing are a way of remembering to go in silence, at the end of the procession inside the church the Señor Jesús Mío is sung, then the brothers and the people adore Christ by kissing his tunic. The brothers have a refreshment where the details of the procession are discussed.
On Holy Thursday, mass with communion was celebrated in the morning, in the afternoon at three o'clock there were services, until the middle of the 20th century there was always a preacher at Holy Week, as already mentioned in 1751, at five o'clock the Sermon was given of Penitence and the Procession with the Ecce Homo came out. Today a Eucharist of the Lord's Supper is celebrated, followed shortly after by the procession parading the Ecce Homo, which ends completely at night. Throughout the journey the trumpet is sounding with its characteristic gruff sound.
In 2010, after approximately 130 years of disappearance, the Vera Cruz procession was recovered at the initiative of the Junta Pro-Semana Santa, which was formerly carried by the Vera Cruz brotherhood. The Christ of the True Cross was cleaned, recovering part of its splendor, removing the dirt, highlighting the cross blackened by candle smoke and its crown of thorns was observed, leaving its original color green. At all times it was wanted as far as possible to keep the historical features of said procession, such as going in line, carrying lanterns and incorporating new elements, the main one being the accompaniment with the Castilian cape. The route was made passing near where the old Vera Cruz hermitage was, which was next to the old church of San Andrés (place of the old cemetery) to which it belonged, after the disappearance of this church it became dependent on the church of San Pedro, and at the end of the procession everyone present was given a glass of lemonade and a pastry in memory of the so-called Parva <<cakes and wine>>.
The rites and penances that formerly took place throughout the night of Holy Thursday after the celebration of the Vera Cruz procession that made a large number of people stay awake, who made the vigil more bearable with a few drinks of wine, would be the origin of the custom of making lemonade and partying all night, followed by the young people of Villafáfila since time immemorial. Until the early 1980s, after the end of the Ecce Homo procession, until eight o'clock on Friday morning, people made lemonades, churros and drank aguardiente, it was a night of great movement through the town, and festivity in the middle of some days of penance All night long the trumpet was sounding On Good Friday, at eight o'clock in the morning, the <<Encounter Procession>> is the moment of greatest interest in the town's processional complex, where the preacher gave the Encounter Sermon, which necessarily had to say <<run Juan to see María (that the people kept saying run because she is waiting for you at Uncle Chafarría's door)>> at whose command the step of San Juan ran out (that the image that accompanies the procession is San Juan the Baptist who He has supplanted Saint John the apostle, he was the one who accompanied Mary on that morning of the first Good Friday) to that of the Virgin Mary before which the penitents bow or bow, to then continue to meet the passage of Jesus Nazarene, where new inclinations were repeated. People were looking out for them. because they reflected the state of those, after an early morning of great movement. After the procession, the sermon of the Seven Words was said.
As we already mentioned, the preacher has disappeared, and starting at nine in the morning, the rest have not changed, the trumpet is sounding all the way, the step of San Juan is carried by the youngest as it is the lightest , when he arrives at the beginning of the square he separates from the procession to go to the meeting, at that moment anecdotes always happen, such as wanting to climb it up the stairs and hanging from only two penitents, hiding behind the pediment to delay the procession, Other pranks that all young people have committed on said saint, who was even once fallen when a penitent stepped on his tunic,At this rate, the rest usually, when it is a new group, always tell them at another point in the journey that they have to bow again without thinking about it, they turn around looking at Maria and do it, producing laughter from the rest, realizing that who have been taken for a ride, that's how it passes from generation to generation.
In this procession parades the saint to whom Villafáfila has the most devotion, Jesús Nazareno, there is always a penitent or person who goes to the side going barefoot for some request made. To this end, the following event is told of our ancestors: In the early years of the 20th century, the parish priest wanted the sale of his image, and informed of this, the neighbors formed a great tumult, in front of the church of San Martín, with danger of the integrity of the one who had to be guarded by the Civil Guard. The food on Good Friday, typically, used to be based on octopus, previously dry, which required it to be rutied (beating it against a stone to break the fibers) and now fresh. Before, at three-thirty in the afternoon, the services were worshiped, the <<Cruz de Nácar>> which, according to tradition, had been sent from Jerusalem, singing the Populamea, at five-thirty the procession of the Holy Burial. The Christ of the Urn or of the Descent was escorted by the Civil Guard. At Eight the sermon of the Holy Burial. The sermon has also disappeared from this precision, the Civil Guard is no longer escorting the Ballot Box, and the procession ends late at night. In it, like the rest, the trumpet continues to sound, which is the last time it does so.
Its two names are due, Urna because it goes in an urn, not the original one, the one there was made in 1914. The Descent is given by this fact that we relate: Every four years being in the leap year the <<DESCENDIMIENTO>> is celebrated on Friday afternoon, It consists of the real staging, through the images of the crucifixion, descent and burial in the Urn, of Jesus Christ, which the exercitant priests carried out in the mouth of the preacher, this Christ is articulated, in this representation the crucified Christ of the Urn is placed on the altar, at the other end Mary who is the image of the Soledad, who is also articulated, who moves her head when she recognizes Jesus, is then placed in the urn and taken out in procession.
It is descent for more than six decades of the 20th century, it was stopped, in the year 2000 it was recovered by the Brotherhood of Christ of Mercy who are the ones who represent said act and then carry the Urn in procession.
In 2007, for the second year, the image of the Sorrowful Woman in the auction had been left without a bid on her first attempt, for the second time, it was bid by women, they created a brotherhood for this virgin only of women, calling it the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Los Dolores, whose first year of procession was in 2008, made up of 42 brothers. His black tunic with a hat, they have a yellow cord and a silver medal with the insignia of the brotherhood.
Holy Saturday morning holy water was collected. The Procession of Soledad with said Virgin, which leaves at ten at night, which has been carried out since 1959, in which only women parade, carrying candles and lanterns and all the women making two lines.
Resurrection Sunday at noon ends with the Encounter procession where El Salvador is paraded, carried by young people, and the Virgen del Carmen.
In the processions, people pray with the priest and sing Forgive your people and Amante Jesús Mío, from 1990 onwards women have been incorporated to carry some steps.
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