Brotherhood-Procession of the Vera Cruz of Villafáfila

The Board for Holy Week of Villafáfila, in 2010, after the disappearance at the end of the 19th century of the Santa Vera Cruz brotherhood and its procession of Vera Cruz or Carrera, carried out the recovery of its recovery, which took place on Holy Thursday, April 1 at 11:00 p.m.

This procession was carried out by the Brotherhood of Vera Cruz, which was based in the hermitage of Vera Cruz, exactly at the peak formed by the paths of Espino and S. Agustín in their divergence. To which the site of the old hermitage, known as the Hall, or the Humilladero, belonged. Belonging to the parish of San Andrés, today converted into the so-called Old Cemetery, which they were close to.

These references are indirect, because in the deed of expense that was made in the will of Yván de Collantes, that:

The fulfillment of a testamentary mandate of this hidalgo, who had been warden of the Villafáfila fortress, appears:

“ was given to Vera Crus + one hundred mrs. What Rodrigo Herrada, abbot, wore ” [2] .

1513, when Collantes's widow, María Vázquez, died, she leaves a command in her will:

“To Vera Cruz and to Sª Mª de Villarigo and to Sª Mª Madalena and to Sª Marta and to Sª Mª la Nueva, hermitages of this town, to each one half a real for their works” [3] ,

The hermitage had stone foundations and some rammed earth walls, it had several rooms such as the Hall where discipline was carried out, around its walls there were some stone benches where the brothers sat during the night of Holy Thursday, a kitchen and other adjoining rooms to be able to fulfill the functions of hospitality entrusted to the brotherhood.

In the 17th and early 18th centuries the brotherhood was mixed, made up of cofrades and cofradas , as they are called in the member lists.

· The brothers of "Luz" were a kind of honorary members who availed themselves of the benefits of the brotherhood, but were not subject to all the obligations, including that of disciplining themselves. They were wealthier neighbors.

· The "discipline" brothers , also called blood or pike, were ordinary members with all the obligations imposed by the rule, including submitting to discipline on the afternoon and evening of Holy Thursday. They belonged to the lower classes of the town.

· Participate in the procession or race on Holy Thursday in the afternoon. The brothers of light came carrying a luminary, hence their name and those of discipline covered with a tunic or white shirt of penance with a hood. The brotherhood had the tunics and rented them to the brothers who did not have one of their own for a real and a half. The discipline brothers had to do penance or discipline during the night of Holy Thursday in the Hall of the hermitage, probably also during the procession, since at that time it is called the procession of discipline. We do not know the characteristics of this penance in detail, but basically it consisted of being whipped on their flesh until they bled, possibly with some scourge or cutting instrument, hence their name also as cofradesof pike or blood . For cleaning the wounds they used wine.

The penance that was done in the Hall of the hermitage, was performed before a crucifix:

The brotherhood offered the participants in the discipline "la parva" , consisting of a portion of cake, bread and wine.

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.

In the year 1693 two loads of wheat were spent for the cakes and six pitchers of wine on Holy Thursday. Seven pitchers were spent in 1698 and 1707, and eight pitchers in 1718. All of this provoked the intervention of the bishops of Astorga, who in their visit mandates for those years left written:

" That the expenses they make in snacks be moderated, mainly on Holy Thursday and Good Friday... that they don't go out of devotion to processions but for snacks ."

Over the years, the bishops, with a training and a mentality influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, recommend that these disciplinary exercises not be carried out because they seem to them savage practices, thus in 1775 one of the mandates of the Bishop of Astorga is:

"That the blood penance of Holy Week be entirely voluntary, so that, henceforth, no brother can be fined for not disciplining himself, since this must be an effect for devotion, and the opposite is reprehensible" .

The chapters of the brotherhood were held in the church of San Andrés, probably due to the insufficiency of the hermitage to house all the brotherhoods. When the bishop of Astorga in his pastoral visit of 1642 decides to abolish the parish of San Andrés to be annexed to that of San Pedro due to lack of parishioners, the brothers of Vera Cruz appear before their illustrious:

“and they said that they asked for mercy to make the chapters of the brotherhood in San Andrés and that the big bell stay in the church” [4] , to which the bishop agreed.

With what is deduced that the brotherhood came to depend on the church of San Pedro, but continue to be based in the hermitage.

After the demolition of the church of San Andrés in 1772, its councils surely passed in San Pedro.

The procession called "La Carrera" was held on the afternoon of Holy Thursday and they took out an image of the crucified Christ in procession:

The image was very old in 1726, which can be indicative of its antiquity, so the bishop orders:

“ That the effigy of the Sstº Xpttº be retouched because it was found without paint and very deteriorated ”.

In the procession, one brother carried the insignia and another the cross, the light brothers went in the open carrying a luminary, the discipline ones went doing penance, either with a white tunic or with some object of discipline.

The brotherhoods belonged to all the social strata of the town, from noblemen, rich farmers to day laborers or notaries, and they were distributed throughout all the parishes. The number of brotherhoods is very uneven throughout its history.

A great blow to the brotherhood was the confiscation of their properties at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1805, the estates were put up for sale and the hermitage was dismantled, selling the wood, stone and tile from it, the Cristo de la Vera Cruz passed to the church of San Pedro, without knowing its location, from this church the procession with the Christ began to leave.

The last list of accounts and brotherhoods is from the year 1877, there were 64 [6] , disappearing at the end of the 19th century.

1896 on June 24 the church of San Pedro is suppressed and when it disappears at the beginning of the s. XX, in 1904 where Cristo de la Vera Cruz finally passed to the church of Santa María del Moral, we have no evidence that it was located inside the church, possibly it was kept in parish buildings.

2010, through the Junta Pro Semana Santa de Villafáfila, the brotherhood of the Vera Cruz “La Carrera” procession is recovered , more than one hundred and ten years after its last procession, a precursor through the study done by D. Elías Rodríguez Rodríguez of the old brotherhood, a most reliable procession is organized, to the current moments, where to give it a representative touch the Castilian cape is introduced. This procession has been consolidated since its first year, thanks to the push of the residents of the Villa who returned it to its Holy Week.

The Christ of the Vera Cruz, which had been unattended for more than a century since it ceased to procession at the end of the 19th century, over time was full of dirt as from so many years ago between candles of its old brotherhood the image was full like the cross from the impregnation of smoke, a little cleaning is done, the difference from before to after was very noticeable.

They wear a white shirt and procession with the Castilian cape, pants and black shoes. Being indistinctly both men and women.

It goes on a litter given by a brotherhood of Benavente that was adapted to Christ, with two lanterns in front, simply adorned with thistles, it has a wooden base with the head of a wooden skull on the bottom of the cross, which gives it sobriety.

It leaves from the church of Santa María del Moral, along Calle Rejadarada in the direction of the vicinity where the old parish of San Andrés (Old Cemetery) was originally located and close to its hermitage.

The route returns in its footsteps from Calle Rejadarada, entering Calle San Andrés, to Plaza de San Pedro, the former location of the church of San Pedro, which after the suppression of San Andrés, said brotherhood came to belong, and later to be in her the Christ. Continue along Sacramento street, passing through Botica street, until you reach the point called the four streets, and go up Rejadarada towards the church of Santa María del Moral to finish inside it.

The procession is opened by a person who breaks the Cross, followed by the Christ of the True Cross carried by brothers and sisters, in turn escorted by four people with white tunics, one at each end with a torch, followed behind by two ranks the brothers with their capes.

Between the side of the Christ and behind in two rows the brothers and sisters with their capes, some carry and others accompany the Christ.

Closing the procession the parish priest of the town, who since his recovery is D. Agapito Gómez.

Upon reaching the point of proximity where the old parish of San Andrés (old cemetery) was originally located and next to its hermitage, there is a prayer in remembrance of all previous brotherhood, the old church of San Andrés, to all the people buried in the old cemetery, and the hermitage of Vera Cruz that was in the vicinity.

All of them are accompanied by the residents of the Villa, who both those who process and accompany welcomed the recovery of the procession from the first moment in 2010, as if time had never interrupted it.

At the end of the procession , recalling the tradition of giving the "Parva" (a bread paste and a glass of wine), lemonade and pastries are given to all attendees.

The procession, as the 2011 poster shows, in its first year had perfect recovery and integration, which was dedicated to Christ and the Vera Cruz procession.

Since 2011, the Christ has been inside the church of Santa María del Moral, in the west or gospel nave (left side), 3rd section, between El Salvador and Ecce Homo.

Villafáfila, history and present of a Castilian-Leonese village and its parish churches. 1996, p. 412 and 433.

Villafáfila Parish Archives. Books 71 and 72, two account books from 1693 to 1877.

BSAA Art: Bulletin of the Art Studies Seminar , ISSN 1888-9751, No. 76, 2010 , pp. 25-32.

All text, photographs, transcription and montage, their rights belong to their authors, any type of use is prohibited without authorization.

All text and photography has been authorized for storage, treatment, work, transcription and assembly to José Luis Domínguez Martínez, its dissemination on villafafila.net, and any other authorized means.

[1] Archive of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid. Civil Lawsuits. Zarandona and Walls 1353-8 olv.

[2] Archive of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid. Civil Lawsuits. Zarandona and Walls 1353-8 olv.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Book. fab Saint Peter, 1605-1714, p.108 back.

[5] José Ángel Rivera de las Heras : New works related to Alejo de Vahía and his school in the Diocese of Zamora . BSAA Art: Bulletin of the Art Studies Seminar , ISSN 1888-9751, No. 76, 2010 , pp. 25-32. http://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo?3418293.pdf

[6] Book. Brotherhood. Vera Cruz, 1808-1877, p. 8 round

BROTHERHOOD-PROCESSION OF THE VERA CRUZ VILLAFÁFILA