Holy Week in Castelsardo

In Castelsardo, the rituals of Holy Week (Chida Santa) begin with the celebration of Lunissanti (the Monday following Palm Sunday) and take on a particular charm, also because of the medieval aspect of the village, located in the northern part of the territory of Anglona on a volcanic promontory.

Before dawn, the members of the Brotherhood of the Oratory of the Holy Cross, dressed in a tunic (the abbidu) around the waist and a white cap (lu cappùcciu), go to the church of Santa Maria di Tergu, where religious rites and ceremonies are celebrated.

The Apostles are twelve confreres who carry SOS Misterios (the Mysteries) in procession, while the Cantors are members of the same brotherhood that make up the three choirs of four voices each: the bogi (the tenor), lu bassu (the bass), lu contro (the alto) and lu falzittu (the falsetto). Each group carries with it a symbolic object supported by a confrere: the Miserere choir a human skull (lu cabbu di lu moltu), evoking the death of Christ; the Stabat choir a bust depicting the Ecce homo; the choir of Jesus a Crucified One. The songs performed are of pre-Gregorian origin.

After the morning Mass, the procession begins, with Apostles and Singers who parade in a very specific order along an 8 km route. The procession ends late in the morning with the arrival at the Abbey of Our Lady of Tergu, where Mass is celebrated. Here the Mysteries are offered to Our Lady, accompanied by attittu (the funeral lamentation) and displayed on the altar.

In the afternoon, the procession returns to Castelsardo, to the church of Santa Maria, where the Mysteries are presented again.

Lunissants, Prucisions and Engraving

The main rites of Holy Week in Castelsardo take place on the Monday following Palm Sunday (Lunissanti), Thursday (the Prucissions) and Friday (the Lcravamentu).

Lunissanti opens Holy Week. The most suggestive moment of the ritual complex begins when darkness falls in the historic center of the town, illuminated only by fiaccoli (torches) held by li fraddeddi (the confreres) and the surreddi (the sisters). The Holy Nights begins, the procession at sunset, during which the Apostles, that is, the confreres chosen to carry the Mysteries, parade in procession, accompanied by three choirs. The first chorus of Miserere is followed by the first group of five Mysteries; the second chorus precedes the second group of Mysteries. The Lu Jesus choir closes the procession.

In the early hours of the night of Holy Thursday, the Prucissions (the procession) begins with the simulacra of the Crucifixion and Maria di lu Pientu (Our Lady of Sorrows), a rite of medieval origin that recalls the encounter between the Madonna and the dying Christ, the latter represented by a wooden statue dating back to the fourteenth century, one of the oldest sacred sculptures on the island. The procession is accompanied by the two choirs of the Brotherhood of Santa Croce, the Miserere and the Stabat Mater. Good Friday is dedicated to Lu Ilcravamentu, the sacred representation of the deposition of Christ on the Cross, in a paraliturgical form. A ceremony, also of medieval origin with strong baroque elements, unique in its kind.

The procession starts from the Church of Santa Maria and accompanies Our Lady of Sorrows to the Cathedral. Here Christ is freed from the crown of thorns and nails, presented to the people and offered to Our Lady. The procession ends in the church of Santa Maria with the distribution of flowers blessed by contact with the Body of Christ.

History of the event

Probably the origins of the rites described date back to the medieval period, as the presence of the above-mentioned polyphonic songs would confirm. The members of the brotherhoods, religious organizations of Hispanic origin, organize the main rituals.

In atmospheres full of mystery and sacredness, intoned by the three choirs, the songs of probable origin before the Catalan domination, handed down over the centuries by oral tradition, resound. This is the cuncordu song, characterized by very strict rules that leave very little room for the individual singer's freedom of interpretation.

Update

24/3/2024 - 20:09