Minutes after entering the church, in a transfer of just half an hour, umbrellas opened on Alfonso XII
SEVILLA, 10 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Christ lying in the Brotherhood of the Holy Burial has presided over the Via Crucis of the Penitential Brotherhoods of Seville on Monday evening after a hurried transfer to the Cathedral, motivated by the poor weather forecasts on a day when, as in previous days, it has not stopped raining, to a greater or lesser extent, and when the uncertainty about the departure was not dispelled until minutes before the scheduled time to open the doors of the temple.
This brief respite from the rain allowed for a quick transfer, in just half an hour, which began shortly after 5:30 p.m. from the church of San Gregorio, on the central street of Alfonso XII. The Council of Brotherhoods and Fraternities of Seville and the aforementioned brotherhood had announced a couple of hours earlier that they were suspending the planned relays to carry the Christ lying both on the way there and on the way back, which also, by very little, avoided the rain.
In addition, these bad weather predictions forced a modification of the routes with the intention of reaching the cathedral in the most direct way possible, as happened, since the sacred image of Juan de Mesa crossed under the lintel of the Puerta de los Palos shortly after 6:00 p.m.
After the prayer of the 14 stations, the procession headed to the Chapel of the Virgin of the Kings to say a Salve. Just five minutes after the guide cross left, at 10:00 p.m., the Christ lying, accompanied by the peal of the bells of the Giralda with an unusual rhythm for a litter, walked as if it were at a slow pace.
At 10:35 p.m., the Christ entered his church. A couple of minutes later, umbrellas opened on Alfonso XII.
The brothers of the Holy Burial who accompanied the Christ lying passed, with great speed but without losing composure, through Alfonso XII, Plaza del Duque, Plaza de la Campana, Tetuán, Plaza Nueva (Andén), Avenida de la Constitución, Alemanes, Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, and Puerta de Palos.
The Holy Saturday corporation had established an itinerary that included arriving at El Salvador through Pedro Caravaca, Sierpes, Cerrajería, and Cuna, to then take Álvarez Quintero, Chapineros, Francos, Placentines, Cardenal Amigo Vallejo, and Plaza Virgen de los Reyes.
Also, the guide crosses of the invited brotherhoods did not move to the Cathedral and were replaced by penitential crosses provided by the Brotherhood of the Holy Burial, loaned by the Brotherhood of the Trinity. However, the brotherhoods in charge of the crosses and readings were those originally planned.
Initially, the guide crosses chosen to mark the beginning of each station of the Via Crucis were those of the brotherhoods of Bendición and Esperanza –Polígono Sur–, La Milagrosa, San Roque, Cautivo del Polígono de San Pablo, Las Penas, San Benito, La Lanzada, Cristo de Burgos, La Exaltación, La Macarena, La Esperanza de Triana, La O, El Sol, and La Trinidad; most of them from brotherhoods related to Esperanza. Not in vain, the motto chosen by the Holy Saturday brotherhood for this prayer is ‘Hope that conquers death’.
As for the readings, they were carried out by the brotherhoods of Padre Pío, Pasión y Muerte, La Hiniesta, Las Aguas, El Museo, Los Javieres, El Buen Fin, Las Siete Palabras, Los Negritos, El Gran Poder, La Sagrada Mortaja, Montserrat, La Soledad de San Lorenzo, and the Holy Burial.
As a culmination of the pious act, Archbishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses, who presided over it, made the traditional reflection. «One more year we have walked the Via Crucis, the path of the cross, at the beginning of Lent. We have meditated on the mysteries of the passion and death of the Lord presided over by the Most Holy Christ lying, of the Brotherhood of the Holy Burial,» said the archbishop.
Furthermore, Saiz Meneses celebrated that «the meditations, songs, and prayers of the Via Crucis have helped us contemplate this mystery of the passion, to learn the great lesson of love that God has given us on the cross, so that a renewed desire to let our hearts be changed in this Lent, in this Jubilee Year, living every day the love we receive from Him, the only force that can change the world.»
Finally, he stated that «in the silence of this night, which envelops Holy Saturday, overwhelmed by the unlimited love of God, we live in anticipation of the dawn of the third day, of the triumph of God’s Love, of the light that allows the eyes of the heart to see life, difficulties, suffering, the cross in a new way. Hope illuminates failures, disappointments, and bitterness. The act of love of the cross, confirmed by the Father, and the dazzling light of the resurrection, envelops and transforms everything,» he concluded.
