Easter in Petralia Sottana
Holy Week in Petralia Sottana is full of suggestive and ancient liturgical, popular and processional rites that are expressed through sacred dramaturgy. Two particularly moving and fascinating celebratory moments in Petralia Sottana are the Good Friday procession and the Easter Encounter.
On Good Friday, the Congregations open the procession, followed by the Confraternities, both arranged in a specific order. The Sodalities are distinguished by the different colors of the uniforms. We proceed in single file, the superior carries the Cross with a crown of thorns, flanked by two brothers, holding an unlit torch. All the other Confreres follow. The Pious Women slowly parade side by side. They are played by young girls who traditionally do not have to be recognized in fact, either with hair or with a veil, must cover their faces in order to remain anonymous. There are also Jews with weapons and loricate uniforms and children in the guise of little angels. Having reached Calvary, a human chain made of faith, repentance, pathos, folklore and popular devotion honors the images of the Dead Christ and Mary of Sorrows that are carried out in procession in the Matrix.
Easter Day is represented the Search for the Son on the part of the Mother of Sorrows, but also and above all the joy of Mary in seeing and embracing the Risen Jesus again through the procession of the Easter Encounter, U 'Ncuontru. At noon on Easter the master of ceremonies give the necessary signals between the two statues, everything is scrupulously followed with attention. Three trumpet blasts, followed by three shots, are repeated: at the first, Christ and the Madonna take their first steps, at the second, they can be glimpsed, at the third, they run towards each other. The firecrackers are fired, the band intones the Eucharistic Hymn, the doves fly, the moved people applaud. In the procession the brothers arranged in pairs, wearing the "hoods", accompany the sacred and artistic images through the streets of the town.
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