We turned the corner onto the main road last Friday on our way to visit the H-Ps to discover notification of a temporary parking ban on Via Garibaldi and Via Cavour. This doesn’t directly affect us as we park in a lot outside the city walls, so it was not cause for panic. Instead, it signaled yet another street clearing procession through the center of town, this time as part of a celebration of Good Friday. The procession began a bit after 9 PM, well after dark, at the Chiese Santa Maria Nuova where St. Thomas Aquinas preached from an outdoor pulpit.
After brief prayers, a procession of clergy led a pair of wooden biers containing figures of a reclining Jesus followed by Mary in mourning through San Pellagrino, around the Fontana Grande, down Via Cavour and then concluding at the Piazza San Lorenzo, site of the Papal Palace. Along the route, spectators would fall in behind until there were hundreds of people walking in silence accompanied by the chants broadcast over portable speakers.
The final ceremony at the duomo included a reenactment of the Crucifixion of Christ, complete with the flanking thieves and Roman soldiers. However, no nails were used.
Since I did not anticipate the celebration, I did not bring my camera. Thanks go to Carolyn for allowing me to use some of her pictures.
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