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Written by Paul Mutter
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Monday, 15 March 2010 21:28 |
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Every year each of the ‘tronos’ or floats
that are used in the Holy Week
processions in Torrevieja have their
own dedication service where they are
blessed by a priest. The blessing takes
the form of a Mass that is performed in
the Santa Semana Museum near to the
Los Arcos restaurant. Last Sunday it was
the turn of the paso of Nuestro Padre
Jésus en la Oración del Huerto de los
Olivos (Jesus in the Garden of Olives)
that is carried by the International
Cofradia for its blessing and during the
same service the paso of the Last
Supper was also blessed. The service is
also an opportunity for any items that
have been purchased during the last
12 months and that will be used in the
parades to be dedicated. The blessing
itself is made over an offering, symbolic
of the particular paso being blessed. In
the case of the Jesus in the Garden of
Olives it was a gold cummerbund with
the symbol of the cofradia
embroidered in green and black on the
front carried on a tray surmounted by
a branch from an olive tree. The Last
Supper had a tray of bread and grapes.
Incidentally following the blessing of
the offering by the priest and after the
service, the olive branch is separated
into smaller pieces to give to members
of the cofradia as a special token. The
mass is in Spanish but the priest had
made a special effort to explain a little
of the sermon in English as well and
this year a member of the International
Cofradia read one of the lessons in
English. Carrying the tray to the altar
with the symbols of the cofradia on it is
an honour and last Sunday that
privilege went to a long standing and
one of the original members of the
cofradia, Joe Billett. The priest in his
sermon told the parable of the Prodigal
Son and stressed the importance to
Christians of forgiveness and
reconciliation. It was another good
turn-out for the service and the area in
the museum set aside for the mass was
packed with people standing at the
back. The service concluded with a
special prayer looking ahead to Santa
Semana itself and the parades that are
integral to the celebration of this most
holy time in the Christian calendar.
The dedication service has always
been followed by a celebratory lunch
and the Rancho Blanco between Los
Balcones and San Miguel has become a
firm favourite. Over 80 members of the
international cofradia with their
partners attended, with a much smaller
contingent unfortunately this year
from the Last Supper cofradia. The
lunches have always been enjoyed by
everyone and last several hours into
the early evening. There was a special
treat this year when two of our
members were persuaded to sing. First
of all Eric Nicholls performed an
unaccompanied version of ‘Return to
Sorrento’ in Italian and English to
tumultuous applause and he was
followed by Colin Harlow who took the
assembled diners through George
Formby’s ‘Leaning on a Lamp Post’
which many knew most, if not all the
words for. It was another star
performance, rightly loudly cheered at
the end. Clearly the International
Cofradia is a very talented
bunch! The Spanish
contingent was eventually
persuaded to try their hand at
singing and entertained
everyone with a well known
Spanish song.
The International Cofradia
has always had a special
affinity with the members of
the Last Supper cofradia
which is the newest cofradia
and there were emotional
speeches by both ‘cofradia
godfathers’ to the other’s
group. With the sun fading fast
in the sky it was definitely time
to leave and think ahead to
the last complete practice
session on Tuesday the 23rd of
March, there being no practice
this Thursday. Numbers to
carry the paso improved at the
last meeting with over 90 registered. A
few more would be welcome and there
is still time if you are interested. It would
appear that this year the Cofradia has
seen the largest loss of members able
and willing to carry the paso since the
group was formed six years ago. Each
year we have experienced around 20
members who have dropped out for
one reason or another, about one fifth
of the total, and these have had to be
replaced with ‘fresh blood’. This year the
cofradia has had to recruit 34 new
members and we are not quite up to
last year’s level of carriers.
The members are looking forward
to the processions as usual and
everyone hopes that this year the
weather will be kinder than last and
that the Good Friday procession will go
ahead. It is the largest, longest and
most spectacular of the processions
but over the last few years has had to
be cancelled due to rain a number of
times to the disappointment of the
huge crowds that usually gather to
watch and also the costaleros
themselves. |
