PhD Program in Historical studies
The Good Friday Procession at Chieti
The Good Friday procession of Chieti, the most important of Abruzzo, is organized by the Sacro Monte dei Morti (Sacred Mount of the Dead) a lay association affiliated with the prestigious Roman Archconfraternity Morte e Orazione (Death and Prayer), set up in the chapel attached to the crypt of the Cathedral of San Giustino (Saint Justin): a finely decorated oratory in Baroque style on the theme of the Passion, which houses the polychrome statue of the Dead Christ and that of Virgin Mary (both members of the sacred procession). In 1855, the archconfraternity commissioned the local artist Raffaele del Ponte (1813-1872) the seven symbols that represent the most significant scenes of the Passion, which are called Trofei (Trophies) in Chieti: the Column, the Holy Face, The Stairs, the Cross, the Stone, the Lance of the Roman soldiers and the Angel with the chalice of the Passion. The Trofei, even today, precede the effigies of the dead Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows in the sacred procession of Good Friday. The procession was held for a long time in the morning, to avoid riots and confusion. Today, however, it begins at sunset. Francesco Saverio Selecchy (1703-1788) was the author of the famous Miserere which accompanies the slow pace of the faithful and penitents. The procession is opened by the banner of the arch (with a large central skull embroidered in gold), followed by the image of Defeated Death and the seven symbols of the Passion (surrounded by members of other confraternities from Chieti). The sacred processions closes with the coffin of the Dead Christ (a wooden sculpture of the eighteenth century, of the Neapolitan school, situated on a damask velvet embroidered in gold and silver, made in the early nineteenth century and restored in the following one) and the nineteenth-century statue of Our Lady of Sorrows. Both carried on the shoulders by the brothers of the Sacro Monte dei Morti (wearing tunics, black caps and golden capes), preceded by the ecclesiastical component. The groups and statues parade accompanied by “valets” dressed in eighteenth century clothes. The processional rhythm is set by the troccola (a wooden instrument that replaces the sound of bells). At today’s procession in Chieti the hooded brothers belong to a dozen associations, and they proceed with the Cavalieri del Santo Sepolcro (the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre) and the Schola Cantorum of the Cathedral. In the past, the competition among the various societies, at times, resulted in disagreements on the roles and priorities.