Sabado santo

The last day of processions in La Roda is Saturday--yesterday. Since in the neighboring province of Malaga processions are forbidden on Holy Saturday, lots of people from nearby pueblos come to La Roda to see our procession. Really, it's amazing to see how it fills up!

For me, Saturday isn't my favorite. The procession is the Santo Entierro de Cristo (the Holy Burial of Christ) and Our Lady of Pain (Nuestra Senora de los Dolores); the Virgin's paso is beautiful, but I'm not particularly enamored of the great glass coffin which is the Santo Entierro--not my thing.

The paso of La Dolores is, I must admit, the most beautiful. It's got bells along the tops so that as is moves you hear the soft jingling of silver bells along with the normal creaking sounds that the paso makes as it's carried along. The palio (the canopy) is also beautiful and covered in gold embroidered stars... All that considered, I don't like it much.

Here in La Roda there's great competition between the hermandades (brotherhoods) of "La Virgen" (La Dolores) y "Jesus" (Jesus Nazareno). Apparently, the story goes that years and years ago, the two brotherhoods used to come out together. They were two separate brotherhoods, but one procession. La Roda has always been a railroad town. And the story goes that one year, crossing the railroad tracks a train passed in the middle of the procession, cutting it in two. Jesus, who always goes in front of the Virgin, left his mother behind on the other side of the tracks, and the members of the Virgin's brotherhood were so incensed that they decided to split with Jesus for good.

From then on each brotherhood bought their respective companions (the Dolores bought the Santo Entierro and Jesus the Virgen de Esperanza) and now they go out separate days and there's HUGE rivalry between the two brotherhoods. Needless to say it's hurts the "Jesuenos" in town that Holy Saturday is such a big deal here in La Roda!

The picture above is of one of the saeteros (a person who sings saetas) for the Dolores. A saeta is a song sung to the Virgin or Jesus in Semana Santa. They're a very mournful, wailing sort of song. This man sings to the Esperanza Macarena in Sevilla (some of you who have studied in Spain know that that's a big deal). He was amazing. Just listening to his songs gave me goosebumps. And the band that played to the Santo Entierro was INCREIDIBLE this year...the music at Semana Santa brings me to tears nearly every year.