Author: Manuel Guerrero Cabrera, professor and writer
(Article published in the 2022 edition of Torralbo magazine)
The ‘Movimiento Católico’ was a newspaper published in Madrid and founded in 1889 by Bishop Ciriaco Sancha y Hervás ―later named a Cardinal― following the First Spanish Catholic Congress, with the aim of uniting the various Catholic currents in opposition to republicanism and secularism.
In its edition of 6th April 1896, the newspaper published a news report entitled «emana Santa en Lucena (Carta de nuestro corresponsal» (Holy Week in Lucena, Letter from Our Correspondent), describing the atmosphere and the Holy Week processional cortèges held in our town that year. With regard to the former, the correspondent ―whose identity we have unable to establish― remarks upon the large congregations attending the liturgical Offices, reflecting Lucena’s «Catholic sentiments». As for the processional cortèges, he begins with those departing from the Parish Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: «Jesus Entering Jerusalem», «The Arrest of Jesus», «Jesus Bearing the Cross», and «Mary Most Holy of Sorrows». These were, of course, the processional thrones belonging to the Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which at that time held its Penitential Procession on Holy Wednesday. Curiously, however, no mention is made of the Most Holy Christ of the Humiliation, although it is possible that the newspaper’s correspondent simply omitted it.
With regard to Holy Thursday, among the processional cortèges departing from the Hermitage of Our Lady of Peace and the Vera Cruz, only the following processional thrones are mentioned: «The Washing of the Feet», «Christ Bound to the Column», «Jesus Fallen Beneath the Cross», and «Our Lady of Sorrow». These were, in fact, the processional thrones of the Archconfraternity of the Vera Cruz and, as with the Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, it may be assumed that the correspondent omitted several others, such as the Holy Faith or the Prisoner.
Nor is there any mention of the Holy Women of Saint John in connection with the Good Friday procession. It should also be noted that the correspondent states that the devotional images departed from the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán (although the Church of Saint Peter Martyr is itself historically associated with the Dominican Order). In summary, the 1896 newspaper report does refer to the processional cortèges of Our Father Jesus the Nazarene, Mary Most Holy of Succour, and the Holy Burial of Our Lord Jesus Christ, noting that «it was truly remarkable to behold the uplifting and devout spectable presented by some one thousand brethren of Our Father Jesus the Nazarene, clad in purple tunics, together with a great number of ladies bearing candles and many grateful devotees who, in fulfilment of vows, dragged heavy chains or wore crowns of thorns upon their heads while carrying the Cross upon their shoulders».
To these, the report adds that there was one further procession, «the first ever to take place, departing from the Major Parish Church of Saint Matthew the Apostle on Palm Sunday»: Mary Most Holy of Sorrows. This was undoubtedly the devotional image of Our Lady of Sorrows belonging to the Servite Congregation, preceded by «a large crowd of people»
Finally, the correspondent of ‘El Movimiento Católico’ expresses the hope ―indeed, «implores», to use his own word― that in future years the Brotherhood of the Passion («that of Saint Francis», as he describes it) and the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Solitude might once again returns to the streets in procession. Lucena would have to wait another 31 years before the latter was re-established in 1927.
Photograph of the article: Jesús Cañete Fernández
