The crying mother and the dead son

“Our Catholic Easter” was my personal title for our Easter trip to Sorrento in Italy. I have celebrated Easter in the UK, but there is no difference between Easter and other days there. Ordinary workdays on both Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, but there might have been a “Bank Holiday” on Easter Monday – the British are very reluctant to designate national holidays associated with a particular religion.

Therefore, I expected to experience something exciting here in Southern Italy. However, the first observation was that neither Maundy Thursday nor Good Friday are holidays, at least not for those working in areas relevant to tourism. In this respect, Italy resembles the UK more than the Faroe Islands. In terms of religion, though, the Faroe Islands are probably more like the UK, as religion is a very solemn phenomenon, somehow elevated above everyday life.

Catholics convey the Christian message quite differently from Protestants – but it should also be said that Catholics put a lot of energy, time, and people into it – perhaps it was also this kind of energy and time waste that the Protestants protested against.

In Sorrento, there are two processions on Good Friday, organized by monks. The first one is early in the morning, from 3 AM to 6 AM, and is called the White Procession. All the men and boys (as women are not allowed to participate!) are dressed in white monk robes with full hoods over their heads, which only have two holes for the eyes. This procession is for the sorrow of the Virgin Mary, and the participants (a very large number, likely between 1000 and 2000) carry various items related to the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday: a bag with 30 silver coins, crowns of thorns, a chalice, a stuffed rooster, a red cloak, dice (since the soldiers used dice to cast lots for Jesus’s cloak), a spear, a sponge, a cross, and many other things. All the participants carried something, if nothing else, then torches. In the White Procession, the main figure was Mary, a life-sized statue carried at shoulder height so everyone could see her. In the middle of everything was a choir of mourning.

Quite a few people attended the White Procession, but nothing compared to the Black Procession, which was at 9 PM. This procession is for the death of Christ and closely resembles the earlier one, although it is organized by two different orders of monks. All the participants were now in black clothing, but the items were largely the same, though now they were set in a darker context. The choir was also the same, singing the same song.

The big difference was that now a lying statue of Christ’s dead body was carried through the town, followed by the Virgin Mary in mourning attire, but now she wore a bright crown.

The atmosphere during these two events was very good, and it reminded me quite a lot of Ólavsøka, although no one appeared to be visibly intoxicated. The bars were open all night, and couples in love, children, the elderly – everyone came together for this moment.

Both processions were mourning processions, but I think people perceive them more as festive occasions that we all share together, and therefore more as celebratory moments that we rejoice in.

I remember from my childhood how I almost dreaded Good Friday because it was so somber. The radio contributed significantly to this gloomy atmosphere. I think that moments like these in Sorrento tell the same story in a much more meaningful way. However, it should be noted that in some places such processions can be much more extreme, with participants sometimes whipping themselves – I would say that in such cases, the festive spirit disappears, and I would likely keep my distance.

The tradition of Good Friday processions is said to have come to Southern Italy with the Jesuits in the 16th century from Spain.

Update Aug. 2024: This text has been translated from Faroese using ChatGTP.