Arriving in this southwestern mining Sardinian town during Holy Week means immersing yourself in a microcosm of sounds, images, mysteries, flavors, and colors like no other.
- The Most Suggestive Processions in Sardinia for Holy Week
- Holy Tuesday – The Procession of the Mysteries with the Baballottis
- Holy Thursday
- Good Friday: S’iscravamentu
- The Procession of the Mountain (morning)
- The Procession of the Descenso (afternoon)
- Holy Saturday: Su Incontru
- Tuesday – S’Inserru
- The Holy Week in Sardinia: Household Traditions
- What to eat and what to do during Holy Week
In Sardinia, as in many other areas of Italy, especially southern Italy, Holy Week rituals attract tourists and curious people seeking a fusion of the sacred and the profane. The Holy Week rituals of Taranto or those of Trapani, for example, are absolutely not to be missed. But Sardinia, a land of centuries-old traditions, is no second in these particular and evocative traditions.
The Most Suggestive Processions in Sardinia for Holy Week
Everything begins on Tuesday, when young faithful called Baballottis, in traditional penitential garments, bring to life the procession of the Mysteries, carrying on their shoulders through the streets the Seven Simulacra, which represent as many episodes of the Passion of Christ.
The cross of the Archconfraternity of Monte Santo opens this procession which, along with that of the Descenso, are the oldest. Seven plastic tableaux in memory of the Passion of Jesus: the garden of olives, capture, scourging, Ecce Homo, ascent to Calvary, Crucifixion, Our Lady of Sorrows.
The young baballottis carry the simulacra on their shoulders; the first of which is particularly heavy and requires the Holy Mountain several days of preparation.
In the Spanish style, a large branch of olive, generously offered, is raised on the litter with the simulacrum of Jesus in prayer and decorated with flowers and Mediterranean scents.
Only two children, in the traditional penitential dress of the baballottis, participate; they are the same who will be St. John and Mary Magdalene in the Descenso procession on Good Friday. Other children are excluded from this procession: their days will be Thursday and Friday. Two moments of pause and reflection with preaching will be held in the Cathedral.
Holy Thursday, after sunset, signals another procession marked by the sound of drums and matraccas (a traditional instrument made from a wooden board on which nails and iron rings are fixed and serve as beaters): the statue of the Madonna, symbolically searching for her Son, is brought into the seven city churches where the Holy Sepulchre is set up.
It is one of the most important days for all Christianity: it commemorates the Last Supper, the institution of the Eucharist, the priesthood; the beginning of Jesus’ Passion. It is a day full of events and meanings: two masses mark the passage of this long day: in the morning the Chrism mass and in the evening the Coena Domini mass.
Afterwards, in all churches, the bells are tied (they will be untied during the Gloria of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday), the Blessed Sacrament is solemnly placed in a richly decorated side chapel, the altar of repose or sepulchres, as they are commonly called, and finally people go out to visit the churches, or rather such altars where the Blessed Sacrament is solemnly exposed.
Besides veils, carpets, flowers, and candles, the decoration includes “Su Nenniri”: vases in which wheat and lentils are sown at the beginning of Lent. They grow in complete darkness, giving a white-yellowish foliage, ruffled and drooping for the lentils and erect for the wheat. The effect, aside from the old reminiscent links that take them back to the gardens of Adonis, is to soften the color of flowers and fabrics, almost organizing their quantity and making it fitting for the particular moment.
The baballottis are the protagonists of Holy Week: white, hooded, faceless, timeless, in penitential dress, they materialize on this day, of all ages, invading the city center streets. Baballottis means small insect, in Sardinian. The meaning is shrouded in mystery but their attire very much recalls that of the ancient disciplinants. It is late evening when from the Oratory of the Holy Mountain, the Church of San Michele, the procession of Our Lady of Sorrows departs.
The Madonna who searches for Jesus before his arrest, thus popular piety justifies this ancient practice. The cross and the simulacrum of the Virgin of Pity make a brief stop in the churches of the historic center. Outside, the deafening clatter of matraccas and drum characterize the initial part and separate it from the last part of the procession which is instead marked by a silence equally overwhelming, where the Germani of the Holy Mountain and the statue of the Virgin are protagonists.
On Good Friday, a third procession starts early in the morning and visits the churches following an ascending route, recalling the ascent of Jesus to Calvary of the Golgotha, with the young Baballottis carrying a small cross on their shoulders.
In the afternoon, the Germani of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Mountain enter the scene, who lay down the Crucifix with the rite of “S’iscravamentu,” and in the evening, during the procession of the Descenso, they animate a true funeral of Jesus, in full respect of the Spanish Baroque tradition, characterized by a large number of actors and religious symbols, including a life-size sculpture of the Dead Christ dating back to the 17th century.
The Procession of the Mountain (morning)
In the morning, the high district of “Sa Costera” serves as the stage for the procession of the Mountain, the ascent to Calvary. The “Via Dolorosa” features as protagonists the simulacrum of Jesus with the cross and that of Our Lady of Sorrows who accompanies him. The various churches are revisited with a procession similar to the previous day: matracconis, drum, cross of the Archconfraternity, Baballottis, Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, simulacra and Germani of the Holy Mountain who precede, as in all processions escorting her, the statue of their patroness, the Virgin of Pity. The little Baballottis carry besides the matracca a small cross.
The Procession of the Descenso (afternoon)
In the early afternoon, after three o’clock, the devout practice of “Su Scravamentu” is repeated in the privacy of the oratory of the Holy Mountain and in the presence of confreres only: the Obrieri of the Descenso unscrew the beautiful 17th-century crucifix from the cross (it is jointed) and lay it in “Sa lattera”, the litter. Late in the evening the most awaited Procession, that of the Descenso.
A fragment of sacred representation of the funeral of Jesus is embedded in the classic processional body: two large banners, “Is Vessillas,” precede “San Giovanni and Mary Magdalene,” two boys dressed in eastern-style garments adorned with gold jewelry; they are followed by “Is Varonis,” the nobles, “Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus” with two assistants carrying the deposition ladders. Even the style of their robes is oriental, and both the thick beards and their proud gait give them a grave, serious, and stately appearance.
Further back is the artistic and venerated simulacrum of the Dead Jesus, among lights and lanterns, covered by a tulle veil and under a white canopy as a sign of royalty; the true funeral of Jesus was surely poor and quick; it is revisited with Spanish, baroque eyes, with pomp and opulence of decorations but also with faith, devotion, and mourning for the Son of Man who dies for us. Following are the Germani of the Holy Mountain with Our Lady of Sorrows who tonight clutches the crown of thorns to her chest; lastly, the large black cross is carried on shoulders by penitents without any special attire or sign.
On Saturday night, at the singing of the Gloria, the Risen Christ is brought into the cathedral and on Sunday morning, with festive bells, his image makes a triumphant entry while the city is crossed by two new processions: one departs from the Church of San Giuseppe with the simulacrum of the Madonna and boys impersonating Mary Magdalene and St. John; the other from the cathedral itself with Risen Jesus.
The processions follow different routes until the moment of the “Su Incontru,” when the two groups, as they approach, bow three times, until forming a single procession that returns to the cathedral, where the Bishop awaits everyone for the solemn blessing. On this occasion, the faithful offer the Confreres “su coccoi de Pasca”, a votive bread typical of the local tradition.
But the rites of the Holy Week of Iglesias do not end here: on Tuesday after Easter, after the Capitular Mass in the cathedral, there is the procession of “S’Inserru,” a unique rite characterized by three bows and three farewells, as the statues of the Risen Jesus and the Madonna separate, to be accompanied respectively to the church of San Francesco and that of San Giuseppe.
The Holy Week in Sardinia: Household Traditions
If the public ceremonies are so evocative, rich in mystery and symbolism, no less interesting are the small rituals and customs in private homes.
It is tradition, on Holy Thursday, as a sign of penance, to cook and also give to the poor a dish made of fava beans and pork, seasoned with herbs and fresh spices. On Saturday, instead, at the sound of the Gloria, it is customary to strike all things with a cane, to drive away any evil spirits. And throughout Holy Week, the only musical instruments allowed are drums, ratchets, and matracas, awaiting the bells, a symbol of joy, on Easter day.
But the rites of the Holy Week of Iglesias, whose Spanish name literally means churches, do not end here: on the Tuesday after Easter, after the Chapter Mass in the cathedral, the procession of “S’Inserru” takes place, a unique rite characterized by three bows and three greetings, as the statues of the Risen Jesus and the Madonna separate, to be accompanied, respectively, to the Church of San Francesco and that of San Giuseppe. If the public ceremonies are so evocative, rich in mystery and symbolism, no less interesting are the small rituals and customs in private homes.
What to eat and what to do during Holy Week
It is tradition, on Holy Thursday, as a sign of penance, to cook and also give to the poor a dish made of fava beans and pork, seasoned with herbs and fresh spices. On Saturday, instead, at the sound of the Gloria, it is customary to strike all things with a cane, to drive away any evil spirits. And throughout Holy Week, the only musical instruments allowed are drums, ratchets, and matracas, awaiting the bells, a symbol of joy, on Easter day.
