OF REGIONAL TOURISTIC AND CULTURAL INTEREST
As in all of the Peninsula, Holy Week in Sahagún is a particularly intense experience. The fervor of the celebration starts on the Sunday before Palm Sunday, known as “Domingo Tortillero”, when the right to carry the figures in the procession is auctioned in the Brotherhood of Jesus the Nazarene.
PROCESSION OF THE PALMS OR BRANCHES
This procession takes place on Palm Sunday and like all other Holy Week processions, is always very popular and crowded, with the presence of many children. Branches and palms are carried to remember when Jesus entered Jerusalem. However, the traditional figure of Jesus being carried into Jerusalem is not seen in Sahagún.
Fervor Religioso
HOLY WEEK PROCESSION
This is the day of the Christian festival par excellence, the sepulchral silence following the processions being the most evident sign of respect for Good Friday (Death of Christ). The procession starts at San Lorenzo parish church at approximately 5.00 pm. It covers the main streets of the town and finishes just after dusk. Along the way, the following figures can be admired:
The Agony in the Garden
Solitude
Christ bearing the Cross
Ecce Homo
Our Lady of Bitterness
During the procession there is a very emotive and silent atmosphere, lit only by the flicker of the streetlights, eloquent witnesses to the devotion and intensity of the procession.
Moments later, the figure of The Saviour is put in place and an overnight vigil is held whilst volunteers ring the church bell twelve times at regular intervals all night.
After the processions, members of the brotherhoods offer the public bread dipped in liquor.
GOOD FRIDAY PROCESSION
When dawn breaks on Good Friday, we are the privileged witnesses to a popular tradition, “La Isa”, which consists of the young men lifting a person who is not from the town and pushing open the doors of the chapel with their feet. The figures are then put away in eager anticipation of the start of the liturgical acts.
Once the Abbot, priest and authorities are ready, the procession begins. The figures appear in this order “Jesus carrying the Cross”, “Jesus in Golgotha” (Majito Barreno), “The Three Marys”, “The Horse of Longinos”, “The Descent”.
Due to the duration and difficulty of the procession, the bearers of the figures are given bread dipped in wine or liquor, known as the Bread of Jesus. This originated in an ancestral act of charity during which food was distributed amongst the needy after the procession.
THE BROTHERHOODS OF SAHAGÚN
Although there is only one brotherhood in Sahagún, Jesus of Nazareth, it is not detract from the importance of Holy Week in the history of the town. This can be seen in the list of brotherhoods that have existed so far:
Brotherhoods that no longer exist:
Iglesia de San Tirso:
Vera Cruz
Santísimo
de las Ánimas
Iglesia de San:
Jesús Nazareno
el Santísimo
Santa Ana
Iglesia de Santiago (hoy desaparecida)
San Andrés
Santísimo
Hermandad de los Doce
Vírgen de la Romana
Iglesia de la Trinidad:
Santísimo
Del Rosario
San Andrés
Nuestra Señora:
Cofradía del Santísimo
San Pedro de las Majadas
Nuestra Señora del Valle
Iglesia de Santa Marina:
Santa Marina
San Juan de Sahagún:
Cofradías de San Juan de Sahagún
Peregrina:
Cofradía de la Peregrina
San Tirso:
La Vera Cruz
Currently, only the Jesus of Nazareth Brotherhood still exists. The brotherhood was recorded in 1652 and according to a decree of Pope Inocencio X, the chapel of Jesus was built in the XVII. It is now the seat of the present brotherhood attached to the Mudéjar-style temple of San Lorenzo and whose statues were last reviewed in 1986.
Holy Week in Sahagún was recognised as a Regional Touristic Interest Asset on 17th December, 2007, and since then, has become a reference for people who wish to participate in this time of devotion and meditation according to the tradition of the town.