Holy Week in the Central Italy region
Of Monica Vignale,
March 28, 2024
Religion and tradition come together in the ritual of Good Friday in Campobasso with the Teco Wish choir, when the statues of the Dead Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows parade through the streets of the capital and around 700 singers, men and women, sing the song written in 1890 by Michele De Nigris on the non-sacred text by Metastasio. The beating heart of the procession, which dates back to 1626, with the pact of concord between Crusaders and Trinitarians, is the church of Santa Maria della Croce, where the symbols of the ritual are preserved: the Calvary with the rooster, the bag of 30 denari Judas, the spear that pierced Jesus’ chest.
A century ago the Teco Spero was sung in church by a choral group of men only, then the master musician Lino Tabasso convinced the ecclesiastical authorities of the indispensability of female participation, rewrote the original score for band and lowered the key by a tone and a half in order to make singing accessible to all, bringing the singers outside the place of worship. Today the sight is impressive: a black human river that vibrates along the streets and alleys of the old area, and also a launch pad for tourism with tens of thousands of visitors.
The “tour of the tombs” on Holy Thursday: the 13 apostles leave the convent of San Giovanni in oriental clothes and sandals, single file and reclining head, to visit the churches, strictly selected in odd numbers. The altars are adorned with flowers, ears of corn, candles, precious fabrics, bread and leaves, while the traders of Campobasso compete to decorate the shop windows. After the pandemic, the Municipality of Campobasso launched a prize course on the most beautiful Easter window display.
One of the most evocative rites of Holy Week in Molise is the procession of the Hooded and the Dead Christ of Isernia, in which men and women participate who wear white tunics, red cords around their waists and hoods so as not to be recognised. The penitents walk barefoot and the various Confraternities of the city, each dressed in a different colour, take part in the sacred representation.
The ‘Passion’ celebrated in Venafro (Isernia) in the Regional Olive Park is historic: an event with unique scenographic characteristics, represented since 1967, which develops through highly effective scenic paintings accompanied by a narrative voice and an engaging soundtrack in the natural theater of centuries-old olive trees. In Santa Croce di Magliano, in the province of Campobasso, a tradition with a high choreographic impact linked to the cult of the Quarantana, with the display in the streets, between heaven and earth, of many flying dolls, Lenten puppets: cloth puppets with the appearance of old ladies, once dressed in black as a sign of mourning and penance, today more colorful, hung from a knotted thread outside the homes starting from Ash Wednesday and until Easter. In many houses in Molise, and in Santa Croce in particular, they are kept inside as a sign of protection.
Moving on to after Easter, the most singular custom is the Termoli picnic, a coastal town in the province of Campobasso, where Easter Monday is actually celebrated on the day following the day, therefore on Tuesday in Albis. The custom commemorates the pilgrimage to the church of Santa Maria SS. Della Vittoria in Valentino, called ‘Madonna along’ because the route to reach her from the village was long, on foot or on carts.
We remember what happened in the year 1566, when Pialì Pascià, commander of the sea army of Sultan Suleiman, landed in Termoli, sowing destruction and death and the population abandoned the town to take refuge in the countryside. Thousands of people went to this little church, which at the time was part of a monastic complex, to refresh themselves before returning to fight. Today it is mainly families and children who crowd the lawns around the sanctuary for picnic lunches and outdoor games.
