report by Silvia De Domenico
MESSINA – Every year faith and tradition are renewed. The Barette procession, which brings the passion of Christ through the streets of Messina, is highly anticipated in the city. But what do the 11 statuary bodies that are carried on the shoulders of around 200 volunteers say? We asked one of the brothers of the Confraternity of the “SS. Crucifix Rediscovered”, Domenico Conforto. He is our guide inside the Nuovo Oratorio della Pace church in Via XXIV Maggio, also known as the “Chiesa delle Barette”.
Keepers and beaters from generation to generation
From the last supper to the tomb we tell the story and curiosities of 11 statues representing the Via crucis. Some are in solid wood, others in papier-mâché, others are mixed, all are works of art bound and protected by the Superintendence. Each one is entrusted to a family that passes it down from generation to generation. Usually the keepers of the bar are also the beaters, sons of beaters, grandchildren of beaters. Like Salvatore Velardo, who has been beating the baretta dell’Addolorata for 20 years. And before him his father and before that his grandfather. “We have cared for and looked after them with pride all our lives. It is the tradition of our city but also of our families,” he says.
Procession live on Tempostretto from 6pm
Today, Good Friday, the procession will leave at 6pm from the Nuovo Oratorio della Pace church in Via XXIV Maggio to cross the centre, accompanied by seven bands and the characteristic figures of the Biancuzze and the Babbaluci. The route is the same every year: Corso Cavour, Via Tommaso Cannizzaro up to Piazza Cairoli, Via Garibaldi (mountain side), Via I Settembre and arrival in Piazza Duomo for the blessing of the Archbishop of Messina. And finally the return to the church through the historic one ‘nchianata in via Oratorio San Francesco. Tempostretto will follow the highlights of the procession live.
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