Holy Week opens in Trapani with the traditional processions of the Madonna dei Massari and the Madonna del Popolo, which take place respectively on Tuesday and Holy Wednesday.
They are two not-so-famous religious events such as the procession of the Mysteries, but which over the years have taken on with tourists, but also with the inhabitants of Trapani who in the past have in some way "snubbed" a certain importance and constitute a prologue to the rites of Good Friday in Trapani.
The Madonna della Pietà, called of the Massari, has quite ancient origins, whose procession was organized by the Congregation of S. Cristoforo, which started the religious procession anciently from the church of S. Rocco and then from the Church of Santo Spirito. The massari, then, were those who took care of carrying it on their shoulders, but in any case they were accustomed to the work of fatigue, since by trade they carried the stuff from one place to another on behalf of the clients.
The Madonna dei Massari is not a simulacrum, but a picture that comes out of the Anime Sante del Purgatorio church at 4.00 pm to walk the streets of the historic center. Towards evening the procession ends in Piazza Lucatelli, where a chapel is set up, in which the Framework for the worship of the faithful is kept all night.
Holy Wednesday is the turn of the procession of the Madonna "Mother Pietà of the People" or simply "Madonna del Popolo" and is much revered by the inhabitants of Trapani, because it is considered the protector of deadly diseases, since in the past the painting was formerly brought before the bedside of the dying man who requested it to have one last comfort before going on to a better life.
Here too there is a painting that is carried in procession and dates back to the end of the seventeenth century and depicts on one side the face of the Madonna where all the ex voto that the people of Trapani offered as a sign of devotion are enclosed to the Madonna during the centuries, while from above there is the face of Christ suffering in a cloth held up by an angel.
The Madonna del Popolo leaves the Anime Sante del Purgatorio Church at 2.30 pm, always following the streets of the historic center to reach the chapel of Piazza Lucatelli in the afternoon, where the Maddona dei Massari had been placed the night before, for the traditional exchange of candles as a sign of friendship and brotherhood.
Towards evening, at about 10.30 pm the Madonna dei Massari re-enters the church of Purgatory, while the Madonna del Popolo continues until late in the evening, when it too falls within the Anime Sante del Purgatorio church.
(texts Giuseppe Puglia)
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COMMENT "PROCESSION OF THE TWO MADONNAS"
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