Procesion del Silencio (Procession of Silence) in San Luis Potosi has origins dating back to the 16th century in Spain. The procession in San Luis is typical of the same procession in Seville Spain. The Procession takes place every Good Friday in Holy Week, at 8:00 p.m. sharp. For a lot of people, this is the most touching procession of the whole country; it is performed by the different congregations called Confradias of the region, such as: monaguillos, nazarenitos and macarenas, charros and adelitas; all of them using their typical costumes and proudly holding up images of the church they represent. Some of the penitents were even walking in bare feet & some of the nazarenitos were walking with chains on their feet to represent Christ's suffering. The procession is always performed in absolute silence carrying torches...well almost silent. The procession has drummers drumming in cadence~quite a serious drum line they are & there are cornets played as well by the marchers. I found a site with an excellent video link that show the actual parade, sound & all.
http://www.vimeo.com/clip:2070
The regional costumes & Charro clothing were beautiful.
We were stunned by the amount of people participating in the procession, as well the size of the Religious alters which were heavy & wooden & were sometimes carried by more than 20 men. The Parade had very dramatic elements but very slow by American standards & towards the end Chris was propping himself up & actually sleeping! That boy certainly likes more action packed activities!!
Natalia seemed quite happy with her little foam Ratones John bought her & hanging with the older girls!
1 comment:
despite the slightly strange costume, it was a very interesting event.
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