Holy Week

Archena, Iberian, Roman, Moorish and Christian, a white village of lime and orange blossom, a village with deep-rooted Christian traditions. It seems that its streets, corners and small squares are designed to have a canopy within their walls, it seems that when the spell of the night spreads its veil over our town, with the scent of orange blossom, the smell of incense and the creaking of the wood of our steps, we are transported to those holy places where the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord took place.

We do not know, for the moment, the events that took place since the Romans abandoned Archena or, at least, Los Baños. We do not know if the Visigoths occupied the space prepared by the Romans, if there was fighting and/or destruction; if they took advantage of the Spa and the surrounding orchard. The most serious silence hangs over the history of the centuries of Visigothic-Byzantine occupation. As is the case with the Arab domination, we do not have to this day any written reference that would allow us to know what the fate of these lands was until well into the 13th century.

We can imagine that the Arabs could have arrived via the Roman roads that connected Archena with Cartagena and the centre of the peninsula after the pact between Abde-ladiz and Teodomiro in 713. Perhaps the Arabs, lovers of the market gardens, were able to use the irrigation system – if it survived – created by the Romans to maintain a privileged market garden on the banks of the Segura. However, the only certainty we have is the existence of a fortress castle, now in ruins, which formed part of a defensive system to protect the site of the Spa, built on Roman foundations in various parts of its urbanisation, as well as enclosing an Argaric settlement within the walled enclosure.

The Murcian territory was surrounded by the inhabitants of Granada, Castile and Aragon, and was in turn divided into arraeces, each of which waged its own war. This situation led Ibn Hud, in February 1243, to offer Infante Alfonso (by delegation of his father Don Fernando) the sovereignty of the kingdom of Murcia and to hand over to Castile “the city of Murcia and all the castles from Alicante to Lorca and Chinchilla”. The Infante accepted the proposal, postponing the final meeting until April in Alcaraz.

On the first of May 1243, the Infante Alfonso entered the city of Murcia, “and the Moors handed over the alcacar to the Infante Alfonso”. The general chronicle continues: “and to take possession of the whole dominion, and that he should wash all the rents of the dominion, except for certain things that had to be returned to Abenhodiel and the other lords of Crevillent and Alicante, and Elche, and Orihuela, and Aledo, and Ricot, and Ciega, and all the other places in the kingdom of Murcia, which were ruled over them. Et desta manera desta guisa apode-raron los moros al Infante don Alfonso, en boz del rey don Fernando, su padre, en todo el reyno de Murcia, ssalvo Lorca, et Cartagena et Muía, que se non quisieron darían ni entrar en la pleytesia que los otros….”.

The name of Archena appears here for the first time in history, as far as written texts are concerned, in an Alphonsine privilege granted in Murcia on 5 July 1243, in which the tenancies of the kingdom’s castles granted to the knights of his host are mentioned: “he gives the tenancy of Archena and three other castles to D. Rodrigo López de Mendoza”.

To carry out the reconquest, the kings were able to count on the effective collaboration of the Military Orders. The help provided by these orders was rewarded with a series of donations in the conquered lands.

The Order of St. John of Jerusalem was the last to appear in Murcian territory, as far as military establishment was concerned, since in the religious order it was ahead of the other Orders, when its Prior Fernán Ruiz obtained the concession of the Church of San Juan, outside the walls of the capital, in 1248.

It seems that the Order of St. John did not participate in the occupation of the kingdom in 1243, nor in the reconquest by James I of Aragon in 1266. However, it was not until the end of the century that the Order decided to resume its activity in this kingdom, motivated by the concession of Calasparra by Sancho IV, on 9th June 1289:

Por facer bien e merced a la Orden del Hospital de San Juan de Jerusalen. E a don Fernant Pérez, grande comendador de lo que a esta Orden sobredicha en España y a los freyles delta también, a los que agora son como los que serán de aquí adelante, dárnos en limosna por Dios e de nuestras animas e de nuestros parientes en remisión de nuestros pecados el nuestro castillo que dicen Calasparra, que es en el reyno de Murcia …

However, the concession of Archena to the Order of St. John by the Infante Don Alfonso took place many years before this date, specifically on 15 June 1244 in Lorca. In the text of the concession we find an explicit reference to the existence of a castle and a villa, something we had no record of until then. The property is given in Consuegra to the Commander of the Order frey Guillen de Mondragon, in the following terms:

“….otorgo a el e a la Horden del Hospital de Ultramar, donde el es freiré, el castillo de Archena con su villa por su villa por heredat, con montes e con fuentes e con pastos, con entradas e con salidas, con todos sus términos e con todas sus pertenencias, así como las avie Archena en tiempo de moros. E dogela desta guisa, que lo aya libre e quito por siempre siempre jamas para vender e cambiar e empeñar, e para fazer dello como de lo suyo”.

Thus the Encomienda of Calasparra was formed with the sub-comienda of Archena, which would remain until the disentailment of the 19th century. Taking advantage of the years of peace that the absence of Moorish incursions produced in the kingdom of Murcia, the Order of St. John, once again demonstrating its pacifist and colonising zeal, anticipated the repopulating and settling tendency that took place in the kingdom during the 15th century, granting Calasparra in 1412-1414, an ordinance and distribution of land.

Archena, as a Moorish aljama, endured a different and much more burdensome legal-administrative regime than that of the encomienda of Calasparra. The ordinance granted on 11 September 1462 by the commander of Calasparra frey Luis de Paz, in accordance with traditional customs, constitutes more of a privilege than a tariff of rights of the Order over its settlers.

The signing of peace in Granada by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492 implied the conquest and subjugation of the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. This opened up hopes of achieving tranquillity after the end of the military border battles. This meant a considerable change in the way of life of the places in the kingdom which, like Archena, had suffered in one way or another from the effects of the war. It is in this perspective that the 16th century is received, which will have a special significance for this town.

The security that was enjoyed was especially noticeable in the countryside, which had previously always been exposed to Muslim raids. The population increased considerably in this century, and new and important areas of barren farmland were ploughed. Archena became a town and a growing urban centre was formed around its mosque throughout the century.

At the beginning of this century, a historical event took place that was to change the life of the Mudejars of Murcia. After the conquest of the kingdom of Granada, the Catholic Monarchs, influenced by Cardinal Cisneros, sought religious unity as an effective complement to their policy of territorial unity. As a result of Cisneros’ demands with the Moors of Granada, the latter rebelled in some places. Once defeated, they were forced to convert to Christianity or leave.

Author: Manuel Enrique Medina Tornero.

An order was given in 1501 to expel from Spain those who did not convert, and although in principle the decision only affected those in Granada, the Mudejar aljamas of the Military Orders, lordships and abbeys of the kingdom of Murcia decided to send Harnat-Ornar, a resident of Pliego, and Mohamed Alufé, a resident of Molina, to the Catholic Monarchs to find out the conditions and assure the King of their submission, thus anticipating the royal order of a general nature, dated 11 February 1502.

The Murcian Mudejars submitted a memorial to the King and Queen with a series of petitions, known from the reply the King and Queen gave in a letter dated 21 September 1501 in Granada.

The Catholic Monarchs accepted the conversion of the Mudejars – henceforth known as Moriscos – and exempted them from paying the exclusive Mudejar taxes: service, half service and the head of the Moorish chest. They were also allowed to continue to wear Moorish clothing for some time, to gradually replace it with Christian clothing. They could use their typical houses. But the Kings did not give an answer to an aspect in which the Church had to intervene (marriages between relatives). Their debts were forgiven; they were to be treated well by the Old Christians, they were to be taught the doctrine and the Inquisition was not to interfere with them until they had been fully indoctrinated.

After their baptism in 1501, the Moriscos acquired the rights and duties of Christians. The town ceased to be governed by the aljama: a group of elders who represented the Mudejar community, with little executive and decision-making power, and limited to ensuring harmony among its members. From now on, the council could be made up of two ordinary mayors and two aldermen.

Author: Manuel Enrique Medina Tornero.

La vida religiosa de la ciudad también estuvo condicionada por la influencia de la Orden. Sabemos que a principios del siglo XVI, la conversión de los mudéjares de Archena supuso, si no la destrucción, al menos la conversión de la mezquita árabe en iglesia parroquial. En 1505, mediante una bula, la Santa Sede autorizó que las antiguas mezquitas se convirtieran o transformaran en iglesias.

Archena, convertida en iglesia parroquial, con pila bautismal, dependía de la vicaría de Calasparra. Al frente de la iglesia había un prior bajo la dependencia orgánica del comendador de la Encomienda.

La iglesia fue construida a finales del siglo XV y principios del siguiente. No hay constancia documental de ello, aunque en el archivo parroquial hay una referencia escrita a un libro de bautismos fechado en 1492, ya desaparecido, que nos hace pensar que la iglesia existía en esa época de finales de siglo.

En 1547, tenemos una primera descripción de la iglesia de una de las visitas de reconocimiento realizadas por la Orden, en la que se menciona la posesión de: “una yglesia de la advocación del señor san Juan”. Pero no es hasta 1567 cuando se hace un inventario de los bienes y enseres de la iglesia, en el que se describen las pocas imágenes que se podían venerar en ese momento:

“un retablo al óleo con once pinturas con adornos dorados; un San Juan Bautista de madera con una cruz de madera dorada con un cordero de plata dorado, más un niño Jesús con un manto de damasco blanco adornado con una trenza de oro, más un tabernáculo de madera con tres figuras de San Juan, San Pedro y San Pablo con adornos dorados; más una imagen de la señora en un pequeño retablo con puertas de madera…”.

Sabemos que la iglesia era una pequeña nave rectangular terminada en cono, con techos muy bajos sostenidos por vigas que debían romperse con frecuencia -según consta en las visitas de la Orden- dejando el techo al descubierto. En 1547 la iglesia contaba con siete bancos para que se sentaran los feligreses y tres asientos para que los ocuparan el comendador o el alcalde cuando asistían a las ceremonias, e incluso para sus sirvientes. El único lujo era una pequeña campana que colgaba del exterior del edificio.

Las condiciones arquitectónicas de la iglesia no eran buenas, ya que continuamente había que realizar obras de mantenimiento, algunas de las más importantes tuvieron lugar en la antigua iglesia en 1620. Las obras más importantes, que supusieron la ampliación de la iglesia, uniendo la antigua con una nueva que se construyó como extensión de la antigua, tuvieron lugar entre 1752 y 1789. Es, en parte, la iglesia que conocemos hoy en día, ya que en el siglo XIX, concretamente en 1819, se realizaron más obras, que se suspendieron por falta de financiación y que se llevaron a cabo hasta 1885, año en que se terminaron. Bueno, esto es un eufemismo, ya que como se sabe, la iglesia quedó inconclusa, a falta de una torre, que algún día se podrá construir.

Gracias a las visitas de inspección que la Orden de San Juan realizó para controlar sus posesiones, incluida la iglesia, hemos podido reconstruir un inventario de las imágenes que se adquirieron para el culto. Al mismo tiempo, nos ha permitido comprobar la existencia de Cofradías y su implantación social.

Ya hemos visto el pobre inventario de 1547 y no fue hasta casi un siglo después, en 1644, cuando descubrimos que se había adquirido para el culto un Cristo Crucificado con una cruz de madera y dos imágenes, una de la Virgen del Rosario y otra de la Virgen del Encanto.

No dispondremos de más información, referida a inventarios, aunque si a las Cofradías y al culto, hasta el nuevo inventario de 1789 que recoge todas la cuentas desde el año 1752 hasta el citado de 1789. En dicho inventario comprobamos que a la vez que la nueva iglesia iba adquiriendo una apariencia más apropiada a las necesidades de los feligreses, éstos realizaban un esfuerzo más, en este caso, ocupándose de mejorar la calidad de las imágenes del templo. A la Virgen del Rosario le restauraron la cabeza y las manos. Se edificaron nuevos altares para la virgen del Rosario, la Encarnación, Jesucristo Crucificado, San Roque y Jesús Nazareno; se restauraron y embellecieron el retablo del altar mayor, en donde se ubicaba el patrón San Juan Bautista.

Se compró una imagen de San Antonio de Pádua en una talla de cuerpo entero, que costó 600 reales; se adquirieron cuadros que representaban el Santísimo Aparecimiento, San Miguel (éste para la sacristía) y Nuestra Señora con el niño en brazos. Se adquirieron las imágenes de la Virgen de los Dolores, ésta a instancia del pueblo y con financiación del Concejo y cuya descripción nos refleja que se trataba de una figura de medio cuerpo, de estatura regular, con una túnica encarnada y un manto azul de melania y atribuida a Salzillo -por la época—o al menos a su taller y la imagen de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno de medio cuerpo, con la cabeza, las manos y el pie de cartón, vestido con una túnica de terciopelo carmesí morado con franja de plata alrededor, dotado de una corona de espinas, cabellera y con las mangas, mangotes, pecheras y cordón al cuello y otro a la cintura de seda morada con nudos y bolas de plata. También es ciertamente probable que esta imagen perteneciese a la escuela salzillesca por las fechas de su adquisición, aunque no hemos encontrado datos en lo inventariado hasta ahora del imaginero, ni de su discípulo Roque López.

Todas las imágenes se adornaron y aderezaron con nuevas ropas y alhajas, adquiridas con el apoyo de las cofradías que pujaban por ver cual de ellas adornaba mejor a su imagen.

Nada de lo aquí relatado hasta ahora existe hoy, desapareció durante la Guerra Civil, tanto el retablo del altar mayor como todas las imágenes barrocas a que nos hemos referido.

Autor: Manuel Enrique Medina Tornero.

The oldest Confraternity of which we are aware is that of the Ánimas. Already in the first account books of the parish – which are very mutilated – we find reference to it, through a transfer of a document from 1516 onwards. The Confraternity of the Incarnation, at least exists since 1619, although it is possible that it was created earlier, as well as the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary and the Confraternity of Jesus Sacramentado which in 1620 was already in charge of visiting the sick and preparing the Holy Monument, and to these would be added that of the Virgin of Sorrows in the middle of the 18th century.

Author: Manuel Enrique Medina Tornero.

Throughout the late medieval centuries during Holy Week, only liturgical acts were celebrated: the Mass, the Divine Offices, Matins or Darkness, the adoration of the Eucharist reserved in the Monuments of the different churches and the veneration and offering of the Cross. However, we can contemplate the appearance of certain extra-liturgical or paraliturgical acts that also take place during these days of the Passion, some have disappeared or have been reconverted, but others maintain all their doctrinal and didactic meaning and flavour. In Archena we find some of them:

The entire representation of the Passion that took place in certain public places, not far from the church. In Archena we know of some that have now disappeared, such as the one mentioned above on Palm Sunday in which the people of Jerusalem were represented. We also know of the staging of the ‘arrest’ which took place in two places: firstly, a ‘garden of Gethsemane’ was reconstructed on the outskirts of the town where the actors began the performance and from there, once Jesus Christ was arrested, he was taken to the Plaza Mayor, where three stages had been set up for Herod, Caiaphas and Pilate. The actors were educated people from the town and it took place on Holy Wednesday at two o’clock in the afternoon. This performance was reported in the press at the time. On other occasions the performance consisted of an adaptation of the Passion according to the Gospel of Saint Matthew and the characters could number more than forty. The “armaos” took part, dressed in their colourful costumes to make the scenes more realistic.

Among the actors were some teachers, pharmacists and the sculptor Enrique Salas.

The sermon of the Mandato took place on the afternoon of Maundy Thursday in a ceremony that followed the mass, in which twelve poor people had their feet washed. Sometimes so many people attended this ceremony that it was necessary to set up a stage in the Plaza del Príncipe (known as the Plaza de Los Molina) to accommodate all the parishioners. It should be noted that at that time this square was not connected to the main street, making it a very valuable venue for celebrations and festivities.

The sermon of the Passion (of the painful encounter of bitterness) took place on Good Friday mornings and has had a great tradition in our Holy Week, being a privilege of the parish priest or invited priest to be able to perform it. Since the “casa grande” was built, it has always taken place on its main balcony, recounting the sorrowful encounter with the images led through different streets until they meet in the main square.

One of the most interesting acts is the sermon during the unnailing and lowering of the body of Jesus from the Cross (an articulated crucifix) and its placement in the tomb, an act with a very long tradition in Archena and whose assistants in the ceremony have passed on the tradition from father to son. In the last century it was normal for a guard of honour to be formed with the “armaos”, the same guard that had been guarding the Santísimo in the Monument.

Author: Manuel Enrique Medina Tornero.

From the beginning of the 15th century we know of the existence of Holy Week in Archena through two events documented in the archives: the celebration of Lent, in which the services of a preacher were always hired to nourish the religious faith of the parishioners, and the celebration of the Palm Sunday procession, which was carried out through the few streets of the town, with palms paid for by the municipal council.

On the other hand, the Council of Trent, which was held between 1545 and 1563, recommended the public station, explaining the need and advantages derived from the worship of the images, true effigies of Jesus and his mother, proposing that these images should go out into the street so that those who did not wish to enter the church, on meeting them in the street, would think of the moment of the Passion of Christ that the images represent. Its developing legislation attempted to control the representation of the Passion by means of regulations that the hierarchy had to sanction. Attempts were made to ensure this control through provisions relating to the decorum of images and processions, using penalties including excommunication.

At some point in this century, the Holy Thursday procession was incorporated into Holy Week, in which the penitents went through the Stations of the Cross (the steps of Calvary, a name that has remained in the streets of Archena for 500 years), flagellating themselves and carrying heavy crosses, some of them kneeling on their knees on the cobbled and dirt streets; With such devotion and impetus the punishments were inflicted that the Council previously contracted with the wine and brandy supplier to spray the streets where the procession took place with wine. Once the procession was over, the “labatorio” took place in the church atrium, where the penitents’ wounds were cured with wine and then they were invited to a refreshment consisting of rolls of wine, brandy and wine (in 1655, for example, the refreshment, always contracted with a neighbour, was specified with the precision that the rolls had to be made with a pound of sugar, two arrobas of wine, half an azumbre of brandy and three dozen eggs).

We believe that the tradition of the Maundy Thursday procession intensified in its penitential manifestations – even beyond Holy Week – when at the beginning of the 17th century, specifically in September 1609, the decision was taken to expel the Moors from Spain, with those of the Ricote Valley being the last to leave the country. These Christian converts carried out countless manifestations of religious fervour, parading in acts of penitence as a way of demonstrating their Christian faith, as reflected in the chronicle of Fray Juan de Pereda, who was sent to the valley to see the problem at first hand and described it in an impressed manner: “they carried out many processions of penitents in which young men in white tunics, with their feet bare, their hair loose and their faces veiled, carried heavy crosses and kept long vigils in the churches” …..

Although we do not have graphic testimonies of the penitential processions, we do know that there were two categories of people who paraded, commonly called blood brothers and brothers of light (or alumbrantes). The brothers of blood were the disciplinantes who, during the procession, flagellated themselves with bunches of ropes ending in rodezuelas. The latter carried wax axes and at the end of the procession they cured the wounds of their brothers in the aforementioned lavatory. Women took part in the procession, not as disciplinantes, as it would have been improper for a woman to show her bare back, but carrying lighted candles in front of or behind the images, in the case of our town, during the 16th and 17th centuries only behind the Crucified Christ, who first paraded with a naked cross or wrapped in a shroud and then, from 1644 onwards, at least, with a Crucified Christ. We know this because the church only conserved the platforms (parihuelas) of two images, that of Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of the town and titular image of the parish, and those of the Crucified Christ. The disciplinantes and the brothers of light wore a coarse linen tunic with strings and some kind of capirote (hood).

The procession took place on Maundy Thursday afternoon from the church to Calvary. The procession was opened by a guide cross, which was made of silver with a wooden handle, carried by the “sacristan” or someone who was hired to help him in these tasks during these days, followed by the penitents and the brothers of light, then the “paso del Crucificado” followed by the women and closing the procession was the ecclesiastical authority. It is difficult to imagine that there was music in our town accompanying the image due to the small population of Archena (at the end of the century, in 1697, there were only 33 residents, or 132 inhabitants) and the poverty of the town. The council only participated by paying for the Lenten preacher, the Palm Sunday palms and what was necessary for the washing.

In the following century, until 1744, there were no changes in Holy Week, motivated by the birth of a new Brotherhood for processions (possibly created earlier) and it makes sense since Archena began in this century an economic and demographic boom that undoubtedly had its endorsement in the coffers of the church and proof of this are the building works of the same that we have already mentioned. The suppression of the disciplinantes by Charles III in 1777 is also relevant and had an impact on the organisation of the procession. The monarch’s enlightened mentality was repulsed by the bloody spectacle of the flagellants, which in his eyes appeared more like a medieval atavism than a sign of public penitence. The suppression of this figure resulted, in my opinion, in the birth of the “Nazarenes” as we understand them today, and it can be affirmed that the current forms of processions and the functioning of the brotherhoods began to take shape at the end of the 18th century.

As we have also pointed out and as is well known, in an atmosphere of Marian fervour that swept through Spain in the final years of this century, the town requested that an image of the Virgen de los Dolores be acquired and placed in the church, a request that was echoed by the council:

“Gathered in Cabildo, to deal with and confer on things touching and pertaining to the service of God Our Lord, the good, usefulness, Christian zeal and splendour of this town, they said that for many years the residents of this town have had a strong desire to have an image of Mary Most Holy with the vocation of the Sorrows, as the Parish Church does not have one, nor funds for its factory… and with the aim that devotion will increase. They agreed that it should be made at the expense and expense of the Own and Income of this town, releasing for now 200 reales…. “

Therefore, towards the end of the 18th century the procession already had three “pasos” and its organisation was the same as in all the places of reference in the nearby villages: after the parish guide cross the Nazarene processed, behind it the Crucified Christ and the Dolorosa closed the procession and once again we refer to the existence of the platforms of these images which were kept in the back room of the church as proof that they were the only ones that were taken out in procession together with the patron saint, St. John the Baptist.

We believe that it was towards the end of this century when the Good Friday processions began, first in the morning and years later the procession of the Holy Burial on Good Friday in the evening was established.

Author: Manuel Enrique Medina Tornero.

Throughout the 19th century a series of political circumstances had a direct impact on the celebration of Holy Week, with the parades being suspended on several occasions: sometimes due to the French presence and events arising from the War of Independence (1808-1814); other times, due to the inconveniences that the disentailment processes were producing in the Order of St. John; the events of the Revolutionary Sexenio and the promulgation of the. In any case, what we have been able to verify is the Council’s willingness throughout this century to collaborate and make available the funds foreseen for the organisation of the Holy Week events for which it was responsible.

Towards the second half of the 19th century, new tendencies in the external configuration of the Cofradías pasionales were noticed. This was already the time of Romanticism, which, with its exaltation of the popular and genuine, emphasised the ornamental and ornamental value of the images. At the same time, in Archena, and due to the important commercial presence of the Spa, Holy Week began to be conceived from a utilitarian and commercial point of view: the processions and other representations attracted bathers and this was reflected in the publicity during these festive days.

At the end of this century, in the halls of the Casino del Balneario and in its gardens, charity galas were held to raise funds that were used both for charitable works and to cover certain expenses of the Easter Week Brotherhoods. Particularly noteworthy were the galas prepared by the wives of some of the politicians of the time, and those promoted by the “Daughters of Mary” were very popular.

Throughout the first third of the 20th century, we can still find this type of soirées which almost always consisted of the performance of some fashionable singers, especially lyricists, as well as the representation of plays. Sometimes the actors were local amateurs who prepared a play to be performed in the Carrillo hall, later the Iniesta Cinema – today a cultural centre – and in the now disappeared Viciana cinema-theatre in Calle Francisco Caravaca, of which we have sufficient evidence.

In this century the great changes in our Holy Week took place. The number of processions was consolidated (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday morning and evening) and the Easter Sunday procession was added, which until then had only consisted of a religious celebration. In this procession, gunpowder – used by the citizens in their celebrations and often forbidden – is used and castles are fired… at the end of the procession, in the glorious meeting. The dawn – after the mass of glory – became a public order problem in Archena, as the tradition consisted of throwing all kinds of objects and water at passers-by through the windows… and the authorities had to enact banns, tempering the effects of this old tradition.

At the end of this century there was a change in the organisation of the brotherhoods. The Cross known today as the Cross of the Mirrors appeared, under the name of the Cross of the Redemption. It was a large wooden cross that was used as a guide cross and opened all the processions accompanied by Nazarenes in white tailed tunics, the only ones to parade with this type of tunic.

Also, in the last third of the 19th century, the Brotherhood of St. John the Evangelist must have been created, as we have found evidence that the image of St. John was carried in procession accompanied by Nazarenes in green tunics. The only Brotherhoods that did not have nazarenes were that of the Santísimo Crucificado, accompanied by penitents, and the Dolorosa, accompanied by “las Hijas de María” (the Daughters of Mary), in black dress and some with white robes.

One of the essential elements in this century in the new organisation of the processions was the presence of music. Archena had to resort to hiring the services of small bands from other towns, until an enthusiastic group created the first band, which performed for the first time in 1860, and in 1880 a set of regulations was drawn up and approved by the municipal corporation, and the band was renamed the Municipal Band of Music. With ups and downs, with some controversial absences, with difficult periods that almost caused its dissolution, but the presence of the municipal band was always and continues to be one of the attractions of the processions.

In the last quarter of the century, the Roman centuria appeared, known since then as “los armaos”. We know that before its constitution, the services of a centuria from the Ricote Valley were hired. At the beginning, the “armaos” were only a third of soldiers, more similar to the Flanders tercios than to the Romans of the time of Jesus Christ, with large feather plumes and other types of clothing. At the end of the century they began to organise a group of drummers and buglers. They were the great attraction of Holy Week, being highly appreciated for their martial way of marching and, in particular, they were admired in the performance of “the points” in the Good Friday morning procession in the Stations of the Cross. We must also highlight the way in which they guarded the Monument, in pairs and taking turns during the whole time the Blessed Sacrament was exposed. The “armaos” had the custom, once the Good Friday procession was over, of going in formation to the cemetery to honour the deceased “armaos”. The initial parade in perfect formation from the bridge to the church, before the beginning of the processions, was also very celebrated, being the signal for the start of the processions, recreated with magnificent drum rolls.

Author: Manuel Enrique Medina Tornero.

Holy Week underwent hardly any changes compared to the last third of the previous century. In other words, the same brotherhoods and the same processions were maintained: the Cross, Christ Crucified (which would cease to parade and would only be used for the uncloaking and therefore for the procession of the burial on Good Friday night), inside the Holy Sepulchre, the Nazarene, Saint John behind which the “armaos” went in the procession on Holy Thursday and then paraded behind the Nazarene on Good Friday morning and the Dolorosa which closed the procession accompanied by the Band of Music.

In this first stage, we can highlight some performances that define a new Holy Week, introducing some changes. On Palm Sunday, before the procession of the Palamas, a theatrical performance is held. On the road leading to the bridge a Jerusalem garden was recreated with palms and olive trees and there “the Lord and his twelve apostles” were received by the faithful who gathered at eight o’clock in the morning and accompanied the procession with palms and olive trees, They were accompanied by songs (a choir of boys and girls from the schools sang alleluias and a “hosanna to the God of Israel”) accompanied by the music band, and so they made their way through several streets to the church where the mass and the blessing of the palms took place.

In the Maundy Thursday procession (now disappeared and changed to Holy Wednesday) we discovered the presence of four “armaos” on horseback who opened the procession and, in 1902, the name of Hermandad de la Cruz (Brotherhood of the Cross) appeared.

We also discovered that the procession was closed by a group of armed cavalry from the Military Residence. In 1907 the procession of the Amargura on Good Friday night of all the images paraded accompanied by choirs.

In later years, from 1915 onwards, the soldiers of the Military Residence joined the procession accompanying the Holy Sepulchre in the Good Friday night procession.

In 1928, during Holy Week, the electric lighting of the streets through which the processions had to pass was introduced for the first time.

Some of the most outstanding and constant complaints during these years, which could also be found in previous years, were the state of the streets, and the town council was always asked to water them to reduce the dust, to clean them and to plaster the façades of the houses along the processional route.

The civil war

In 1936, all the political parties agreed that the processions should take place and they were held as usual, even increasing the number of Nazarenes in the ranks of the brotherhoods. Due to the war, the processions were suspended and were not held until 1940. As is well known, all the images that were in procession and that were in the church were destroyed, only the cross was saved, but it was in very bad condition and had to be repaired.

The post-war reaction, 1940-1970

As many of you are already familiar with this more recent history, you will allow me to give just a few brief details about the Confraternities of this period.

The Crucified Christ that was in the church disappeared and a similar one was commissioned to Enrique Salas, which is the one that is preserved in the church and is used for the procession and parades as the image of the Brotherhood of the Christ of Mount Calvary, constituted in 1960…

The Brotherhood of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno commissioned an image of the Nazarene from Enrique Salas after the war, which must have been very “unsuitable” according to the criticisms received. Nevertheless, the image was paraded during Holy Week in 1940. In 1944 the current image of the Nazarene, made by Juan Carrillo and blessed on Palm Sunday, was unveiled and presided over the procession of that day from the now disappeared convent of the Consolation nuns, where it was received, to the church.

In 1949, the Town Hall, when Mr. José Sánchez Banegas was Mayor, donated the throne of the Sepulchre, which has always been known as “La Cama” (The Bed), the work of Carrión. It was an artistic coffin closed with a glass urn – which has since been removed – and endowed with four angels at the corners and another larger angel that crowns the sepulchre.

The image of the Dolorosa, an invaluable loss of Murcian Baroque, was replaced by a “provisional” image of another Dolorosa, donated in September 1939 by Lieutenant Colonel Salvador Montoro, which would be used in the 1940 procession. However, in 1942, an image was acquired from the sculptor González Moreno, perhaps the one who best knew how to copy the Salzillesque style of the Sorrows, which would be carried in the procession that year. But it would not be until 1965 when the Brotherhood was created and the procession was carried out in light blue tunics.

The Brotherhood of the Cross of the Mirrors, although it did not completely lose the “image”, it was damaged as they managed to hide it, according to different sources, in the barn of Francisco “El Parras” in the main street, using it as a hut. José “de Matías” and Enrique Salas fixed it up and it was paraded in this way from 1940 onwards, after which it has undergone the adaptations that have been deemed necessary. This Brotherhood was the only one that paraded carrying a horn, which for a long time pushed the well-known “perolé”.

After the destruction of the image, the Brotherhood of San Juan did not have another one until 1943, when the employees of Molinos del Segura paid for it, which was blessed on Palm Sunday of that year in the Fábrica de la luz and from there it was taken in procession to the church. This plaster and cardboard base image was replaced by the current one by the Murcian sculptor Juan Lorente in 1960. During these years a few “greens” went out in the procession behind the banner of the Brotherhood until they had the image.

In 1941 Don Pascual Ayala López gave the parish an image of the Santísima Virgen de la Piedad (by an unknown author) which, after the blessing in the benefactor’s house in the Providencia neighbourhood, was carried in procession to the church on 15th July. The following year it was paraded in the processions, although without nazarenes. In 1950 the Brotherhood was created, in 1962 this Brotherhood was taken over by the Brotherhood of the Christ of Forgiveness and in 1965 it was released for the first time.
Cristo del Perdón, and in 1965 the first blue and white tunics were unveiled.

In 1943 the Brotherhood of the Veronica and the Christ of the Precious Blood was created, parading for the first time with “La Veronica” (a gift from the Duke of Huele) by an anonymous author, with red tunics and a white cloak. In 1960 the “Cristo de la Sangre” (Christ of the Blood) by Juan Hernández and later in 1968 “la Samaritana” by Juan Lorente were added to the brotherhood.

The Brotherhood of the Holy Christ of Forgiveness was born in 1947. Its origin was in a meeting held in the house of the Elder Brother of the Brotherhood of Nuestro Padre Jesús in February of that year. There, the idea arose of making black tunics and forming a third of luminants to go out in the Holy Thursday procession with the image of the Crucified Christ by Enrique Salas which is venerated in the parish church. Together with this image, the image of Our Lady of Sorrows was added, donated by Montero, painting it with a black mantle. As the image of Christ is used for the unbinding ceremony on the afternoon of Good Friday, it could not take part in the processional parade on the night of Good Friday. For this reason, Mr. José Pérez had the idea of asking the Balneario for the image of Christ Crucified, which is venerated in its chapel and which is also the work of Enrique Salas, thus being incorporated into the Holy Week of Archena. In 1950 an image of the Virgen de los Dolores and an 80 cm. high San Juan were bought, both matching the Santo Cristo del Balneario, to complete the scene of the Calvary.

In 1958 they would incorporate the “Christ tied to the column”, a work by Juan Carrillo from Cieza, to which later other figures representing the “sayones”, made by Juan Lorente, would be added. This paso would be joined in 1987 by the “La oración del huerto” by José Hernández Navarro and the Virgen de la Soledad by the same artist.

Popular religiosity, 1980 onwards

After a certain lack of interest in Holy Week, there was a revival of popular religiosity, resulting in a significant increase in the number of brotherhoods throughout Spain and also in Archena.

In February 1955, the Cabildo Sindical de la Hermandad de Labradores (Union Council of the Brotherhood of Farmers) undertook the commitment to organise a procession of Our Risen Lord and the purchase of a throne for this procession, an agreement that was followed with great enthusiasm by all the farmers in the town, a tradition that is still followed with great fervour.

On 5 April 1987, the Brotherhood of the Risen Christ, the patron saint of the Easter Sunday procession, which has always been linked to the now defunct Union Brotherhood of Farmers and Stockbreeders, was founded. When there was no image of the Risen Christ, the procession was carried out with the image of the “Corazón de Jesús” (Heart of Jesus).

The Brotherhood of the Holy Christ of the Great Power was founded on 15th May 1988 and its statutes were approved by the Bishopric on 13th February 1989.

The following images form part of this brotherhood: El Cristo del Gran Poder, which is its titular image, carved by the sculptor Carmen Carrillo in 1988, and represents the fall of Christ on his way to Calvary. The other image is of Mary Magdalene, the work of the sculptor Francisco Liza in 1988. In 1995 the Descent of Jesus, the work of Carmen Carrillo, was added to the parades.

The Brotherhood of the Christ of the Agony and Mary Magdalene was created in 1994 and paraded for the first time in 1995. The “Cristo de la Agonía” is a set of three images with Christ at the moment of the crucifixion and two “sayones”, one of them nailing his feet and the other with a rope hoisting the cross. It is an image by Carmen Carrillo, and the image of Mary Magdalene is also part of it.

In 1991 the Brotherhood of the Cross was joined by the image of St. Peter, the work of José Hernández, which this year gives life to the beautiful Holy Week poster.

In 1987, the Brotherhood of the Cristo del Perdón incorporated a carving of the Oración del Huerto by José Hernández Navarro, and a year later, an image of the Soledad by the same sculptor.

From 1993 onwards, the Santa Cena (Holy Supper), a work by José Hernández Navarro, which belongs to the Cofradía de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno (Brotherhood of Our Father Jesus of Nazareth), is carried in procession.

The last Brotherhood to be constituted has been that of Las Ánimas, canonically erected in 2002, it takes part in the procession at dawn on Holy Saturday with an image by the sculptor José Hernández Navarro.

Author: Manuel Enrique Medina Tornero.

With the passing of time, some customs have disappeared, sometimes abruptly and sometimes because times evolve and undergo processes of change. One of the most typical is the rattle. Rattles, together with rattles, tablets, simandras and other “noisemakers”, were mainly used during the disappeared office of the Darkness, when the liturgy indicated that the faithful should make “a little noise”. Although parishes, confraternities and other entities had their own for the officiants of the ceremony, the attendants brought their own rattle or rattle from home for the occasion.

Indeed, many still remember how the large rattles and rattles installed in towers and belfries had as their main function to replace the bells in their language of hours and warnings during the days of the sacred triduum, specifically from the ninth hour of Holy Thursday until three in the afternoon on Saturday. To the question “-Why are the bells not rung on the three days of Holy Week?”, the answer is “-Because the bells are symbols of the Prelates, Shepherds and Evangelical Preachers, and they all ceased and became silent, fleeing in their Most Holy Passion on those three days that Christ our Lord was in the Sepulchre”. Thus, during the time of the Passion, the bells were to be silent and only the “logs were to speak”, in remembrance of the tree of the cross where Christ died, the only messenger of faith at that time. Our poet Vicente Medina recounts this in his famous poem “Passion and Death”.

The Lord is dead, the bells no longer toll
Maundy Thursday the bells
until Saturday of Glory
when they ring them again.
In their place, the faithful
are called to the church
ringing in the corners
and in the tower, the matraca.
There are two kinds of rattles;
the one that is played in the streets…

The pilgrimage to the Ope

The pilgrimage to the Ope to celebrate the Easter of Resurrection and to place a wooden cross, wrapped in a canvas and a flag, was a celebration of a deep-rooted tradition, of which today only the pilgrimage remains as a vestige: the day of the “mona”.

The “auroras” and the “cuadrilla de ánimas

The origin of the Hermandad de Ánimas is linked to the preaching of the Franciscans and Carmelites who spread the belief in Purgatory, favouring the genesis of the brotherhoods of the Blessed Souls, represented by the Virgin of Carmen. A specific feature is its strong emphasis on social assistance, especially in everything related to funerary acts, inscribed in the apogee of the cult of death, so present in Spanish society from the 16th to the 18th centuries. In Archena, the work of the ancient Brotherhood of the Souls (1516) included the relief of the sick and the care of those who died and had nowhere to be buried….. Vicente Medina at the end of the 19th century tells us that his father belonged to a group of Auroras, forming part of a “cuadrilla de Ánimas” that sang carols accompanied by the guitar, with uncle Bartolo, “el ciego”, who also played the guitar and the violin, uncle Alubias, uncle Peña and Blas Baeza. This group of singers accompanied the Hermandad de las Ánimas through the huerta and the village when they made their processions. They were presided over by a banner which was an oil painted canvas with a red velvet frame and fringes. On the canvas was a Virgin of Mount Carmel whose feet were ablaze with flames, an old man, a young man and a beautiful woman. The gang went from door to door ringing motifs from the Rosary of the Dawn and ringing bells incessantly. The neighbours would give money, barley or corn, turkeys, coconuts, whatever they could, which the Brotherhood would then auction off to raise money for the poor. The chants of passion that can still be heard on Maundy Thursday in the Plaza de Santo Domingo are very heartfelt:

“Thursday night it was,
when Christ in love,
“of Love his breast was burning,
wanted to give us to eat
his sacramentalised body…”.

Among the verses that tell the dramatic story, there are the poignant expressions that reflect the mood of singers and listeners:

“Already he goes with the cross on his shoulders
Christ our Redeemer
to carry, oh, sorrow!
on his back the sins of the sinner
the sins of the sinner…

In so sad a misfortune
He will find no other consolation
than to find full of sorrow
his Mother, light of heaven!
in the street of Amargura…

O sorrowful Mary
sorrowful mother, in your affliction,
give me light so that I may tell
the sorrow that your afflicted heart
your afflicted heart…”!

And now it is necessary for the proclamation to refer, albeit briefly, to the artists who have put their inspiration and their hands at the service of the scenes of the Passion, all of them from Murcia and consummate masters of religious imagery. Suffice it to mention among the sculptors are Enrique Salas, González Moreno, Juan Carillo, Manuel Juan Carrillo, Mari Carmen Carrillo, José Hernández Navarro, Juan Lorente and Francisco Liza ….. They not only carve the images of the Passion scenes, but also stamp them with a special stamp, characterised by their attitudes, gestures, looks, gestures and other qualities, helping them to carry the graphic messages that they transmit.

And as García Lorca said in his first proclamation in Granada in 1936, “the validity of Holy Week is the very life of man, who every day is betrayed, denied, pierced, wounded, deceived, beaten, dragged by word and deed and then crucified…”.

But Holy Week in Archena is not only a parade of processions, it is also a feast for the senses: a feast for the eyes that experience an apotheosis of colour when they see those slow rows of black, white or purple capirotes, or the soft fluttering of the red or white capes. This apotheosis of colour that becomes an intense red in the capes of the armaos, that becomes shining bronze in the armour, or becomes a rainbow in the multicoloured fan of their embroidery and plumes. The colour of our Holy Week is a colour of contained emotion, that colour that gives us our sky and the orchard that made this town great. The colours of the Brotherhoods are a symbol of what each one represents, and they respond to the chromatic range of Murcian nature. Seven colours give singularity to the Archena Brotherhoods in harmony with the environment, when in reality the passionate symbolism would only admit three: purple, black and white, corresponding to passion-suffering, death and resurrection.

Easter Week also enters through the ear, because in addition to the sound of its horns and the music of its bands, in addition to its bugles and drums, its horns, its trombones, its oboes and its flutes, there is other music that vibrates in the staves of these evenings in March or April.

Our Holy Week has a smell of its own: it is the typical smell of the ovens in which the Easter cakes were baked – nowadays they are made less and less – which at this time of year filled the pantries and cupboards, and which in the past smelled of flour and wood from the old ovens; it also has the smell of orange blossom and many other flowers from the pasos, the smell of wax from the processions and the smell of incense from the churches?

Easter Week in Archena also pays tribute to the sense of taste, because there are sensations that go directly to the palate. The taste of golden, spongy monkey, crowned with hard-boiled eggs, tender broad beans that crackle when you bite into them, vigil meals, wheat and cod stews and above all paparajotes. The procession tastes to us archeneros like a snack in the street, keeping the chairs and waiting impatiently for the rumour of the drums. Our Holy Week tastes of sweets, some wrapped in verses, which slowly melt in the mouth leaving an aftertaste of lost childhood: aniseed, lemon, mint, strawberry and orange.

And, finally, the fifth and last of the senses with which Holy Week can be perceived is that of touch. That touch of the always open hand with which this town welcomes all the strangers or countrymen who, at this time of year, arrive from other places. And it is there, in this gesture of shaking hands with old neighbours, relatives or old friends, that these festivities take on their most endearing, authentic and supportive dimension.

A town is made of the hands that work it, of the footsteps that walk its streets, of the hustle and bustle of its festivals; but it is also made of memory. A village is the everyday reality, but it is also an old map full of memories. A village is all those people who leave their homes every morning to face life, but it is also that metal, now cold and silent, of its dead. A village is its houses, its streets, its squares, its taverns; but the real village, the one you always take with you everywhere because it is inside you, is that of your childhood.

The people who do not remember their roots are dead, not everything is concrete and wellbeing, human beings need to cultivate their beliefs in order to continue loving. Woe betide anyone who has nothing to remember.

Author: Manuel Enrique Medina Tornero.