Visits on the eve of Holy Week

Weekend shopping done and sermon written for tomorrow, more concise, half my usual length, since Palm Sunday liturgy tends to be longer than usual due to the procession and the dialogue Passion reading. I believe nethertheless that it's necessary to ofter some interpretation of what we're about for those less than familiar with Holy Week tradition. One cannot any longer take for granted that visitors will know anything of what we're about. Tomorrow there's a lunchtime concert by a visiting school orchestral group from Sandwich in Kent, and they'll be attending worship beforehand. If we finish by 12.15, this will give them enough time to set up, and for concert goers to arrive.

Late afternoon I walked through Old Town streets, noting that refreshment stall holders are setting up for business, selling drinks, ice creams, roasted sugared almonds and other sweets. Some of the casas cofradias were open as well as churches, and visitors were pouring in to look around. I went to the very imposing one built in Perchel in the 1990s opposite El Corte Ingles, which was classified as a Minor Basilica by Pope John Paul II, dedicated to the Sweet Name of Jesus of Nazareth of the paso and Our Lady of Hope. The hall housing two huge gold gilded tronas with Jesus carrying his cross on one, and Mary with long embroidered mantle is vast and has a fresco covered ceiling painted by a contemporary artist. Simply breathtaking.

Then I went over to the Parish Church of St Pedro Apostol on the other side of El Corte Ingles across the broad multi-lane highway, and found for the first time it was open, with about fifty people saying the Rosary together before Mass. It wasn't really possible to look around or take photos, so I didn't stop long, but walked back to the other side to visit San Domingo Parish Church, which was open and getting ready for Mass. There were many people there, looking at the tronas prepared for the coming week, if not coming for Mass. I then crossed over the rio Guadalmedina and made for the Parish Church of St John the Baptist, whose bells were ringing, and arrived there just in time to join in the first Mass of Palm Sunday.

No palm crosses were distributed, and there was no entry procession either. The church was quite full, including the standing area at the back. The side aisles and chancel were occupied by tronas to be taken in procession, starting tomorrow after the main Mass of the day. This time the priest who celebrated spoke Castilian Spanish at a measured pace, which made it not only easy to follow the service, but also to understand most of St Mark's Passion, and his brief homily. This I found very moving, also rewarding after putting much effort into learning Spanish out of context over the past five years. 

There's something special about getting to the point where you can hear and receive the Gospel in another language. It happened to me in French when we were in Switzerland. Shamefully, I still struggle for this to happen in Welsh, where my understanding is still terribly partial, despite it being the mother tongue of my homeland. I'm looking forward to the week ahead, in which the Gospel story will be told in dramatic three dimensional representations on the city streets, another kind of translation altogether.