Bells are ringing

Corpus Cristi (Thursday) is a fiesta in Sevilla, which means everyone gets a day off. I wish we had this in the US- hundreds of people taking to the streets, celebrating their faith. It was wonderful.

The main procession leaves the Cathedral in the morning, around 8:30 or so, and lasts for 2-3 hours. Our class went down to see the end of it, where the procession goes through a big "gate" to an altar, which is set up against the town hall building.

Representatives of the parishes marched with banners and these really long, good smelling, red candles. As they went, the people dripped the wax from the candles onto the road. I wonder if they try to clean that or let it wear off on its own. This was probably the longest part. At various intervals, there were huge statues. They were made in the 1800s. For the procession, they were beautifully decorated with flowers.  Now, you're probably thinking, "Ok, cool. Big statues, lots of flowers. Probably have a few people carrying them on some poles." Wrong. There are people called "costaleros" who carry the statues, but they're underneath them. Yes, the costaleros are underneath the platform, hidden by a sort of curtain. They were dressed all in white and wore turban-like head covering. These connected to a cushion on their shoulders to protect them from the rods, which supported the statues. So basically, you have a bunch of people underneath the platform, doing some serious synchronized walking.

Here's the order of the procession:
1. Santa Justa y Santa Rufina
2. San Isidoro
I missed the first two, but saw all of the following:
3. San Leandro

4. San Fernando III

Insert Municipal Band here.

5. Immaculate Conception

6. Nino (Christ Child)

7. Santa Espina de Cristo (I think this is a relic of the Holy Cross)

Between seven and eight, the seminarians, deacons, and priests walk in procession. Followed by incense.

8. Sagrado Sacramento- The monstrance, if you can call it that, is made entirely of silver; therefore, too heavy for people to carry. Instead, it is on wheels and a couple of the priests push it along.

Following the Blessed Sacrament are various divisions of the Spanish military along with some of the military bands. Somewhere in the mix were little boys in traditional costumes. I think they dance in the Cathedral at some point during the celebrations.

Oh, and the bells rang a lot that day. I wish we had them back home.