This week, starting on Maundy Thursday and again on Good Friday, many villages in Gozo commemorate the Passion of Christ by an organised and very solemn procession of statues.

The Solemn Commemoration of the Passion and death of the Lord takes place around three o’clock in the afternoon so that the faithful grasp the significance of living moment by moment the most important times of the Mystery of our Salvation, the Church said.

The significance of this event is emphasised by the darkness in the church, the lack of use of musical instruments, the silence, and the dramatic gestures used almost only during this Liturgical Action.

Only on Good Friday, after the Liturgical Action, the Church said that the faithful are encouraged to genuflect before the cross as the means on which the Lord brought to us salvation.

The Passion procession is normally accompanied by the band performing funeral marches, and includes hundreds of volunteers that take part.

Each of the statues represents a particular episode in the Passion of the Christ and is carried by pallbearers.

Between one statue and another (some ten in all) participants are dressed as biblical characters who take part in the procession in a dignified manner.

Many processions include men in penitence wearing hoods and bearing a cross, or sometimes dragging chains which are tied to their bare ankles and feet.

Good Friday procession in Gozo taking place on Maundy Thursday :

St George’s Basilica, Victoria – 7pm

Good Friday procession in Gozo:

Victoria Cathedral – 6pm

Xaghra – 6pm

Zebbug – 6pm

Nadur – 6pm.

File photo: Gozo News/Alain Salvary

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