The BBC has a real nice slideshow of Palm Sunday services, though one caught my eye.
The San Lorenzo church in Cordoba, Spain, was the scene of one of hundreds of processions
in the country that will be held during the Easter Holy Week.
I am not exactly surprised that that this tradition didn’t catch on here in the U.S.
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Apparently, the KKK stole its outfits from pictures of the penitent societies in Spain. (Possibly through some mistaken association with the Inquisition, but probably just because the KKK were loons.)
This reminds me of a story once related by a monk friend. It seems he had some friar friends (If they are called “blackfriars” why do they wear white almost all the time?) who were attending some religious jubilee in Memphis – apparently there were many, many habited Dominican Friars. Somebody was troubled by their presence (though they were not “hooded” as are the men in the picture here) enough to call the police and report a Klan gathering (which, to my knowledge, is not, in itself, illegal) Now imagine the confusion of the police when they arrive on the scene to discover that a couple of the blackfriars were also black!
Ah, the penitents! My personal favorites are the ones dressed in purple during the Semana Santa processions.
Dear Fr. Totten,
I was eating with a Dominican novice and we got a strange look as we were leaving. We figured it was for the same reason.
They are called Blackfriars because the outer cloak of their habit, which seems to be little used these days, is black.
That was a really neat slideshow. It’s beautiful to see vibrant faith elsewhere in the world! I was especially touched by the picture from India.
Americans may think of these hooded penitents as weird, because they associate it with the Ku Klux Klan. But here in the Philippines, which was colonized by Spain, there are similar hooded penitents during Holy Week in the town of Palo, in the province of Leyte.
What a shame that this manifestation of piety has been hijacked by such a wicked organization!
This tradition DID catch on, at least sort of, in South Louisiana. NO, I dont mean the KKK. Cajun Catholics celebrate Mardi Gras in costumes made to mock the penitential ones you see in the picture you have posted. click here to see what I am talking about. And don’t laugh! These are my homeboys.
I was lucky enough to visit Seville, Spain during the Holy week and Easter weekend. It was incredible and CROWDED! I have many pictures like above. I do have to say, as an American it was very difficult to get over the images of the KKK and get into the procession.
Wow! I just remembered that during the crowded Good Friday procession, I got light headed and when searching for some quick sugar, I found a Coke machine on the street. I put my last 200 pesetas into the machine for a much needed Coke, and out came a CERVEZA! (A beer!)
They may wear crazy hats, but they know how to party!
Do you think if we told the KKK their outfits are CATHOLIC, they might change them? They aren’t too pro-Catholic, from what I hear…
This looks like a scene from one of Saturday Night Live’s skits. “Something to do with the Cone heads.”