It is an event that the religious community of Bisceglie always expects with deep faith and great respect; it is a religious rite of high spiritual value. It occurs on Good Friday at 9.30 a.m. in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele nearby the Calvario: the performance represents the last “Meeting” between Jesus and his Mother before being crucified. Jesus, carrying the heavy cross on his shoulder, ready for the dreadful but redeeming torture, moves his last steps towards his mother, represented with a dagger piercing her heart as symbol of the grief for her son’s destiny.
The two statues seem to look at each other lovingly and intensively. The statue of the Virgin leaves from the Cathedral at 7 a.m. while the one representing Jesus with the cross leaves the church of St. Lorenzo at 9 a.m. The most important and moving moment of such rite is the breathtaking kiss between the Son and His Mother. According to the tradition, after the meeting, the statues are carried again in procession following different routes across the churches where the sepulchre is exhibited. Finally, they are carried back to their churches at 2 p.m.
This rite refers to a procession of statues called “Mysteries”, representing the various scenes and moments of Jesus Christ’s Passion.
The procession is composed of eight statues belonging to six churches in Bisceglie; in the late afternoon of Good Friday they are carried in procession towards Piazza Vittorio Emanuele where they are collocated following a chronological order to evoke the different moments of The Passion.
In order they represent: Christ praying in the Olive Grove, Christ bound to the column, Ecce Homo, Veronica, St. Peter and the cock, Christ at Calvary, the Pieta group, and lastly Dead Christ.
A cross with the symbols of the crucifixion carried by the brothers of the confraternities follows each statue.
The procession moves slowly, silently accompanied by the worshipers’ prayers and softly lengthened by their candles.
