Viernes Santo. El Santo Entierro

The insolent storm that has punished Cuenca these days has had the deference to respect the mourning of the Holy Burial Procession, a funeral that has brought back the pulse of Holy Week in Cuenca. With this truce, the Holy Burial parade has been able to take to the streets, solemn and silent as a sign of respect for the death of Jesus of Nazareth, participatory in terms of brothers – more than 500 Nazarenes in tulips – and supported by a large public thirsty for procession and who came en masse to the funeral, after a few days in which all events were suspended. Even so, the Nazarene from Cuenca has the scenes of the lost passion recorded on his hard drive from previous years. 

The Knights escort the recumbent, the work of the sculptor Marco Pérez, who leaves the Cathedral at 9 pm when the National Anthem plays in the crowded Plaza Mayor, while the mourning ladies of the Congregation accompany the mother who begins her procession with the infantry march performed by the Municipal Band. All under the watchful eye of demonic beings from the 14th and 15th centuries, who come to remind us that the forces of evil are always present, waiting for an opportunity to cause conflict and discord.

The procession following the cobblestones to the rhythm set by the drums of the band of the Junta de Confradías, guide the funeral procession of which all the Holy Week brotherhoods that have populated the ranks of this multitudinous procession are part.

A light rain surprises the procession when the naked Cross was already on the street. Fortunately, the drops of doubt dissipated and the procession returned to its path.

The clouds give the Santo Entierro a little scare on its descent down Alfonso VIII Street.

The conservatory choir waits at San Felipe Neri and sings O Crux Ave when the naked cross stops at the doors of the temple.

The recumbent is the next step that the Oblates reach and the choir dedicates the first miserere of this Holy Week full of suspense to it.

The procession of the Holy Burial arrives at Calle de los Tintes, a stage where the Huecar River joins the funeral, merging its melody of water with the Nazarene marches performed by the bands.

The saddest night comes to an end in the Church of the Savior. Thus concludes a Good Friday that did not stop shedding tears, first on the sidewalks in the form of rain and at the end of the night on the souls, where the anguish is most felt. Jesús Huerta.