Good Friday in Italy – The Procession of the Mysteries

The Procession of the Mysteries tells the story of Easter through sculpture…

Italy, Sicily, Trapani – Easter procession

La Processione dei Misteri is a Passion procession that has been held in Trapani, Sicily, every Good Friday since 1612, making it the oldest continual religious procession in Europe.

It is, in effect, a 20-part story told through sculpture and depicting the events surrounding Christ’s crucifixion, culminating in the sight of Maria Addolorata, his grief-stricken mother, at the Sepulchre.

Here we see Jesus with his executioners in the moment after Pontius Pilate washed his hands. “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.” (Matthew 27:27)