San Sebastián has experienced this Good Friday the public presence of faith with the procession from the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, putting an end to nearly six decades without religious manifestations in the city’s streets.
The celebration, driven by a group of faithful, marks a significant event in a context of strong secularization.
The procession began at 20:30 hours, after the liturgical offices, in an atmosphere of recollection.
The sound of the rattle - which replaces the silence of the bells during these days - announced the departure of the procession, which toured the city center with the participation of numerous faithful.
A route marked by silence and prayer
The itinerary passed through the main streets of the center - Buen Pastor square, Urdaneta, Hondarribia, San Martín, Getaria, Avenida de la Libertad, Churruca and Gipuzkoa square, where a prayer station took place before returning to the Cathedral.
Throughout the route, the attendees maintained an attitude of respect, many of them carrying candles as a sign of participation.
The procession was led by the Guide Cross and the banner of the Brotherhood, followed by children in Hebrew attire and the txistularis band.
Then advanced the nazarenos, the step of the Nazarene with the Veronica, the symbols of the Passion and the image of the Recumbent Christ.
In the final stretch, the Three Marys and the Solitude preceded the clergy and the music band.
A tradition re-established from the base
Beyond the development of the event, what is relevant is its recovery after decades of absence.
It is not an institutional initiative, but the drive of faithful who have considered it necessary to reestablish a tradition rooted in the city’s religious life.
This event is inscribed in a broader context in which, in different places, an attempt is perceived to recover visible expressions of faith that had been relegated or disappeared.
A sign that challenges
The celebration of this procession demonstrates that, even in strongly secularized environments, faith does not disappear completely, but remains, sometimes in a silent form, waiting to be rekindled.
The Good Friday procession in San Sebastián is not only the result of human effort, but a sign that grace continues to act in the midst of the Church, even where everything seemed to have been relegated.