Once upon a time...

Quito 1841

By now most readers will be familiar with the splendiferous "Arrastre de las Caudas" from Quito, Ecuador.

Now I found another interesting report dealing with the customs during Holy Week in Quito. The French naturalist Alcide D'Orbigny recorded in his work A Picturesque Voyage Across the Two Americas the amazement felt by the eyewitness account of his countryman, Raigecourt, during his Holy Week visit in 1841, where he wrote about the Good-Friday-Procession: "A thousand saintly souls led the procession. A cortege of musicians masked and draped in purple robes. a multitude of negroes dressed uniformly in royal blue robes. two lines of nuns. a huge hubbub of individuals dressed in every sort of vestment, armed with sticks, sabres, swords, lances and lanterns to hand. These represented the Jews."

"These documents give an idea of the huge size of this procession, in which absolutely the whole of the city of Quito acted or watched. Nobody was left out!" explains Alfonso Ortiz Crespo, an historian of Quito and author of a work on Holy Week during the Spanish Colony. According to Crespo, soon after the establishment of the town in the 16th century, this Christian ceremony of remembrance and reflection became one of the most impressive and well attended throughout the Spanish Empire. Despite this fervour and popularity, the event fell foul of liberal ideology in the mid–19th century when President José María Urbina suppressed it entirely.

The celebration couldn’t be completed rubbed from popular memory, and by the 20th century Holy Week had recovered its place in Quito society. In 1964, the chronicler of the city, Luciano Andrade Marín, wrote "Nothing was more grandiose or more solemn in Quito in the time of my grandparents than the Good Friday procession." His description of the celebration evokes “an entire legion of faithful penitents carrying thick ropes around their necks and even signs asking for mercy, who made their way on their knees, fainting at every turn. These were pursued by horrible devils who tempted the penitents, harsh–looking Jews, saintly souls in white robes, capricious dancers and float–bearers begging for alms”. Andrade Marín assures us that the height of the tops of the cucuruchos’ hats (people wearing traditional conical, pointed–hat robes, like those worn in Spain and famously by the Klu–Klux Klan) touched the balconies of the city where citizens gathered in huge numbers to watch the impressive procession.

Here is a picture of the procession drawn according to the 1841-report (it's a rather large file, but you want to see the details):

The Order of Malta

I found some interesting colored engravings showing the different habits of priests worn in the Order of Malta.


Magistral chaplain


Conventual chaplain in minor daily habit


Conventual chaplain in grand daily habit


Conventual chaplain in minor choir habit


Conventual chaplain in grand choir habit


Prior of St. Jran with grand (no kiddin') cross of the Order


Bishop with grand cross of the Order

[Update: Alright! Reliable Ed informs us about the background of the pictures: "The drawings are shown in the Knight's church of St. John in Malta. This was their headquarters until they were driven out by Napoleon. The church contains the tombs of the Grandmasters of the Knights of Malta, several of them were also cardinals. The use of the church was recently returned to the knights."

Thanks, Ed!]

Black is beautiful

Here are some photographic impressions from this year's Arrastre de Caudas in Quito, collected from all over the web:















































If you want to see some moving pictures, here is a 5 minute feature from a TV station in Ecuador. The language is Spanish, of course, but the pictures are great. I especially like the scene in the sacristy, where you can see how the canons are vested for the event.

Ordinations to the Diaconate in Gricigliano

Already last Saturday (acc. to usus antiquior the Feast of St. Benedict, one of the Patrons of the Institute of Christ the King), Franc Cardinal Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation for the Religious, ordained six deacons in Gricigliano. Teasers here (full gallery there):

Lovely

The pilgrimage chapel "Maria zum Berge Karmel" in Meersburg-Baitenhausen, Germany is a little Rococo jewel. It was finished in the second half of the 18th century under the prince-bishop of Konstanz, Franz Conrad Cardinal von Rodt. The ceiling of the crossing between nave and transept has a fascinating fresco, showing the adoration veneration of Mary by bishop and people. The cardinal is kneeling, surrounded by his clergy, and from his mouth come the words "Erhöre das Gebett deines Volcks" ("Hear the prayer of your people"). Mind you, this is 18th century German, so if you are studying the language right now, don't take this as an example!

Here are photos of the scene:

Close up

Two steps back

The whole scene

The Patriarchs of Lisbon...

... had a bucket full of privileges. I often read about them but never saw any photos where you could actually see them. I finally found some pictures. Enjoy!


The first five photos show António Cardinal Mendes Belo, Patriarch of Lisbon from 1907 to 1929. Here you can see that the Patriarchs did not only have a very nice canopy (which of course is not a special privilege) but also flabella and a falda:








On the next two photos you can see Manuel Cardinal Gonçalves Cerejeira, successor of Cardinal Belo, Patriarch of Lisbon from 1929 to 1971. You can see the flabella and the fanon again and also the patriarchal miter which was designed to look like a tiara. The Patriarch of Lisbon had the privilege to wear the tiara but - maybe out of respect for the Pope - apparently never actually wore one but only miters that - at least from far away - looked a bit like tiaras:






On the last three photos (Cardinal Belo again) you don't see any privilege, but one just doesn't pass up pictures of prelates and their carriages: