People’s processions around Hvar

THE HVAR PROCESSION ‘VISITING GOD’S GRAVES’

Hvar Town is the only other place on the island besides the six settlements in the ‘Za Križen’ Procession to have preserved the tradition of ‘visiting God’s graves’. Some say that this Hvar procession, which lasts about an hour and a half, was the original influence for the ‘Za Križen’ procession in the central part of the island, with the concept expanding later to include more churches depicting ‘God’s grave’, and therefore extending into an all-night pilgrimage.

The Hvar procession starts at 3 pm on Good Friday afternoon, in honour of the time when Jesus is said to have died. It is organized exclusively by the laity. Up until it was stopped in the early 1950s, the procession was organized in two separate parts on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday by the two Hvar confraternities of St. Nicholas and the Holy Cross. Historical records show that in past times when the procession was in two parts, more churches were visited, which are now disused or have disappeared. When the procession resumed in 1990, it was organized as a single event on Good Friday afternoon. Starting from St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the procession goes first to the Church of the Holy Spirit, then on to the Benedictine Convent, the Franciscan Monastery and up the steps to the Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Burak, before returning to the Cathedral. In each church there is a decorated depiction of Jesus’ grave, complete with a cross formed from unripe wheat, similar to those of the all-night procession. In the centre of the procession one of the brotherhood carries a simple wooden cross on his back; he is barefoot or in woollen socks, and dressed in his confraternity robe with his head fully hidden under his hood, so that his identity is kept secret (like the Cross-Bearer who leads the Theophoric procession in Sućuraj at the other end of the island).

THE ‘PEOPLE’S PROCESSION’ IN VELO GRABLJE

Marija Jurić from Grablje recalls: “On Good Friday at 6 o’clock in the morning the procession would set out from the parish church across the village to St. Vitus’s Church. There we would recite five ‘Our Fathers’ and sing ‘Smiluj se meni Bože’ (‘Have mercy on me, Lord’). From St. Vitus’s church the procession went on to the church of St. Anthony repeating the five ‘Our Fathers’ and the hymn  ‘Smiluj se meni Bože’ and doing the same when we returned to the parish church  Along the whole route. we would pray the Rosary and Litanies and the Golden Rosary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; we sang ‘Ja se kajem Bože mili’ (‘Dear God, I repent’), ‘Isuse ufanje naše’ (Oh Jesus, our hope’) and ‘Prosti moj Bože’ (‘Forgive me, my God’). In those days, the reading of the Passion, kissing the Cross and all the prayers which are now in the evening of Good Friday used to take place after this early-morning procession” [which has not been held since the early 1960s].

THE ‘ZA KRIŽEN’ PROCESSION IN SVETA NEDJELJA

This ‘people’s procession’ was  transferred from Svirče, the inland village whose inhabitants were the settlers who founded today’s Sveta Nedjelja village on the south side of Hvar. The procession takes place early on Good Friday morning, setting off from the parish Church of St. Spyridon at about 4am, heading uphill to the cave with the remains of the former Augustinian church; from there the procession moves on to the settlement of Jagodna before heading back to the Sveta Nedjelja parish church.

THE ‘ZA KRIŽEN’ PROCESSION FROM DOL TO STARI GRAD

Like other ‘people’s processions’, the Dol procession sets off early on Good Friday morning, in this case between 3am and 4am at the latest. Uniquely, apart from the main cross carried by the chosen Cross-Bearer, four other crucifixes are carried behind the leader in line, in strict formation, and none is covered by the black veil common to the other ‘Za križen’ processions. In Dol the custom of the ‘crux vellata’ (‘veiled cross’) was abandoned after the Second Vatican Council. Up to the 1950s, the Cross-Bearers were chosen by drawing lots in the church yard on Palm Sunday, but after that the custom of signing up for the honour was introduced, as in all the other parishes nowadays.

The procession sets off from the parish church of St. Michael (Sv. Mihovil), heading along often narrow and steep paths to the other churches in their extended village, then on down to Stari Grad, going from the churches of St. Nicholas (Sv.Nikola), St. Peter (Sv.Petar), St. Rocco (Sv.Rok) to the main church of St. Stephen (Sv. Stjepan). From there the procession goes on out of Stari Grad to the churches of St. Jelena and St. Anne on the way back to completing the circular route at St. Michael’s Church.

In former times, the citizens of Stari Grad used to go to Dol in a ‘people’s procession’, but this custom, died out many years ago, some say at the time of a cholera epidemic.

THE ‘ZA KRIŽEN’ PROCESSIONS IN ZASTRAŽIŠĆE AND POLJICA

In principle, the Holy Week ‘Za Križen’ processions in Zastražišće and Poljica are paired. However, they are divided into two parts: in the evening of Maundy Thursday, the processions operate separately. Starting at about 5pm after the church liturgy, each so-called ‘little’ procession sets off from the parish church to visit the chapels and shrines around their own village. As darkness falls, fires are lit along the route back to the home church, creating a beautiful mystical glow around the pilgrims.

Then at about 6am on Good Friday morning, the so-called ‘big’ processions start out on the circular route which will take them into the neighbouring village and down to the sea shore at Vela Stiniva. The route is planned in a clockwise direction so that the two processions never meet. The Zastražišće procession sets off from the parish church of St. Nicholas, heading along the road towards Poljica, while the people of Poljica go from the parish church of St. John the Baptist down towards the sea shore. When each procession arrives in Vela Stiniva, the Cross-Bearer dips the handle of the cross in the sea: the people of Zastražišće dedicate this symbolic act as homage to all the people of Zastražišće who are living far away from their home village; for the people of Poljica it is a blessing for their fishermen. Refreshments may be provided at Vela Stiniva or elsewhere along the route, if the Cross-Bearer so chooses. When each procession has returned to their parish church, they will have completed a route of some 13 kilometres.

Timing in line with daylight is the reason why these processions are in two parts: the path down to Vela Stiniva is very steep, narrow, and covered in pine needles, making it too dangerous for the walkers once night falls.

THE ‘ZA KRIŽEN’ PROCESSIONS IN GDINJ AND BOGOMOLJE

These are also paired processions, but with one unique feature: for some 40 years, it has been customary for women to carry the cross, as there were not enough men left in the settlements to fulfil the task year on year. The processions start in the early morning of Good Friday, with the circular route covering some five kilometres. From Bogomolje the procession sets off from the parish Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation, turns to pass through the Bonkovići village between Gdinj and Bogomolje, and then on to Gdinj. From the Gdinj parish Church of St. George the Martyr the route heads more directly towards Bogomolje, so that the two processions do not meet. The local parish priest in each village sees off and welcomes the processions as they leave and arrive.