venerdi friday fotos

Good Friday, or Holy Friday as it is known here, was the day chosen to present the Passione Vivente in the neighbouring village of Castrocielo. Last year I had seen La Passione at Sperlonga. To read about that incredibly moving experience click here. This year was a different experience, but an impressive one all the same.

For the village it was a very big event, as this was filmed by Teleuniverso and went out live. There were five (or was it six?) cameras filming over three different locations. Because there was such a big crowd it was hard to see every part of the action as it moved to different locations in the hillside village, and I watched much of it on the screen used by the TV presenters. (You too can watch it here on Youtube)



The story was not always quite as I expected, with one or two characters in it that made me wonder how well I read my Bible, or how much local interpretation was added in the script. I watched it again to see what I missed in interpreting the life presentation. I totally missed who Lazaro was when the stone was rolled away from a tomb early in the production. If you are wondering and don't have a Bible handy then read here.

I am constantly amazed at the number of young children at such a violent production, and heard yesterday of one child who couldn't bear to hear a hammer after seeing La Passione at age seven. Others appear quite unaffected by what they are watching.

I found the beating of the drum as the procession made its way in the dark quite a threatening and ominous sound. This sound stayed with me as did one or two images I wish I had turned away from a bit sooner.

This was the first time I had seen horses in the production, and the number of costumed participants was impressive to say the least.







The performance started in the centre of the village at 9.30pm, progressed down the street to a stage and piazza in front of the church, and finished higher up on the hillside just before midnight, a long time to be standing in coolish temperatures. I was very grateful for my warm jacket. I don't think I will attend next year unless I have visitors who wish to see it. It is somber, and leaves me thinking of man's inhumanity towards man. I would rather be light of spirit and sharing the wonderful things of life, focusing on the resurrection rather than suffering, on peace rather than on war.

Today I am grateful for incident-free performances.