La Sangre defeated 'Nelson', which is what the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) calls the storm that this Wednesday brought winds of up to 70 kilometers per hour in various areas of the Region. Long before six in the afternoon, the official departure time of the 'colorao' procession that leaves from the archpriest of Carmen, the neighborhood bustles with penitents, shelves and butlers who head to the canonical headquarters to take their places in the parade .
The seats in the race begin to be occupied and the hubbub of people coming and going, among carts of candy, is reminiscent of a typical Easter afternoon. The only clouds are those that form the balloons that the children fight over. Of course, under a devilish wind that, if it picked up, would have threatened the departure of one of the oldest and most popular processions among those held in our land. It was not so.
The emotion can be palpable after suffering three suspended processions that have plunged the great Nazarene family into sadness since last Holy Monday, when the Perdón de San Antolín barely managed to appear in the hallway of his parish due to the announcement, quite true, that that night it would rain. And the same thing happened with the Health Association and the El Rescate Slave Brotherhood, which suspended their penance stations for similar reasons, although this Wednesday, finally, not a drop fell on the city and the temples opened their doors to welcome thousands of Murcians and tourists. How the bishop opened the balcony to bless each step.
The Banner of Blood announced its departure at the scheduled time and a legion of tiny Nazarenes signaled with bells that the Archconfraternity took to the streets. San Vicente Ferrer seems to notice the same thing, the first step of the 'colora' procession that begins its race by pointing a finger to the sky, as if it wanted to conjure the wind. Well, quite a few miracles are attributed to the Valencian friar.
And the Samaritan comes out
The streets and squares once again, this time, are caressed by the sturdy espadrilles on the shelves, those with hard soles that prevent any slipping. The Samaritan begins her season of penance on the widest step of those who parade during Holy Week. And one more year she dazzles again with the perfection of her face as a good girl richly dressed in a silk tunic while the wind makes the crystal tears of the tulips, so historical and so Murcian, adorn the arms of light.
A penitent extends his hand to deliver the first candy of the afternoon. Same as the year, for him. The balconies of Floridablanca, packed with parishioners, contemplate how a river overflowing with 'colored' tunics heads towards another, the Segura, whose Old Bridge, when the thrones begin to cross them on the way to the heart of the city, will be the protagonist of thousands of ' selfies'.
Jesus passes through the house of Lazarus, the imposing Lavatory that González Moreno imagined, restored today, and The Denial of Saint Peter, with its 'but' next to the apostle and the 38 shelves that lean on his shoulder without hiding his satisfaction for having defeated time . At seven thirty they crossed the river. The Moneo's façade glowed bright red. And the Praetorian appears with his Berrugo, that mischievous and indifferent executioner of whom the grandmothers said that on the eve of Holy Wednesday he went from terrace to terrace stealing the beans that he later wore in his hand during the procession. In reality, it is Antonio 'El Cigarro' who has been growing them every year since October in his garden in Santiago and Zaraíche.
Forgiveness always dazzles
If every season of penance is always new, due to the chances and orange blossoms that differentiate each year, on this occasion the novelty is an addition that was not even imagined until just two days ago: that of the Forgiveness Pass.
The Archconfraternity extended an invitation to its sister from San Antolín after learning of the suspension of the magenta procession. And they willingly accepted, allowing beautiful images of this procession that took to the streets two of the most revered images in the entire Region to remain in history.
The afternoon dissolves between the sounds of passion marches that the wind spreads through the city, paralyzed before the passage of this Blood that houses such venerated carvings as the Dolorosa, by Roque López, which closed the procession, or the Holy Christ of the Blood, Patron saint of the old neighborhood and protagonist of many brotherly moments, among them his beautiful crossing over the Old Bridge. It is, to end soon, a procession that condenses, beautifies and offers the world that tasty Murcian essence converted into art and devotion. It is, without a doubt, the most beautiful Wednesday of the year.
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