To the cry of “Long live the beautiful Virgin!”, residents of Santa Lucía, Los Mateos and Lo Campano, mainly, took Soledad del Calvario this Sunday to her hermitage-sanctuary on the mountain, in one of the oldest pilgrimages in Cartagena and traditional appointment on the dates of Lent, when the city prepares to live its Holy Week. The time change last morning did not detract from the public, although some stragglers joined the procession when it was already heading towards the foothills of Calvario, just after leaving the Lo Campano houses on the left.
La Soledad del Monte Calvario left on her litter from the parish of Santiago Apóstol, in the neighborhood of Santa Lucía, after the nine o’clock mass. There he spent the whole of the last week, on the occasion of a series of services in his honor. As is tradition, the women were in charge of carrying it through the streets of the neighborhood and the entire Avenida Sánchez Meca, up to where the road also forks to access the Remedios cemetery. Later they were relieved by men, who went up to the Virgin along the path marked with the Stations of the Cross and scented gorse bushes.
The Los Mateos band of bugles and drums led the pilgrimage to the rhythm of a procession until that crossroads, where after playing their version of the pasodoble ‘Tres veces guapa’, so that the pilgrims dedicated their compliments to the Virgin, chanting “¡Guapa, beautiful and beautiful!», and the Royal March began the ascent at a brisk pace. In part, the change of pace was necessary, because the pilgrimage was somewhat late to begin the campaign mass on the mountain.
When the road turned uphill, some devotees of the Virgin, such as María García, said goodbye and returned to their homes. And some young people took over to, after the arrival mass, enjoy the hot spring day on top of the mountain. From the sanctuary, the panoramic views of the entire interior of the Campo de Cartagena, its Mar Menor and its Mediterranean coast are extraordinary.
“It’s worth coming for the views alone,” said José María Balanza, a man from Cartagena who has lived in San Javier for years and returns every year with friends from different towns to show them an endearing and picturesque part of his city’s traditions. But beyond that, the Virgen de la Soledad del Calvario is also a source of devotion for many people from Cartagena; just look at the number of people who walk the path barefoot in fulfillment of promises and penances.
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