Reus celebrates Holy Wednesday with a symbolic event
Today, March 27, 2024, is Holy Wednesday and the city of Reus is reviving a short and very symbolic event, which was stopped after the pandemic. As part of the Assumption procession, the confraternity of the Saints Just and Shepherd, as one of the co-organizing groups and on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, have decided to re-read Pilate’s sentence that condemned Jesus to the cross.
The history of the theatrical act
The first public reading took place in 2016, in collaboration between the Royal Congregation of the Puríssima Sang, Llop’s Teatre and Cartrutxa, and the following year it premiered on Good Friday, after the exhibition of Les Armats in the square de la Sang and just before the transfer of the image of Saint Christ to the Priory of Saint Peter. Then, it was held in 2018 and 2019 in front of the temple of the Royal Congregation and, before Covid-19 forced the suspension of the street events for two consecutive editions, for 2020 it was planned to do the reading before the procession of the Agony
The popularization of the theatrical act
According to Salvador Palomar, a founding member of the Carrutxa entity, the sentence preserved in Reus would be a handwritten copy of a text allegedly found in the ruins of a temple in the ancient Italian city of Aquila, capital of the region of Abruzzo, at the end of the 16th century. Specifically, it would date from 1580. Despite not being historically truthful, since the author is not known either, the sentence became popular, to a large extent, as a “consequence” of the Council of Trent.
Events for Holy Wednesday in Reus
During Holy Wednesday in Reus, various religious and traditional events take place. Some of the scheduled activities include the visit and floral offering to the parishes of Sant Bernat Calvó and Sant Joan Baptista, as well as the exhibition of the processional steps in Plaça de Sant Pere. There is also the recovery act of the Reading of the Sentence of Pilate in front of the Priory of Sant Pere, organized by the Confraternity of the Just and Shepherd Saints. In addition, there is the solemn Assumption Procession, organized by several confraternities and with the participation of the Armed Forces of the Royal Congregation of the Pure Blood of N.S.J.
