The good Friday procession in Chieti is one of the most important events of holy week in Abruzzo.

 One of the oldest processions in Italy, it’s origins date back to 842 AD, the year in which the reconstruction of the first cathedral was completed.

However, it’s current from dates back to the 17th century, when the Archconfraterney of the Sacred Mount of the Dead is believed to have been founded, which still oversees the organisation and preparation of the procession today.

The procession is the culmination of Holy week in Chieti because, in reality, on palm Sunday, the members of the confraternity and the young people destined to wear the black tailcoat they are summoned to the Chapel of the Confraternity adjacent to the crypt to receive their their vestments.

On the morning of Holy Wednesday, the prioress, the governors wife, and the seamstress, whose family has been entrusted with the care and maintenance of the Sacred vestments for at least two generations, go to the Chapel for the moving dressing of the nineteenth- century statue of the Madonna, which is dressed in precious morning clothes, a black dress with an embroidered veil.

This is the only moment in the entire ritual in which women play an active role.

On Friday morning, the seven trophies or Symbols of the Passion, created by the artist Raffaele del Ponte (1813-1872) from Chieti, are placed in the upper church and in the side aisles.

The statues of our Lady of Sorrows and the dead Christ (a wooden sculpture by the 18th- century Neapolitan school sculptures are placed in the secretariat chapel.

They will only be brought out at the time of the Procession.

The seven trophies are: the angel (the one how comforted Christin the Garden of Gethsemane); the spears (with lanterns and the bag of 30 pieces os silver commemorating Christ’s arrest in Gethsemane); the column with the cockerel (symbolising Peter’s betrayal); the stone (representing the throne where Christ was seated with a crown of thorns and a sign made of reeds, together with the tunic made to be worn by Jesus and the jug used by Pilate to wash his hands); the holy Face (symbolising the episode of Veronica and reproducing the features of the holy Face of Manoppello); the ladder (and the instruments of confession,) the cross (with the serpent of original sin at its foot and the skull representing Adam, whose sin is overcome by Christ’s sacrifice).

When the staging is complete, the orchestra ( composed of 150 members including violins, violas, cellos, flutes, clarinets, bassoons and saxophones) and the choir( 160 members including first tenors, second tenors and basses) perform the dress rehearsal of the famous Miserere, composed in the first half of the 18th century by the chapel master of the metropolitan church of Chieti, Saverio Selecchy (1708-1788), Who set to music the verses of the 51st biblical psalm, traditionally attributed to David, king of Israel, who confesses his sins and invokes divine mercy, asking God for forgiveness and grace.

Tradition has it that the Miserere was donated by Selecchy to Monte dei Morti with the obligation to perform it every year during the procession.

The procession begins after sunset.

The procession slowly leaves st. Justin’s Cathedral, accompanied by the orchestra and choir, and travels through the streets of the historic centre where tripods lit with wax fires are present.

The procession is led by the black banner of the Confraternity of the Sacred Mount of the Dead, accompanied by the hooded brothers of st. Francis Caracciolo.

This first group is followed by the seven symbols of the Passion, which are carried one after the other by the members of the Sacred Mount of the Dead.

The seven symbols (each escorted by two Balletti of the Archconfraterney parading in 18th-century costumes)are followed by a group of brothers from the city’s numerous confraternites (St. Gaetano, St. Joseph of the Crociferi, Madonna of the cintura, St. Barbara, are different colours to identify the individual groups.

In the past, membership of the Confraternity was based on one’s profession, but today this characteristic has been lost.

The brothers parade carrying lanterns (I finali) to light the way.

They are followed by representatives of the clergy: the diocesan seminary is the regional one, the metropolitan chapter and the archbishop, who parade together with the Equestrian order of the Holy sepulchre.

After the clergy come the vocal brothers of Sacro Monte, Who carry the statues of the dead Christ and our Lady of Sorrows.

The procession is brought to a majestic close by the orchestra and choir, who perform the Miserere throughout the procession.