Fiestas del Corpus Christi

Description

On Corpus Christi Day, following the solemn religious service held each year in a parish church, the 17th-century Monstrance is carried in procession on a magnificent silver platform with gold finishes, donated by the Nocturnal Adoration in 1972, the work of the Ángulo brothers of Lucena. The platform is adorned with hundreds of red and white carnations, representing the children who have made their first communion. The procession is opened by these boys and girls, followed by the Tarsicios section led by their banner, and behind them the Nocturnal Adoration, also led by its own banner. Countless people surround the Blessed Sacrament, carrying candles and singing, accompanied too by the city's brotherhoods, which set up altars.

Along the traditional route, there are stops decorated with beautiful altars. The ground is covered with sedge and pennyroyal.

The altars designed by local residents deserve special mention. Every year, neighbours take great care in decorating their streets as best they can, resulting in a good-natured rivalry. Balconies are decked out with flags, shawls, tapestries... and the streets are filled with potted plants.

As early as the 16th century, there was a brotherhood dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament, and in earlier times its octave was held on the Sunday following Corpus Christi Day, in the afternoon, around the square. The Monstrance was carried by hand by the priest.

The altars used to be set up at the door of the town hall, on the corner of Calle San Fernando behind the fountain, and on the corner of Calle Juan de Mata, with the blessing given to the town from the altar at the church door.