Over 150,000 people gathered in the small town of Guardia Sanframondi [Campania] on Sunday to watch a penitential rite that takes place every seven years on what has become known as the “giorno di sangue” [“day of blood”].
The rite is the culmination of a series of processions celebrating the discovery of a statue of the Madonna and Child in a field many centuries ago. Four hundred years ago, locals began carrying the statue through the town in times of war or plague and this developed into the event called the “Mysteries”.
The “Mysteries” are organised by the four districts of the town and two neighbouring towns. During processions, participants dressed as characters from the Bible walk through the town but during the final, penitential rite, men from the town dress totally in white with white hoods covering their faces. Some are called “flagellanti” and beat their chests with a scourge as they walk. Other men, known as “battenti”, carry a “spugna” [“sponge”] which is really a cork disc with nails driven into it. They use this to beat themselves. Helpers periodically pour wine on to the sponge as an antiseptic. There are also some child “flagellanti” who wear black but don’t worry – the children carry a small scourge but do not beat themselves. The event ends with the carrying of the statue through the town.
Participants, who do not reveal their identity even to their families, say they feel no pain but only joy. After the event, the instruments of torture are hidden and the men, feeling “renewed”, go back to their day to day lives.
