Holy Week in Bosa, a picturesque Medieval town on the river Tirso, is a very popular tradition and the whole community turns out for it. The evocative liturgical and paraliturgical rituals still bear strong influences from the Spanish domination as well as a pagan legacy. One of the unusual aspects of the ceremonies during Easter week is the music. The Bosa choir accompanies the moments of pain and joy with the Gòsos, chanting of praise and penance.
On Holy Tuesday, the papier-maché statues, simulacra of the Mysteries (Sos Misterios), representing the stages of the Passion of Christ take part in the procession: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Flogging, The Crowning of thorns, Christ Ascends Calvary and the Our Lady of Sorrows. These statues move through the small streets of the old town centre, leaving from the church of Santa Croce and reaching the Cathedral of the Immacolata.
Holy Wednesday is dedicated to setting up the tombs in the chapels of the town’s seven churches.
Holy Thursday is a day full of celebrations. One of the most evocative is the washing of the feet held in the afternoon during the Lord’s Supper Mass. The ritual involves the priest washing the feet of the altar boys, using water coloured purple with lavender and hyssop. At the end of the evening, the tombs set up on Holy Wednesday are visited in remembrance of the Sas Chilcas (Mary searching for Jesus’ tomb).
Good Friday, the day Christ’s death is commemorated, is the most intense point of Holy Week in Bosa and its culmination comes with the moving de s’Iscravamentu ritual.
These moments of pain lead by the rhythm of agonising chants, are followed by joy and enthusiasm for the s’Incontru, on the morning of Pasca de Aprile (Easter Sunday), accompanied by Gosos de Pasca and Magnificat.
