Procession of the Desolate Madonna
in Canosa di Puglia
The Procession of the Desolate is among the most important religious rites of the Holy Week in Canosa di Puglia and in all the region. This Procession is an expression of faith and religious devotion that celebrates the bond between a mother and her son. It belongs to the most moving traditions, felt, participated and shared by the local community, regional and throughout southern Italy.
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The Desolate of Canosa is portrayed alone before the Cross of her son, she wears the dark dress and has in her hands a white handkerchief, a cross and a crown of thorns. The Desolate Madonna is also known as Our Lady of Sorrows (Madonna Addolorata) and she is also portrayed with one or seven daggers stuck in her heart which symbolize the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary.
The most striking element that has always distinguished this Procession is represented by the choir, composed of hundreds of women dressed in black with a veil to cover the face, singing the Hymn of the Desolate, the Stabat Mater, expressing in unison their pain and grief accompanied by the music of the town band. With their faces covered, they hold each other and advance along the procession, accompanied by their heartbreaking and tearful singing. Their identity does not count but their intense participation, all united by the universal pain to which every earthly mother joins that of Mary.
It is a truly unique rite, made very impressive by the hymn among the most listened during the Apulian Holy Week.
