LIVING PASSION. OLIVA DE LA FRONTERA

DETAILS

Denomination: La Pasión Viviente.

Place: Oliva de la Frontera, Badajoz.

Date: Jueves y Viernes Santo.

Most interesting moments:

The Presentation of Jesus before Pilate.

Passing of Jesus through the streets of the town on the way to his Crucifixion.

Crucifixion and death of Jesus.

How to get there: Oliva de la Frontera is a town situated in the south-west of Extremadura. You can get there by the N-630 and the A-66, taking the EX-101 which passes through Zafra and Jerez de los Caballeros.

THE HISTORY

In Oliva de la Frontera, since the mid nineteen sixties, on the initiative of the parish and a group of younger and older people from the town, the Living Passion has been put on during the days around Holy Week, with scripts and stagings in which a large number of residents of Oliva take part.

                    Representation of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem

Year after year, the performance acquires greater and greater importance; historical settings such as the squares, streets and characteristic places in the town are used, thereby giving the central days of Holy Week a special religious atmosphere in which more than three hundred actors and actresses take part.

FESTIVAL

For a large part of the year, the young and old of Oliva de la Frontera design and prepare the attire which they need for the performance of the Passion of Christ on Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

Many hours of rehearsals and work culminate on Thursday and Friday with the Living Passion, which begins at ten o'clock at night at the doors of the Parish Church of Saint Mark the Evangelist, where the first scene containing the Last Supper takes place.

The actors then move along the nearby Palmeras Avenue, which takes them to the fountain in Spain Square, turned into the Garden of Olives, where Jesus is taken among lit torches, tied up and led to the Sanhedrin, situated on the esplanade of the Town Hall Square.
In the presence of Annas and Caiaphas, the famous religious trial of Christ takes place, finishing with his condemnation and entrance into prison, with the attacks of the soldiers who take him there and the historic negotiations of his disciple Peter.

The performance is uninterrupted until twelve o’clock in the morning on Good Friday, when we can see how Jesus is led before Pilate in his palace, which is actually the steps of the parish church, decorated with columns and a facade.

Pilate, by popular request, has Jesus whipped and sent to Herod; he is led along Palmeras Avenue through a well-designed market. In Herod’s Palace, once again in Spain Square, Herod speaks to Christ and dresses him in white before sending him back to Pilate who, after washing his hands, finally condemns him to death and releases Barabbas, placing a crown of thorns on Christ’s head, removing his red cloak and forcing him to carry a heavy cross with which he goes up to Mount Calvary, which is about a thousand metres from the square, in the atrium of the Sanctuary of the Virgin.

Weighed down by the cross, Jesus walks along the streets of Oliva helped by Simon of Cyrene, followed by the people and the Roman soldiers on horseback and on foot. On the way he meets Veronica, who wipes his face.

The performance finishes in the atrium of the Sanctuary with the Crucifixion of Jesus. He is taken down from the cross to be led to his grave, situated at the door of this beautiful and impressive building.