The rites of Holy Week in Ruvo di Puglia constitute the main event held in the Apulian town. The folklore and sacred or profane traditions, typical of the Ruvestine tradition, are a great attraction for tourists from neighboring towns and the rest of Italy,. and have been included by IDEA among Italy's intangible heritage events.
The rites begin on Passion Friday, preceding Palm Sunday, with the procession of the Desolate. Maundy Thursday is marked by the evocative night procession of the Eight Saints, while Good Friday is the turn of the mysteries. The procession of the Pieta on Holy Saturday concludes the penitential rites, while on Easter Sunday the procession of the Risen Jesus ends Holy Week. All rites end on Easter Monday with the procession of the Virgin of the Annunciation in the village of Calendano.
History
The confraternities in Ruvo Evidence of the existence of early Ruvestine confraternities can be obtained from the polyptych, a Byzantine work initialed Z. T., depicting the Madonna and Child and brethren, in which appears the inscription "Hoc opus fieri fec(e)runt, confratres san(c)ti Cleti, anno salut(i)s 1537". and preserved in the Purgatory church, in the left aisle, the one dedicated to St. Cletus.
The establishment of the Ruvestine confraternities was in the period of the Counter-Reformation, and at present there are only four sodalities still active. As reported by the polyptych, the earliest known confraternity is the Brotherhood of St. Cletus, whose praying brethren are depicted in the very painting dressed in white sackcloth and hooded. In the same period, Ruvo saw the establishment of the confraternity of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in the former Church of the Rosary, now St. Dominic's, by the Dominican fathers.
Other ancient and no longer active confraternities include the confraternity of the Conception and the confraternity dedicated to the Mount of Piety, which carried out charitable and welfare activities. Dated 1543 is the confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament founded in the co-cathedral of Ruvo di Puglia, whose confraternity members wore a purple habit and dedicated themselves to the care of the sick and the provision of dowries for two poor girls.. Among these early confraternities, special mention must be made of the sodality dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo, now no longer in existence, which played a very prominent role in Ruvestine society. This was followed, in chronological order, by the four active confraternities involved in Holy Week: confraternity of St. Roch (1576), archconfraternity of Carmine (1604), confraternity of Purgatory (1678) and confraternity Purification-Addolorata (1777)..
The four confraternities The summary diagram summarizes the main features of the four still active confraternities, listed in order of age. The coats of arms of the four confraternities are superimposed on a field representing the dress of the brethren. Confraternity Dress of the brethren Dress of the sisters Dress of the bearers Penitential procession Foundation yearConfraternity Opera Pia san RoccoWhite surplice, purple-red mozzetta and cincture, medallion depicting St. Roch (only during Holy Week do the brethren also wear white hood and black gloves).Light blue scapular on which the initials MBC (from the Latin Mater Boni Consilii, Mother of Good Counsel) are embroidered. Only during Holy Week do the sisters also wear a black petticoat, a black veil and black gloves.White surplice, purple-red bow, purple-red cincture, red scapular with image of The Transport of Christ to the Sepulcher by Antonio Ciseri, and black gloves.Procession of the Deposition of Christ from the Cross, known as the Eight Saints, Maundy Thursday 2:30 p.m., St. Roch Church1576 (refounded in 1781)Archconfraternity of CarmelWhite surplice, carmine-red mozzetta and cincture, medallion depicting Our Lady of Mount Carmel (only during Holy Week do the brethren also wear black gloves).Carmine red scapular on which the initials MdC (Mother of Carmel) are embroidered. Only during Holy Week do the sisters also wear a black petticoat, a black veil and black gloves.White surplice, carmine-red bow, carmine-red cincture, red scapular with holy card of the statue (the image varies for each simulacrum of the mysteries) and black gloves. An exception is made for Our Lady of Sorrows, whose bow, scapular and cincture are black.Procession of the Dead Christ, Good Friday 3:30 pm, the simulacrum enters the cathedral (tradition maintained until 2016). At about 6:20 p.m., the Dead Christ joins the other eight mysteries, which had already left at 6 p.m. from the Church of Carmel, the moment when Our Lady of Sorrows gazes upon the face of her now-dead son.1604Confraternity of Purgatory under the title of “Mary Most Holy of the Suffrage”White surplice, black shoulder strap and cincture, medallion depicting a skull with two crossed shinbones surmounted by a cross (only during Holy Week do the brethren also wear black gloves and white hood).Black scapular with image depicting Our Lady of Suffrage on the front and the initials MSS (Mary Most Holy of Suffrage). Only during Holy Week do the sisters also wear a black petticoat, a black veil and black gloves.White surplice, black ribbon bow, black scapular with holy card of the simulacrum and black gloves.Procession of the Pieta, Holy Saturday 4:30 pm, Purgatory Church.1678Confraternity Purification AddolorataWhite surplice, ivory mozzetta, black shoulder strap and light blue cincture, medallion depicting Our Lady of Sorrows (only during Holy Week do the brethren also wear black gloves and black hood).Black scapular on which the initials MD (“Mater Dolorosa,” Mother of Sorrows) are embroidered on the front and back. Only during Holy Week do the sisters also wear a black petticoat, a black veil and black gloves.White surplice, light blue bow, light blue cincture, medallion depicting Our Lady of Sorrows and black gloves. The scapular changes on the occasion of the procession of the Risen Christ, whose imprinted image depicts precisely the simulacrum.Procession of the Desolate, Passion Friday 5:30 p.m., St. Dominic Church. Easter Sunday 9:30 a.m., Procession of the Risen Jesus.1777
Confraternity Opera Pia San Rocco
With the dissolution of the Confraternity of St. Charles Borromeo in the late 16th century, the Confraternity Opera Pia San Rocco can be considered to all intents and purposes the oldest sodality still in activity in Ruvo. The origins of the cult of St. Roch are surely the result of Venetian influence, which ruled the Adriatic Sea in the 1500s, but also of popular devotion: in 1502 the city of Ruvo was afflicted by a terrible pestilence, probably caused by the continuous clashes between the French and Spanish occupiers that resulted in the Challenge of Barletta.
St. Roch is said to have appeared in the guise of a wayfarer to both the first magistrate and the bishop of the then diocese of Ruvo, inviting them to pray.. A short time later the plague ended and as a sign of devotion in 1503 the townspeople erected a small church in his honor. According to legend, in the same church of St. Roch, the thirteen Frenchmen led by Guy la Motte, stationed in Ruvo, allegedly stayed overnight and attended holy mass before leaving for Barletta for the challenge., p. 6. The confraternity was founded on October 28, 1576, as evidenced by the two wall inscriptions, one on the architrave of the entrance and one inside the church: it was Pope Gregory XIII who granted indulgences to the "confreres of Saint Roch of Ruvo." The social background of the brethren of St. Roch was undoubtedly humble, and in fact the forty brethren who signed the founding act of the congregation did so using a cross; they were illiterate peasants. The sodality was described as poor in Bishop Gaspare Pasquali's 1593 report, so much so that the brethren lived on alms even to meet the expenses of restoring and decorating the church. The "relationes ad limina" (i.e., a report regarding the state of the diocese) of Bishops Saluzio, Memmoli, Caro, Alitto and Morgione infer the dissolution of the confraternity between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, caused by a lack of funds that led to the silent and gradual demise of the sodality. On August 8, 1781, King Ferdinand IV signed the request for Royal Assent to the new confraternal statute, thus sanctioning the rebirth of the congregation. The new statute provided for assistance among the brethren themselves and the establishment of the Mount of St. Roch. The small church of St. Roch began to be enriched with works of art commissioned by the brethren themselves, such as the 17th-century wooden statue of St. Roch, housed in the main niche above the altar; the oil painting, from the Neapolitan school, depicting Our Lady of Good Counsel, kept in a shrine displayed in the church; the silver statue of St. Roch by Giuseppe Sanmartino from 1793, kept in the cathedral, among other things displayed during the COVID-19 emergency in 2020, to invoke the saint's intercession and appease the pandemic. On March 16, 1919, the confraternity of St. Roch decided to provide itself with a simulacrum to be paraded during Holy Week:. the task was assigned to the Lecce papier-mâché master Raffaele Caretta, who was inspired by Antonio Ciseri's 1883 painting The Transport of Christ to the Sepulcher. The simulacrum fully and dramatically depicts the same characters as in Ciseri's work; leading the group and supporting the shroud in which Jesus' lifeless body is wrapped are Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus in front and St. John supporting the sheet behind Christ; completing the group are Mary of Clopas, who holds an almost fainting Mary, Salome and a penitent Mary of Magdala.. The statuary group made its debut on April 17, 1920, and first crossed the threshold of the church of San Rocco in the late afternoon; the same scene is still repeated today with Pancaldi's Eternal Sorrow funeral march that begins the procession, moved since 1921 to the usual night time of 2:30 a.m.. In 2020, the processional rite was not held, due to the COVID-19 emergency, despite the 100th anniversary of the simulacrum.
Archconfraternity of Carmine
The archconfraternity of Carmine contrasts with the modesty of the confraternity of San Rocco. Founded on May 15, 1604, on behalf of clergymen and noblemen, after Bishop Gaspare Pasquali had approved the confraternity's statute, it soon became the most wealthy and influential in the Ruvo scene: one-third of the original 141 confraternity members were clergymen. The fledgling confraternity found its headquarters in the church of Saint Vitus, entrusted on the condition that the brotherhood would engage in its restoration: the same church, once the renovation was completed, was named after Our Lady of Mount Carmel, titular of the archconfraternity of the same name. The original statutes stipulated that the rector delegated to two brethren the task of visiting the prisoners, assisting the sick and collecting alms every Thursday.