As far as I’m concerned, Señor de la Humildad y Paciencia was the patron saint of Friday’s, Procession of Silence. He waited for hours inside the Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, while we waited for hours outside, for the procession to begin.
At least he was sitting down. For the penitents, their lot was a lot of standing around.
Some of the participants passed the time joking around (and occasionally teasing this gringa blogger), others looked incredibly bored, but all remained patiently stationed in place. After all, in the words of one guy’s t-shirt, “don’t panic,” it will eventually start.
Then, there is always one’s cell phone to provide a bit of distraction.
The 6 PM start time for the procession came and went, as did the daylight and my hope for taking any decent photographs of the actual procession. (One of these days, I will master night photography of moving objects, she says, hopefully!) It looked like even San Pedro was looking to the heavens for divine intervention to get the show on the road.
About 6:45 PM, with lights flashing, a small phalanx of motorcycle police signaled our prayers had been answered and a hush fell over the multitudes lining the sidewalks, streets, and balconies — the Procesión del Silencío had finally begun.