HOLY WEEK DEVOTIONS
"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene."
John 19:25
In the icon of the Virgen de la Soledad here and elsewhere, the Blessed Virgin Mary is depicted as the Sorrowful Mother, grieving on the night of the first Good Friday. Our Lady of Solitude or Nuestra Señora de la Soledad is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary during Her life’s most desolate period. This is the time between Jesus’ horrible death on Good Friday and His glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. She has been widowed by St. Joseph and has just witnessed Her Son’s passion, crucifixion and death.
Our Lady is shown clad in black mourning clothes, kneeling before the instruments of torture-the nails, and crown of thorns, while meditating and contemplating on the sufferings and death of Her only Son, Jesus. Angels are shown on both sides as if parting the curtains to reaveal the grieving Mother.
Our Lady is shown clad in black mourning clothes, kneeling before the instruments of torture-the nails, and crown of thorns, while meditating and contemplating on the sufferings and death of Her only Son, Jesus. Angels are shown on both sides as if parting the curtains to reaveal the grieving Mother.
To conclude with the celebrations of Good Friday, devotees of the Virgen de la Soledad come out after the traditional Santo Sepulcro Procession for a time of profound penance and prayer for the Procesion del Silencio de la Virgen de la Soledad. Devotees, mostly clad in black, barefoot and silently praying with their candles in hand, accompany the age-old icon of the Virgen de la Soledad on a short route to symbolize the Virgin's lonely walk back home after bringing Christ's body to the Holy Sepulchre. This procession brings out the grief we believers have in giving consolation to our Lady in Her time of bereavement. As we can remember, the icon of the Virgen de la Soledad is a depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the night of the first Good Friday, where She spent time alone in solitude, in quiet prayer and meditation, pondering over the great sufferings that Her Son has endured. By joining Her in this journey, we are also consoled with the fact that Mary is always present in our daily struggles in life.