Santander (EFE) the “path of evangelization” so that it leaves their “imprint”.
On a sunny and hot morning, the esplanade in front of the Monastery and the hill that surrounds the building have gradually filled with people who waited in a long, patient queue for the opening of a door that gives access to the chapel that houses the Lignum Crucis”, which is considered the largest piece of the cross of Christ.
Protected by a large Civil Guard device, the hundreds of pilgrims, many of them with green motifs, the color that identifies this Monastery, have been arriving since early morning, a large majority going up from Potes.
After twelve o’clock, the bells have started the opening ceremony of the Door of Forgiveness, before which members of the Ponteareas Association of Corpus Christi Carpet Makers have spread a flower carpet with the stamp of the Lignum Crucis, which they have begun to brew at dawn.
The ringing of the bells has given way to a procession led by the bishop, under the banner of the Brotherhood of the Holy Cross, created in 1180, which after hammering the door three times, the two leaves have opened to allow entry to the entourage, which has been blurring the ephemeral creation of that group of Galician artisans.
centuries of religious tradition
After the religious delegation, the religious authorities entered, headed by the presidents of Cantabria and Asturias, Miguel Ángel Revilla and Adrián Barbón, together with the Minister of Culture of the Xunta de Galicia, Román Rodríguez, three of the autonomous communities through which the festival takes place. Camino de Santiago del Norte, with which the Camino Lebaniego connects.
They were accompanied by the Vice President of Cantabria, Pablo Zuloaga, the Government delegate, Ainoa Quiñones, in addition to the majority of the Cantabrian Executive advisers and military authorities.
To all of them, and to the privileged pilgrims who have been able to enter the Mass that opens the seventieth Lebaniego Jubilee Year, the first in the long queue, the Bishop reminded them that this event has “primarily a religious purpose” and encouraged them to the “continuous conversion and assiduous preaching of the Word of God” to promote faith.
“This Holy Year we are going to consider the beauty and the commitments that come with having been marked by the cross of the Lord. The cross was the first of the instruments of the Passion of Christ that was venerated in the form of a relic”, he added.
And he has assured them that if they walk “on these paths”, this Jubilee Year, which will end on April 16, 2024, will leave a “deep imprint” on their lives.
The ceremony, which has given the starting signal to 365 days of Lebanese jubilee, has concluded with communion on the esplanade of the Monastery of the pilgrims, who, after the mass, have accessed the chapel through the reduced Puerta del Perdón to show your respect to the Lignum Crucis.