Xàbia marks the start of Semana Santa with the solemn act of the Vía Matris

In the early hours of of a gloomy Saturday morning with the dark clouds threatening rain, members of La Cofradía del Santo Rosario and the devoted gathered at the chapel of the Convent for the Vía Matris, the Way of the Mother, in which the image of Mare de Déu de Soletat – Our Lady of Solitude – was carried on strong shoulders through the streets of the historic centre to the church of San Bartolome.

The solemn act is a prelude to the start of Semana Santa – Holy Week – during which the image briefly stops at seven pre-defined “stations” which symbolize the ‘Seven Sorrows of Mary’, a reading and a prayer said at each one. In the case of Xàbia, the image stopped at seven niches: La Mare de Déu de Soletat in Carrer de la Mare de Déu de Soletat, Sagrat Cor de Jesús in Ronda Sud, La Verge del Pilar in Carrer del la Verge del Pilar, Sant Joan in Carrer dels Cups, Sant Pere Màrtir in Carrer Sant Pere Màrtir, Santa Llúcia in Carrer de Santa Llúcia, and Sant Bartomeu in the church square, the saint located in the tympanum above the main door to the church.