In 1951, in Perpignan, the Sanch procession wanted to gain more momentum and some people looked a little towards Seville. The archives, with Hélène Legrais.
Come on, So what do Perpignan and Seville have in common? ?
The Holy Thursday procession …which was then moved to Friday. Perpignan revived the tradition of the Sanch procession the previous year, in 1950. For the first time since 1777, the parade of misteris and penitents were allowed to leave the perimeter of St Jacques Church alone, where it had been confined after the Church had sanctioned numerous excesses, to parade through the city center to the cathedral. In 1951, the archconfraternity (founded I remind you in 1416 by St Vincent Ferrier) pulls out all the stops: she brings to the Town Hall of Perpignan, the Charter of the procession of the Penitents, a document richly illuminated as if it dates from the Middle Ages, in order, I quote, “to create a community of feelings around this procession folkloric.”
The charter is also very direct on this subject: “In a few years, thanks to you, Perpignan, which has become the French Seville, will see the flow of tourists flocking to it, for Holy Week, helping to make our City rich and prosperous. “. Folklore and tourism are therefore the arguments used to circumvent the law which prohibits all religious demonstrations on public roads. The archconfraternity announces more than caparutxeseven if the women, in mantillas, dressed and gloved in black, will be fewer in number, and misteris additional including that of Catllar representing the crowning of thorns, in the Spanish baroque style. The treasures of Catalan religious art will be exhibited in the windows of businesses located along the procession route. The newsreels film the procession. A ceramic badge representing the coat of arms of the Sanch archconfraternity is sold as souvenirs to spectators who come in crowds to attend this “folkloric and sacred procession” according to the expression of the newspaper. In Vallespir, Arles sur Tech also brilliantly reconnects with tradition.
In 1951, we also looked at cradles…
The first northern Catalan of the 2nd half century was born on January 1 at 12:35 a.m.: it is a girl named Michèle and her parents are from Estagel. But the year 1951 was also a year of triplets in the department, which was very rare at the time. First Maurice and Michel, the boys, 2kg350, and Martine, the featherweight, 1kg700, 3 M who “double” with their last name, Manent, born a month premature, in January, also at the Platanes clinic . The family lives in St Jean-Lasseille, where the parents manage a Union des Coopérators food store, and they already have 4 children: Monique 17 years old, Yolande 15 years old, Jean-Marie 8 years old and Maryse 3 years old, suffering from infantile paralysis. With the triplets that makes 7 and life is not going to be easy so the Independent appeals to its readers because “this family must be helped, they deserve it”. Donations will flow in, particularly from students at the Jean-Macé school. An anonymous person offers 2000F. The Independent even covers their baptism. And now at the end of February, new triplets were born, three girls this time, born in the hospital maternity ward: Nicole 2kg100, Maryse 1kg930 and Renée 1kg660. Their mother, Marie, and their father, Joseph (I swear to you that it’s true), winery employee in Rivesaltes, already have a 6 and a half year old girl and were hoping for at least a boy… it’s a failure! By the way, for the first time on May 27, Mother’s Day is a national holiday.
