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Author: Manuel Zurita

Without doubt, one of the most unique processions that take place during Holy Week in Osuna is the Triumph of the Holy Cross, popularly known as 'La Canina'. It is an allegory of the Resurrection that symbolises life, represented by the cross, and which is defeated by death. It is presented in the form of defeat, with its head bowed, reflecting and holding a sickle in its hand. We can also see, at the foot of the image, a text that reads 'O mors ero mors tua' (Oh death, I will be your death). This is one of the three religious litters that form part of the procession of the Brotherhood of the Holy Burial on Holy Saturday.

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Author: Pepe Marquina

Solemnity is a feature of the processions in Osuna, whose Holy Week dates back to the mid-16th century around the male Franciscan Order, religious mendicants with a great catechetical and didactic sense. In the image we can see the procession that accompanies the Santísimo Cristo de la Misericordia (Christ of Mercy) every Holy Thursday morning, accompanied by a drum, bringing sobriety and ceremonial respect to the Stations of Penitence.  It is a 1623 sculpture by the famous sculptor Juan de Mesa, at the request of the canon of the Collegiate Church Diego de Ontiveros. This year, 2023, marks the fourth centenary of its creation. In the image, the Brotherhood of Mercy walks through the naves of the Collegiate Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, built in the 16th century founded by the 4th Count of Ureña. 

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Author: Manuel Zurita

In 1580 the brotherhood Nuestra Madre y Señora de la Quinta Angustia was founded. Currently, it makes its Station of Penitence from the Parish Church of La Victoria. One of the particularities of Holy Week in Osuna is that the Virgin Mary is carried in procession without veil and with her head adorned with a silver resplendour. This piece has its iconographic origin in the Apocalypse, in the St John words: "a Woman dressed with the sun".

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Author: Manuel Zurita

Osuna's great devotion is Jesus of Nazareth. On the morning of Good Friday they make a penitential procession in the Colegiata, a tradition that has been lost by the rest of the brotherhoods. It is a sculptural work of the highest level that is attributed to the Roldán circle in the last third of the 17th century. In the photograph, we can see one of the most awaited moments by the Ursaonese people: the meeting of Jesus with his mother, the Virgen de los Dolores, a ceremony that was lost and recovered in 2022: the ancient and pious ritual of the Sermon of the Passion.

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Author: Pepe Marquina

The Virgen de la Esperanza is the Patroness of the Brotherhood of the Vera Cruz, the oldest brotherhood in Osuna, founded in 1545 in the vanished Franciscan Convent of Madre de Dios. In her procession, the Virgin is accompanied by Saint John the Evangelist, the work of Valencian sculptor Vicente Tena. He also executed the singular religious litter, in oriental style, where mythological animals appear, which served to make the image popularly known as "the Virgin of the puppies". In the photograph we can see the arrival of the Virgen de la Esperanza at the Plaza Mayor after passing through the narrow passage of Tía Mariquita. At this time, every year, hundreds of faithful gather to appreciate the beauty of the image.