Good Friday processions on contemporary Malta

Abstract

This paper looks into the transformative ritual in Good Friday processions in contemporary Malta with reference to people, time, and boundaries in space that are liminal. The procession creates the physical space of a theatre of cruelty the groups of statuary and the participants occupy to embody what they represent. However, at one time, the transition from Roman history to Maltese culture was made and thus the continuity and change can be seen in the space between power and submission in parts of the pageant, between some figures and others, in the costumes at times far removed from historical reality, while all this might be serving a wider political undercurrent. Moreover, the multitude of overpowering Roman figures in some processions might risk turning the story of Christ into a meta-narrative. A ritual of surplus value, inspired by religious belief mingled with supernatural powers, Malta's Good Friday processions are good examples of drama, cultural performance and a response to society's needs through ritual involving humanly meaningful action. Vows have to be kept and prayers for graces said. For some faithful, sharing the suffering of Christ, overpowered by emotion, therefore helps them avoid their own suffering later on through graces granted by invisible energies, divine powers and other phenomena that are meant to be in concordance with a reality independent from worldly contingencies and man-made arrangements based on secular knowledge.