Tonight’s lesson is a quiet one. In the week before Easter, called Holy Week, the streets of Andalusia fill with processions: silent crowds, candles, incense, drums, and great images of Christ and the Virgin Mary carried through the streets.
Learn from Songs · Festivals: Easter · Part 2 of 3 · B1–B2
Semana Santa: Holy Week in Andalusia
Part 2: Holy Week in Spain, and above all in Andalusia: the brotherhoods, the processions of Seville and Málaga, the nazarenos, the pasos and tronos, and the saetas sung from the balconies, with a quiet and respectful setting of the Ave Maria. The passive (the thrones are carried by…), relative clauses (the costaleros, who…), time linkers for describing an event, and the vocabulary of a procession, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
I have seen them in Málaga. It is very moving.
SOPHIA
It is. For many people it is an act of faith and mourning; for others a great tradition of their city. So we listen respectfully, to the Ave Maria, the prayer to Mary, in Schubert’s famous setting.
PHILO
A solemn week, then. We will treat it with respect.
Before you listen: the song
Seville and Málaga
Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, when Christians remember the last days of Jesus: his entry into Jerusalem, his death on the cross on Good Friday, and his resurrection. In Spain it is celebrated with processions organised by brotherhoods (hermandades or cofradías), some of them several centuries old. Each brotherhood carries one or two great images through the streets, from its church to the cathedral and back.
In Seville, the images stand on pasos, carried by costaleros who are hidden underneath and cannot see where they are going; they are guided by a leader, the capataz, who knocks on the front with a metal hammer. The most famous night is la Madrugá, the early hours of Good Friday. In Málaga, the images stand on enormous tronos (thrones), carried in full view by hundreds of hombres de trono. On Holy Thursday the Christ of Mena is carried by soldiers of the Spanish Legion, who sing their hymn. In front walk the nazarenos, penitents in robes and tall pointed hoods (capirotes), an old Spanish tradition of anonymous penance. As a paso passes, someone may sing a saeta, a short flamenco prayer, from a balcony, and the whole street falls silent.
Our music: the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) is a Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary. The Austrian composer Franz Schubert wrote the melody in 1825 for a song from a poem by Walter Scott; today it is usually sung with the Latin words of the prayer, and it is one of the most loved pieces of sacred music. While the processions pass, the bands play solemn marches and the crowds watch in silence.
Some traditions are best understood with silence and respect.
Listen: the Ave Maria
PHILO
Listen quietly. Is the music fast or slow? Happy or solemn? Which instruments or voices can you hear?
SOPHIA
Imagine a narrow street in Seville at night, candles, incense and silence. Then answer Section A.
🕯️ Listen to the song: “Ave Maria” (Franz Schubert, 1825), the traditional prayer in Latin.Find a recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Ave Maria”, Schubert.Read the lyrics →
The passive in describing traditions
MARCOS
The thrones are carried by hundreds of men. The images are taken to the cathedral. The streets are filled with incense. The brotherhood was founded in the 1500s.
SOPHIA
be + past participle when the action matters more than who does it. Add by for who: The paso is guided by the capataz.
Relative clauses
DEMETRIA
The costaleros, who carry the paso, cannot see. The nazarenos, whose faces are hidden, walk in silence. Málaga is the city where the Legion sings.
SOPHIA
who (people), which (things), whose (possession), where (places). Commas around extra information: The saeta, which is a flamenco prayer, is sung from a balcony.
Telling an event in order
PHILO
First the drums are heard. Then the nazarenos appear. As the throne passes, everyone falls silent. While the band plays, a woman sings a saeta. Finally the paso returns to its church.
SOPHIA
first, then, after that, as, while, when, finally. as / while = at the same time. Procession words: a brotherhood, a penitent, a hood, a candle, incense, a float, to carry, to kneel, solemn, moving.
Sophia’s comparison: Passover in Jerusalem, and the Adonia
PHILO
At Passover, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims go up to Jerusalem, singing psalms, and the whole city is full of people praying. When a whole city prays together, you feel it in the streets.
SOPHIA
And here in Alexandria, long ago, Queen Arsinoe held the festival of Adonis in the palace: his image was laid out on a couch, the women sang laments for his death, and the crowds pressed in to see. The poet Theocritus wrote about two Alexandrian women pushing through those crowds.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| are carried by / was founded | the passive | The thrones are carried by hundreds of men. |
| who / which / whose / where | relative clauses | The costaleros, who carry the paso, cannot see. |
| first, then, as, while, finally | telling an event in order | As the throne passes, everyone falls silent. |
| brotherhood, nazareno, paso, trono, saeta | procession words | A saeta is sung from a balcony. |
| solemn, moving, silent | describing atmosphere | It was a solemn, moving night. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. What is Semana Santa?
2. Who organises the processions?
3. Who carries the pasos in Seville?
4. What is a saeta?
5. Who sings their hymn in Málaga on Holy Thursday?
6. Who wrote the melody of our Ave Maria?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. The thrones are by hundreds of men. (carry)
8. The brotherhood was in the 1500s. (found)
9. The costaleros, carry the paso, cannot see.
10. The nazarenos, faces are hidden, walk in silence.
11. Málaga is the city the Legion sings.
12. the throne passes, everyone falls silent. (at the same time)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “The paso is carry by the costaleros.”
14. “The nazarenos, whose faces are hidden, walk in silence.”
15. “Málaga is the city which the Legion sings.”
16. “As the band played, the crowd fell silent.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Describe a procession. Using photos or memories, describe a procession in your town step by step: first, then, as, while, finally. Use the passive.
Discuss. 1. Why do you think these processions move so many people, believers and non-believers? 2. How should visitors behave during Holy Week? 3. Which festival in your country is solemn rather than happy?
Write (120–150 words). A night in Holy Week. Describe a procession you have seen or imagine, using the passive, two relative clauses and time linkers.
Now play the gamebook: a great procession in Alexandria, and a bearer who cannot go on.Play the gamebook →