The Santísimo Cristo de San Agustín, Sacred Protector of Granada, made its way through the city streets this Sunday in the rogation procession called after the earthquakes that shook the province last August.
Numerous faithful and devotees accompanied the image to ask God to continue protecting Granada and to give thanks that the quakes caused no fatalities, although they did produce material damage, fear among the population, and the precautionary closure of several churches in the archdiocese.
The rogation was expressly promoted by the Archbishop of Granada, José María Gil Tamayo, following the seismic movements recorded in the capital and various municipalities of the province.
Mass and rogation through the streets of Granada
The day began with the celebration of Holy Mass in Granada Cathedral, presided over by Gil Tamayo and attended by representatives of the municipal corporation, members of the Brotherhood of the Santísimo Cristo de San Agustín, priests, and numerous faithful.
After the Eucharist, the image of Christ left the Cathedral to walk the city streets.
The procession had been announced after the August earthquakes, which forced the Archdiocese to adopt various preventive measures. Among them was the temporary closure of the Cathedral itself, which has since gradually resumed its normal activity.
The initiative also revived a practice deeply rooted in Granada’s Catholic history. For centuries, the city has turned to the Cristo de San Agustín in times of public calamity such as droughts, epidemics, and earthquakes.
Rogations before the image are recorded for the droughts of 1587 and 1635 and during the severe epidemic of 1679. Granada again sought the Cristo in 1755, a year marked by strong earthquakes, and during the cholera epidemic of 1834.
Read also: Granada will hold a rogation procession with the Cristo de San Agustín for the earthquakes
The five wounds of Christ marked the route
Prayer during the procession was centered on the five wounds of Christ—the hands, feet, and side. At five points along the route, the image paused so the archbishop could lead a reflection and prayer joined by the faithful.
“Lord and Savior, Holy Christ of San Agustín, Protector of the city of Granada. Today we stand before your sacred Image with hearts constricted and filled with concern for the continuous earthquakes that have shaken our land in recent days,” the prayer began.
The meaning of the procession was also expressed in another of the prayers:
“We are not here only to remember your suffering and your self-giving for us, but also to ask you to care with immense love for every corner of our beloved Archdiocese of Granada, its neighborhoods, its towns, and all the people who live in them.”
Along the route, prayers were also offered for strength to overcome the difficulties that hinder following the Gospel, that the Word of God may be “a beacon on our path,” that hearts may burn in the presence of God, and that the Blood of Christ may purify them.
A rogation that was questioned by a diocesan priest
Gil Tamayo’s call had sparked a striking controversy weeks earlier within the Archdiocese itself.
Mario Sixto Picazo Robles, parish priest of Santa María Micaela and diocesan chaplain of the Young Christian Workers, published an article questioning the decision to organize a rogation on account of the earthquakes.
The priest considered it necessary to avoid such acts conveying an understanding of God linked to direct intervention in natural phenomena.
The objection contrasted with Granada’s long history of rogations and with a traditional practice of the Church: turning to God in public calamities and needs to implore his help.
In the end, the rogation called by Gil Tamayo was celebrated with the participation of priests, civil authorities, the Brotherhood, and numerous faithful and devotees.
The Sacred Protector returns to the Cathedral
The procession concluded before the doors of the Cathedral with a final prayer and the blessing imparted by the archbishop. While the bells tolled and the faithful remained in silence, the image returned inside the church.
The Cristo de San Agustín is currently housed in the Cathedral as part of the exhibition «Kerygma. The art of evangelizing», organized to mark the first centenary of the Royal Federation of Brotherhoods and Confraternities of Granada and open until next December 28.
Already inside the Cathedral, the faithful sang the hymn to the Sacred Protector of Granada, bringing to a close a day in which the city once again did what its ancestors had done for centuries in the face of epidemics, droughts, earthquakes, and other calamities: go out in rogation, implore God’s protection, and give thanks for evils averted.