Blinded by the light: El Rosario de Cristal
(vero;2024-Nov-21)
You can also check our photo gallery dedicated to the Museum of the Rosario in Zaragoza.
El Rosario de Cristal (Crystal Rosary) is a religious procession of brightly lit lanterns and floats which takes place in the city of Zaragoza every year in the evening of October 13th. It is part of the one-week Pilar Festival which since the 17th century celebrates the Virgen del Pilar (Our Lady of the Pillar), patron saint of the city and of Aragon. Her feast day is October 12th, which coincides with the National Day of Spain and the day of America's discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1492. The festivities begin on the week-end preceding October 12th and end on the Sunday after October 12th.
The Rosario de Cristal as such dates back to 1889 when the "Royal Brotherhood of the Most Holy Rosary of Our Lady of Pilar" was founded with the aim of reshaping the traditional procession by replacing the usual axes, candles and banners that were carried by the faithful with a collection of candle-lit glass lanterns and floats. The lanterns were designed to symbolise each individual prayer included in the Catholic Rosary Prayer: the Mysteries (significant moments in the life of Jesus and Mary), the Our Father, the Hail Mary (Ave Maria), the Glory be to the Father and the Loreto Litany. The work was carried out quickly and that same year the first new-look parade took place in Zaragoza and it was given its current name the year after: Rosario de Cristal. See this link from the Vatican if you want to know more about the Rosary Prayer.
Back then there were fifteen monumental lanterns representing each one of the Mysteries (identified by their name) which were carried on floats and a plethora of hand-held lanterns: 20 for the Our Father, 200 for the Hail Mary (Ave Maria), 20 for the Glory be to the Father, 4 for the salutations and 63 for the Loreto Litany .
The colours chosen for the floats varied depending on the type of mystery they represented. Thus, the Joyful ones (referring to the birth and childhood of Jesus) are predominantly red and green, the Sorrowful ones (corresponding to scenes from the Passion) tend to be more violet and green while the Glorious ones (typical of the Resurrection and Ascension) are often white and blue. As for the hand lanterns they are much simpler and smaller in size. They have geometric shapes and are topped with a metal crown. Each one has the name of the prayer it symbolises written in the centre.
Additional floats were added when Pope John Paul II introduced a fourth type of mystery in 2002: the Luminous Mysteries, sometimes called the Mysteries of Light, squeezed between the Joyful and the Sorrowful ones and referring to the events stretching from Jesus' baptism in the Jordan to the Last Supper.
But there is more! The parade is completed with other lanterns and floats, which although they are not linked to the rosary prayer itself, are an important addition to the procession. This is for example the case of the lantern of "the Great Cross of the Rosary" that opens the procession or of the one representing the Basilica of Pilar, a detailed large-scale model of the church completely made of glass (even its interior) and glowing in a golden colour.
An other important and symbolic float is the one of "La Hispanidad" (Hispanicity ). It is an allegory of Americas's discovery by Christopher Columbus with his ship the Santa Maria sporting a statue of the Virgin of Pilar which also happens to be the patron saint of Latin America, whose countries are represented by the flags surrounding the sail. Other representative lanterns are " The Alcázar of Toledo ", "the Salve", "La Marina", " The Holy Family ", "Angelus", "Marian Shrines" or "Coming of Our Lady".
Cars were introduced in 1926 to pull the floats (instead of them being carried on people's shoulders) and electricity was first used in 1940 to illuminate lanterns and floats. The procession starts at sunset when it leaves the Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, now turned into a museum) where the lanterns and floats are kept during the year. It then follows a route around the main streets of the city centre and ends in the Plaza del Pilar in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pilar.
If you cannot make it to the festival, we strongly recommend visiting the museum, Plaza de San Pedro Nolasco. The entry fee is 5€ including the audio-guide. Entry to the museum is free if you have purchased the 10€ combined entry ticket for the Seo cathedral and the basilica of our Lady of the Pillar (prices as per September 2024).
Don't forget to check our photo gallery for more pictures.
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$ updated from: Blog.htxt Fri 28 Feb 2025 14:45:59 trvl2 — Copyright © 2025 Vero and Thomas Lauer unless otherwise stated | All rights reserved $