Cofradía Sacramental del Cristo del Divino Amor y Nuestra Señora de la Soledad “La Marinera”

Foundation year: 1942

Canonical See: Convent of the Nuns of the Blood

Images:

Sculptural Group of the Christ of Divine Love: Holy Christ of Divine Love • Miguel Castellanas, Olot 1942. Virgin Mary, Saint John • Miguel Castellanas, Olot 1942

Image Mariana: Our Lady of Solitude "La Marinera" • Bautista Vera 1710

Shield:

As main elements we find those that refer to the passion of Jesus Christ, in the central axis we find a cross, symbol of salvation, on each side of it we find a whipping representation of the passion and a ladder representing the passage of descent . On the ground we find the three nails of Jesus Christ, all framed by a smooth border of eye color and topped by the crown of thorns, also all in a blood red color, in memory of its canonical seat and the convent of the Reverend Augustinian Mothers. of the Holy Blood of Christ.

Dress:

It is traditional for this Brotherhood to wear a blood red vesta and a satin mask. They wear a white satin cape and on the left shoulder the embroidered shield of the corporation. At the waist we find golden cord. It is complemented with white gloves and socks and red footwear.

History:

In 1600, and according to the Chronicle of Viravens, there was a chapel for prisoners sentenced to capital punishment. In it there was an image of the Virgin with the invocation of Soledad. This image was highly revered: the sick believed they were cured by contact with the headdress or the rosary that hung from their small and fine hands; the sailors invoked it to obtain their protection and not fall captive of the pirates. And, so many were the favors that those people substituted the title of Soledad for that of Our Lady of La Marinera.

Over four centuries, the image has suffered two serious desecration. The one that occurred with the entry of the English in which she was rescued from the filth (8 August 1706) and the one in 1931 in which her remains appeared among a pile of ashes and rubble. Even today his face, and especially his eyes, carry the memory of those events.

According to the "Chronicle" of Dean Blessed, we know that in the Convent of RR.MM. Canonesas de San Agustín, the Brotherhood of the "Blood of Christ" was founded, which received the protection of the City.

"As it favors it by sending its officers and advisers to attend and accompany the procession that the brotherhood makes on Good Friday with a white wax candle that the City pays for each one"

However, in light of the data revealed by the "Foundation Book" of the Convent of the Sangre de Cristo in the city of Alicante, it is evident that the existence of this brotherhood was prior to the founding of the Convent.

It refers to the founding act that, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, some religious and gentlemen, tried to gather in the hall of the City Council of some juries of it, the Dean and Cabildo de la Colegial and some other gentlemen, with the purpose of present the concern of

"make a nunnery in this city to be able to fulfill their good wishes with him and not force them to leave the land to do so because of the difficulty and inconvenience that they used to offer there"

Considering the reasons, it was resolved that said convent be built and subject to the Ordinary and that it be written to the Bishop of Orihuela, Don Andrés Balaguer, requesting a license to do so and to name what order it would be. The Dean Miguel Zaragoza, the Canon and Commissioner of the Holy Inquisition, Tomás Pérez, were appointed by elect; the Canon and Vicar, Jaime Galante; Father Master Fray Jerónimo Gracián of the Mother of God, of the Order of Our Lady of Carmen; Don Juan Vich, Bayle of the Orihuela Government; and Jerónimo Vallebrera, gentleman.

In the pastoral visit that the Bishop made to the city in April 1606, he granted the requested license and imposed some conditions that are later included in the order received by the notary Don Juan Torres on May 16, 1606. , empowering Canon Pedro Ivarra and Jerónimo Vallebrera to found said monastery in his name, to bring the founders of the Monastery of San Cristóbal de Valencia and buy the necessary house or houses and other things suitable for said foundation.

In compliance with the agreement, they brought together the mayordomos and brothers of the Brotherhood of the Blood of Christ and

"The church and other houses of the aforementioned brotherhood asked of them for in it as a more appropriate place to make said monastery. And all unanimously and in agreement agreed with such a just request and made a donation of it for that purpose with certain capitulations, as it seems with a car for before Francisco Pérez, notary "

On July 16, 1606, the founders arrived and on the 18th of the same month and year, they settled in what would become known as the Convent of the Blood of Christ.

All of the above argues that the origin of the Brotherhood of the Blood of Christ of Alicante could well go back to the 16th century, despite the fact that its founding date remains unknown. If the Convent was founded in 1606, and at that time the Brotherhood had a church and houses adjoining it, it is obvious that it had had an administrative organization for a long time - in the Foundation Book, reference is made to the existence of stewardship-, and of some cults and acts in honor of the images of Ecce Homo and the Virgen de la Soledad. And this, in addition, corroborates the statement collected by Viravens in his Chronicle, by saying

(…) "In the 1600s there was a Shrine that served as a Chapel for prisoners condemned to the last sentence."

Another piece of information that helps us to date the existence of this Brotherhood of Blood was the devotion of this dedication throughout the Kingdom of Valencia. It was linked to the resurgence of the companies of disciplinarians who supported Saint Vincent Ferrer in his travels and preaching - remember that Saint Vincent Ferrer preaches in Alicante in the year 1411. It coincides with the rise of the Vera Cruz brotherhoods In Castile and Andalusia, who venerated the relic of the Lignum Crucis, from the 15th century, the Kingdom of Valencia began to worship the Blood of Christ.

Juan Bautista Maltés, in his work Illice Ilustrada, very neatly, tells us about Alicante's devotion to the images of the Convent of the Blood, the Ecce Homo (this iconography that in the Kingdom of Valencia represented devotion to the Holy Blood of Christ , as is the case of Manises, Pego and Elche) and La Soledad "La Marinera".

In a portentous story that occurred in Mislata would be the origin of the devotion to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. Once this festival was disclosed to Valencia, a brotherhood was founded in the parish of San Miguel and San Dionisio, in the suburb of Villa Nueva, whose constitutions were approved on March 15, 1535 by Gaspar Rubió, doctor of canons and vicar general. Paulo III instituted his festival in Bula dated April 14, 1540. The foundation of this brotherhood has been located in various towns throughout the Kingdom of Valencia.

The carving of the Virgin is one of the oldest of the Alicante Holy Week, and although it was burned in the riots of 1931, the head could be rescued from among rubble and ashes by D. Julio Parreño, who restored it and incorporated a frame body. It should be noted that, during the Civil War, the image was hidden in Mr. Parreño's house, where he protected it from an uncertain future, until the end of the civil war he was able to return it to the convent.

In 1942 the brotherhood was re-founded and it was named after the Christ of Divine Love and Virgin of Solitude, La Marinera, grouping together members of the Official Associations of Procurators, Doctors, Pharmacists and Practitioners. Besides the passage of the Soledad, the Marinera, the Brotherhood would acquire a new passage, a Calvary of astonishing execution and exceptional realism.

Musical contribution to Holy Week

• Divine Love and Solitude • José Aparicio Peiró. Procession march. Dedicated to the Brotherhood of the Christ of Divine Love and the Virgin of Solitude. March 30, 1996.
• Soledad (song) • Carlos Berrueco