The Procession of the Holy Blood - Bruges - Belgium.

The Procession of the Holy Blood-Bruges-Belgium.

Today we are in the beautiful medieval city of Bruges in Belgium. The City of Bruges originated as a 9^th century fortress built to defend the coast against the Vikings. The City of Bruges owes its prominence to the beauty of its historic centre, whose cobblestone lanes and meandering canals are lined by beautiful preserved and kept medieval buildings.  It is just one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen and it is pure delight to just walk and take in all the beautiful sights that this city has to offer.

Last night just on dusk 16 of us went for a horse and cart ride through the narrow streets and alongside the canals. Sarah, the large Belgium horse that was pulling our cart clipped clopped her way over the cobblestones and in a couple of places she actually went into a full gallop. The city was almost deserted and it was great to see and enjoy her many wonderful sights without having to fight the crowds. It was also a great way to get orientated and we all enjoyed the twinkling of the street lights and the magical reflections in the water on the canals.

                                           This is the View we have across from Our Hotel.

                                                Views of the Canals in the City of Bruges.

                    General Views of the Beautiful City Of Bruges from Our Morning Canal Ride.

 

We only have one full day in Bruges - it is a public holiday and also the most important day of the year for the people of this lovely city. It is Ascension Thursday and on this day every year the citizens of Bruges hold The Procession of the Holy Blood. Today this city is going to be full of 100s of thousands of pilgrims and sightseers all come to watch and be part of this procession.

In the morning we go on a walking tour of the city. This is conducted by a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic local guide who also gives us lots of info about the events that are going to take place that afternoon. She also takes us on a canal boat ride and to see how the beautiful bobbin lace from this area is made.

At about 1.30pm Allan and myself take up a position on a corner just outside the Welcome Church of Our Lady and wait for the start of the procession. The crowds and the excitement grows and at 3.15pm the parade starts to pass us.

 

The young girls dressed in period costumes lead the procession.

 



Even the local sheep have a role to play.

 





 

Here comes Moses and all his followers.

 

This horse really enjoyed being part of the procession.

 

Here comes Jesus carrying his cross.

The horse on the right was not happy with the part he had to play.

 

Below is the special tabernacle holding The Holy Blood of Christ.

 

Well I think that nearly every citizen in Bruges has a part to play –the procession takes two hours to pass and for most of this time I am standing on a small stone fence so I can see over the big crowd.

The procession starts with Adam and Eve and then depicts every major biblical character up to the birth of Christ. Each group comes and stops just near us and preforms –sings and dances and says their bit and then moves on. The crowd cheers and claps each performance. There are hundreds of people including children in the procession all dressed in beautiful period costumes of the time they are representing. There are big and small horses, camels, sheep, donkeys and dogs –all have a part to play and they all do it to the best of their ability.  There is lots music with bands or singers accompanying each story and all the time the cathedral and church bells from all over the city are taking it in turn to chime out their message of rejoicing.

We then see the life of Christ depicted and when it comes to his death, statues from the churches are carried high and proud. Eventually we get to the time of the crusades. The whole procession so far has been leading up to the showing of the small but very precious scared Phial which is supposed to contain a few drops of blood and water washed from the body of Christ as he hung on the cross. This Phial was brought to Bruges from Jerusalem in 1150by the crusaders.

I have always wanted to see a special religious celebration in Europe but I never dreamt that I would see, enjoy and be part of anything as grand and as important as this. It was wonderful and I will never forget my day in Bruges.

This is one of my favourite photos taken in Bruges - It is of a private house down the end of a dead end laneway with the most beautiful pink rose. We were very luck to even see this house as it was well away from the tourist areas.