Happenings on Film: the Opening of the Jubilee of Mercy in Como

In the last December, in my city (Como), there was the opening of the holy door of the cathedral, on the occasion of the jubilee proclaimed by Pope Francis. This is a rare event, which certainly does not occur every year (like the Christmas, Easter or Carnival events), and therefore it deserved to be photographed accurately in all its parts. For the first part of the event, I used an Ilford HP5+ film roll exposed at the nominal sensitivity of 400 ISO, while for the final part (after sunset) I used another roll of the same film pushed at 800 ISO. The ceremony began in mid-afternoon in the Sanctuary of the Crucifix, located just outside the walls of the historic center, with a moment of prayer led by the city bishop. The crowd was so large that many had to wait outside the church.

The procession, with songs and prayers, was then directed toward the old town, always accompanied by the presence of the bishop and several priests.

I felt compelled to dedicate some photos to this nice priest who directed a choir with great enthusiasm from the sanctuary until the entrance of the cathedral.The gestures of his hands speaks for itself!

The next three pictures show the bishop in procession, escorted by the police forces in full dress.

To reach Cathedral Square in time for the opening of the holy door I left the procession halfway, coming in a square full of crowd when I took the final photos of the series holding the camera above my head. I was the only with a film camera, everyone was using a mobile phone!

I close this article with the image of the closed door (taken in the morning before the ceremony), and with the same door open in the following days, crossed by a regular flow of people.

Honestly I have not seen many happy faces for this nice event; and in the crowded square there were people arguing because someone held the phone up, preventing others from seeing. Soon I’ll tell you of another winter event, in which I observed the same expression of sadness and fatigue on people’s faces.

written by sirio174 on 2016-07-16 #news #lifestyle #event #opening #door #italy #como #regular-contributor #happenings-on-film #jubilee-of-mercy