In Scano Montiferro, the liturgies of the representation of the Passion of Christ are celebrated with ancient ceremonials of medieval descent, mediated by the Iberian tradition.
In the village belonging to the historic region of Montiferru, the rites of Holy Week constitute the central and most heartfelt moment of the entire liturgical year. They open with the Palm Sunday celebrations to continue with the services of Good Friday and those of Easter Sunday. The following sacred representations are particularly suggestive: that of Good Friday, which recalls the Passion and the death of Jesus, and that of Easter Sunday with the rite of S'Incontru, or the reunion between the simulacra of the Risen One and the Virgin Mary.
The protagonists are the three brotherhoods of the town: the Brotherhood of Souls, the Brotherhood of the Holy Rosary and the Archconfraternity of the Holy Cross (also known as Saint Nicholas after the patron of the oratory in which it is based). The latter is the oldest and for this reason the oratory of San Nicolò with the parish of San Pietro are the focus of the rituals of the week of Passion.

On the Sunday before Easter, palm trees prepared previously by local masters in the art of weaving (filadores) are blessed. At the end of the blessing of the palm trees, a solemn procession to the parish church recalls the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
On Holy Wednesday, the priories of the above-mentioned brotherhoods prepare sa mesa de s'aranzu, literally 'the orange table'. The fruits, a symbol of abundance and prosperity, in other places on the island, for example in Bottida nel Goceanum, adorn the cross placed on top of the ritual fire lit on the occasion of the feast of Saint Anthony the Abbot. Sa Mesa de s'aranzu is arranged as follows: placed on a bed of rosemary and periwinkle, the fruits are arranged to form a cross, which will then be distributed to the members of the brotherhood at the end of the Easter Mass. Rosemary, an evergreen shrub, is well connected to the theme of victory over death, is full of good wishes and spreads its characteristic aromatic note into the air. It is also often present in the above-mentioned ritual fires in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot. Finally, the periwinkle is a flower rich in propitiatory meanings, so much so that it is included in the scepter of mammole and periwinkle (sa Pippia de Maju) with which the Corsican leader of the Oristano Sartiglia (on composers) blesses the crowd, with large cross signs. In the Mesa de Aranzu, as in the other rituals mentioned just now, the meanings of the official religion are combined with an archaic pre-Christian symbolic nucleus of agrarian origin.
On the evening of Holy Thursday, the Mass in Coena Domini is celebrated, during which the rite of washing the feet takes place: the priest repeats the gestures of Jesus who washed the feet of the disciples, impersonated by the priors and sub-priors of the three brotherhoods.
The rite commemorating the crucifixion (s'Incravamentu) is held behind closed doors in San Nicolò. Only the prior and the subprior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Cross take part. The latter, accompanied by the prioress and the sub-prioress, holding a burning candle in their hands, take the simulacrum of Christ with great devotion and carry it to the presbytery of the oratory, where, at the foot of the altar, the cross on which the statue of the Savior is fixed with sturdy nails has already been stretched out.
They then pause, with great recollection, in prayer on the sides of the cross. The altar of the reposition is adorned with black pepper, wheat sprouted in the dark, a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ in the darkness of the tomb. To accentuate the sacredness of the ceremony, the presbytery is separated from the rest of the oratory by a large canvas (sa Carta), depicting scenes from the Passion.
At the end of the ceremony, the doors of the oratory are opened and the Christ is exposed to the adoration of the confreres and all the faithful.
On the morning of Good Friday, sas Chilcas takes place, with the participation of all the brotherhoods and faithful. The Sardinian name sas chilcas, here as in other places on the island (e.g. in Cuglieri), designates the symbolic pilgrimage of the Virgin in search of the Son.
The simulacrum of Our Lady of Sorrows is conducted in procession, through the streets of the town, stopping at the various oratories. The parade has as its last point of arrival the oratory of San Nicolò, from where the crucified Christ is taken. The procession then starts at the parish church where the cross rises on one side of the presbytery.
Solemn, on the evening of the same day, is the paralliturgy of S'Iscravamentu (lit. The unfolding of the dead body of Jesus). The protagonists of the deposition are four figures representing, in special robes, the disciples (SOS Discipulos) who laid Jesus down from the cross and buried him.
The disciples begin their journey from the oratory of San Nicolò where the clothes necessary for the sacred performance are kept. After the recitation of a prayer (s'obligassione), accompanied by the brotherhood, they go to the parish church, where the population has already gathered to listen to the preacher's homily. At his wave, the disciples approach the cross and proceed to the deposition of the dead Christ, scrupulously following the indications of an ancient ceremonial, which is gradually remembered by the preacher. The Lord's body, after being shown to Our Lady of Sorrows and the crowd, is placed in a litter (a letter) adorned with flowers and candles.
At dusk, through the narrow and winding streets of the historic center of the town, the procession unfolds that brings the dead Christ back to the oratory of San Nicolò, accompanied by the Miserere choir. In the past, from the liveliness of the candlelight that adorns a letter, predictions were drawn for the outcome collected.
After the silence of Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday is the time of joy, which reaches its highest moment with the procession of s'Incontru between the simulacra of the Risen One and the Virgin Mary.

The history of the event

Even in Scano Montiferro, as in the rest of the island, the celebrations of Holy Week in Sardinia derive their origin mainly from the rites of Iberian origin. Such, for example, is the iconography of the Sorrowful Virgin, the protagonist of the celebrations described above.
The ceremonies and liturgies of the official religion are accompanied by expressions of popular devotion and rites with pre-Christian agrarian symbols. This religious substrate includes the meanings related to oranges, rosemary, periwinkle and forms of prediction aimed at knowing the results of the cultivation cycle.