Maybe it’s just me, but it felt like every day last week we were reminded that the Virgin Mary is the patron saint of Seville, and how much the citizens of the city revere, respect and honor her. On more than one occasion, we were reminded that the entire city turns out for a citywide procession honoring Mary on the day of the Feast of the Assumption. And I know from some prior research that this is not unique to Seville, but that many cities throughout Spain honor Mary in this way, and in fact, the day of the assumption is not only just a Holy Day of Obligation but still a national holiday throughout Spain.
What I had failed to realize was that the Feast of the Assumption is August 15 (Friday) and that we would actually be in town (briefly) on that day. Friday also happened to be our travel day from Seville to Tangier.
My realization happened on Thursday evening around 9:30 as we were walking our evening paseo past the cathedral and heard beautiful chorale music and saw large crowds gathered outside the entrance. And that’s when it occurred to me that this must be the evening Vigil Mass. And it was filled to overflowing, with onlookers trying to peer in behind the security guards.
My disappointment at missing the Vigil, however was quickly forgotten as I noticed the posted Mass times for Friday morning - 5:30am, 6:00am and 6:30am - which meant that there was still a chance to get to Mass prior to our scheduled 8am bus ride to Tarifa/Tangier. But we still needed to get home, packed and ready to roll the next morning.
We opted for the 6:00am service and the streets were still dark and quiet as we made the 10 minute walk. That is, until we approached the cathedral, which was already packed with parishioners from the 5:30am Mass! That was really a sight to behold that the cathedral was full for a 5:30am Friday morning service. But such is the Marian devotion in Seville.
We found our seats and no sooner had the 5:30am Mass ended when the 6am started, even as people were simultaneously filing in and out.
And clearly there was going to be a large outdoor procession later that morning. People were dressed as if preparing to carry floats, the streets around the cathedral were taped off and (even though it was still dark outside, people were already claiming their spots along route by setting down chairs on the street.
When our Mass was finished, we rushed back home just in time to catch our Uber and we were off yet again on our next adventure - bus to Tarifa, then ferry to Tangier!
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