My aunt passed on the devotion to me", explains the Barcelona teacher Pilar Calafell at the feet of Sant Crist de Lepant, which shines brightly following the restoration: it has ceased to be black. "I have a special bond with the cathedral - he continues -. My two children are baptized here and I come for Corpus Christi, the dancing egg, and other designated holidays. And if he has time, I'll tell him a story that gives you goosebumps." Come in!
"My father had suffered an embolism years ago and his left side was paralyzed. In the summer of 2001 he got worse and we had to feed him with a syringe through a tube. I was only able to do it once, on August 20. That, my father would not have wanted. He was very vital and always said: 'Life is a tango'. The next day I came to ask Christ that his agony would not last. I went down the steps of the cathedral and went back up: 'I'm telling you,' I told him. At the door, a couple was dancing a tango. When I got home, they had called from the hospital that he had already died. This showed me that the Christ of Lepanto listens to me. More than praying, I talk to him".
Calafell is one of the many people who have come these days to the chapel of Sant Sever to contemplate the restoration of the most revered image in the cathedral of Barcelona, like Esperanza Sánchez, who comes from Abrera: "I think it's perfect that have cleaned it. I don't look at the color of his skin, because it's just an image."
After praying in front of Sant Crist de Lepant, Sánchez explains to La Vanguardia that his devotion comes to him for his sister: "My brother-in-law had a tumor and he was cured. I go down on the seven Fridays of Lent and pray for my health because I've already had three kidney transplants."
After the eleven o'clock mass in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, the place where the Christ of Lepanto usually is, except during the weeks of Lent, some faithful come to see him in the opposite chapel. Avoiding the tourists, unaware of the mutation that the image has undergone, the faithful pray, especially to the Holy Christ, without giving too much importance to the fact that it is now white.
"People are pleasantly surprised", declares Marc Muñoz, one of the informants who provide service at the cathedral. In fact, the restoration was very fast: "For Easter it still came out".
"I stopped to see it so white," says Antònia Joan, who declares herself a devotee: "I go there from time to time. It's true that before, because it was so dark, you couldn't see his features. Maybe now they have passed, but I will continue to be just as devoted."
Teresa Graell comes specifically for the memory of her father: "He was devoted and I don't know what he would think of it. You can see more now, yes, but I'm a musicologist, I'm not understood".
Lluís Ignasi Bonastre, first master of the Corps of Bearers of Sant Crist de Lepant, declares: "After the initial surprise of the thirty bearers, we have come to recognize the image, with that placid smile, the way they look at you and understand you The restoration emphasizes the part of the scourge, of the wounds: now it is a more meaningful Christ. It could be an opportunity to relaunch the devotion of the people of Barcelona. I also want to highlight the history that we carry, perhaps since the 13th century. For many hundreds of years, the Christ has passed through many hands and this strengthens the tradition".
