The evening of July 23rd and the morning of the 24th in Bolsena recall the Mysteries of Santa Cristina, a sacred display involving over 100 participants in a dozen "living pictures" (called Mysteries).
They represent the scenes of torture to which the saint was subjected during the persecutions by the emperor Diocletian.
Santa Cristina has become famous and much loved because of the incredible number of corporal penalties she was subjected to before being finally killed with an arrow.
The scenes represent: Santa Cristina floating on the lake with the stone around her neck, the torture of the wheel, the prison, the torture of the furnace, the devils, the scourging, the destruction of the idols, the asps, the death by the arrow and finally the deposition in the sepulchre.
The evening begins with a solemn mass in the small basilica in the cave where the urn was found holding the remains of the saint.
This is followed by a procession with the statue of the Saint that is brought to the church of the SS. Salvatore in the upper part of the village near the fortress and passes by all the stands where the figures bring to life the scenes of martyrdom.
The day after a new procession brings the statue of Santa Cristina to the basilica.
The feast takes place on the day of the miracle of the Eucharist the time when a Bohemian priest saw the host bleed during a mass at the tomb of Santa Cristina.
The procession was celebrated for the first time in 1811 by the will of the Franciscan friar Francesco of the Cozza Counts.
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