Holy Monday is the second day of Holy Week, following Palm Sunday. In Verges, everyone is already looking towards Maundy Thursday, but the days beforehand have a life of their own: rehearsals, gatherings and small customs that bring the village together.
The local memories of rehearsals and preparations below are mainly based on Serrà’s description of 1996. They are not the current programme; arrangements must be confirmed for each edition.
The children rehearse too
Serrà describes how, in mid-afternoon, the sound of drums announced rehearsals for the Processó dels Petits. Her 1996 account preserves the image of children playing Roman soldiers with broom handles, marching to the drums and learning the movements for their Holy Saturday outing.
In that period, children’s rehearsals were spread across the days of Holy Week. To find out when to watch them in a particular edition, check the organisers’ calendar; the memory of Monday tells us above all how preparations feel from within.
A bag of sunflower seeds for the rehearsal
In Serrà’s account, the plaça Major became a rehearsal space in the evening. The text even preserves a small audience custom: watching rehearsals while eating sunflower seeds. It is a detail of that period’s atmosphere, rather than practical advice for current editions.
Some waited their turn in front of the stage; others reviewed their lines or movements. The manages rehearsed with their spears, and the Dance of Death was also preparing in the Placeta. Serrà describes the need for respect and concentration, with children learning their roles, some for the first time.
What does the Holy Monday liturgy recall?
Holy Monday has its own readings at Mass. The Gospel tells of Jesus’ anointing at Bethany: Mary anoints his feet with perfume while Martha serves and Lazarus sits at the table (Jn 12:1-11). The passage looks ahead to the Passion.
The expulsion of the traders from the Temple also belongs to Jesus’ final days in Jerusalem and is associated with Monday in some accounts of Holy Week. This association is distinct from the particular Gospel reading at that day’s Mass.
Mass and the days ahead
The April 2026 parish bulletin listed Monday Mass at 7 pm. Special Holy Week arrangements will be confirmed in each year’s bulletin.
Monday is also a good day to make and eat brunyols! Holy Tuesday follows, with more rehearsals and shared work. The day-by-day guide traces the whole journey to Easter.
A documented Monday: preparations in 1996
On pages 76–77 of Verges i la processó que no es veu, Màriam Serrà describes children rehearsing as manages with broom handles and the audience’s atmosphere in front of the stage. She also observes sound tests and adjustments. These are details of Holy Week in 1996, not an announcement for this year.
Children’s preparations and adults’ rehearsals coexist in the village, with different needs. This account shows participation as learning that begins before the public event, without establishing a universal starting age or a single day for all rehearsals.
Sources for this addition
Màriam Serrà, Verges i la processó que no es veu (1998), pp. 76–77. Account of Holy Week in 1996.
