Yesterday, Monday, November 9th, featured the celebration of a sung mass by the Coral L’Alfàs Canta, which provided music for one of the religious acts preceding the main day of the festivities. Subsequently, the procession of the Santísimo Sacramento took place, marking the end of the Trisagio and Jubilee events and serving as a prelude to the most anticipated celebration for the faithful.
Today, Thursday, November 10th, l'Alfàs prepares to experience the main day of its festivities in honor of the Santísimo Cristo del Buen Acierto. The traditional procession will once again gather numerous residents in the town's streets, in a collective display of devotion and respect towards the Christ, whose relic arrived in l'Alfàs on March 26, 1857, marking a turning point in local history. The day also includes the Embassy, which this year will be recited by young Valeria Orta.
The history of the Santísimo Cristo del Buen Acierto dates back to 19th-century Valencia. The image, a life-size carving that was housed in the former Convent of the Trinitarios de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, survived the Mendizábal disentailment and the subsequent demolition of the convent. After years without news of its whereabouts, it reappeared in 1857 in the church of San José de l'Alfàs del Pi.
According to historical tradition, Josefa Enjuanes y Francesquí, a woman belonging to the Valencian bourgeoisie, is said to have acquired the image and kept it safe in her home. Upon her death in December 1854, she bequeathed her assets to Pascual Baldó, including the crucifix, which finally arrived by sea from Valencia on March 26, 1857, and was delivered to the church of l'Alfàs.
In that same year, the jubilee tradition that gives these festivities their name was also initiated. On June 15, 1857, Pascual Baldó directed a request to Pope Pius IX to grant a Jubilee to the municipality. The response arrived on July 10th, when the pontiff granted a perpetual annual 40-hour Jubilee, to be celebrated on November 7th, 8th, and 9th, in the days preceding the church's dedication.
Since then, the Trisagio and Jubilee have been an integral part of the religious and cultural identity of l'Alfàs del Pi. A tradition that reaches its most solemn moment today, Thursday, November 10th, with the procession of the Santísimo Cristo del Buen Acierto, in which the municipality once again publicly expresses its devotion and the historical bond it maintains with its patron saint.
