On Good Friday the men and boys of each confraternita (charitable religious brotherhood) depart from their particular church wearing different colored robes and white hoods over their heads with holes cut for their eyes. These are the pentiti – penitents, souls wandering, seeking forgiveness. Little girls dressed as nuns walk solemnly, hands pressed together in prayer, with their mothers fluttering around them, fussing, and proud relatives snapping photos, smiling.

This procession lasts for several hours, culminating with a meeting at the Duomo where statues of the Madonna and the sepulcher of her crucified Son meet, swaying from side to side, the men and boys carrying them, having waited their turn from year to year for the honor. Bands play somber, funereal music. Finally, they proceed through the city to the cemetery, returning at last to their churches and then home.

Known as Sicily’s belvedere, or lookout point, Enna is located right in the center of the island.