Universitaria (University)

Brotherhood of the Holy Christ of the University, Our Lady of Presentation and Saint Thomas Aquinas.

HISTORY.
This brotherhood was founded in 1989 by a group of students, most of them Law students and old students from Marist School Cervantes. They chose the Church of San Pedro de Alcántara as canonical see, next to the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts. The main image of Nuestra Señora de la Presentación (Our Lady of Presentation), made by Miguel Ángel González Jurado, was blessed in this church in June 1990.
Its first station of penance took place in 2007 and it was carried on a platform, whereas the second time, in 2008, it was carried on a pace by costaleros(pace carriers). That year the General Assembly agreed to commission the main image of the Holy Christ to Juan Manuel Miñarro López, professor of Sculpture at the Univeristy of Seville, because of his knowledge and expertise in the study of the Man at Holy Week. In March 2010 the image of Santo Cristo de la Universidad (Holy Christ of the University) was blessed in the Church of San Pedro de Alcántara.
In 2012 the brotherhood was transfered to the Church of Juramento de San Rafael and it started its procession on Holy Tuesday.

TEMPLE.
Church of Juramento de San Rafael. It is located in the popular neighbourhood of San Lorenzo, and its cult is dedicated to Arcángel San Rafael, guardian angel of the city.

THE IMAGES.
Santo Cristo de la Universidad (Holy Christ of the University) – [PHOTO #1; #2]
The image of Santo Cristo de la Universidad (Holy Christ of the University) is a wooden sculpture by Juan Manuel Miñarro from Seville. It is a “Sindonic Christ”, as the wounds from the Turin Shroud are exactly reproduced. In order to make it, a thorough study was carried out, with the aim of getting as real an image as possible; in fact, the image has the appearance of someone who died a year earlier, with the swollen adbomen. We can see the sand (brought from Holy Land) stuck on the wounds of his knees, due to Christ’s three falls on his way to the Calvary.
The nails are pounded on his wrists, the way the Romans were thought to carry out crucifixions. Because of this, his thumbs are bended towards his palms; the blood coming from the wounds is previous and after the death. On the wounds caused by the lashing, we can see the marks left by the metal balls the whips had on their ends. The traditional notice on the cross is written in Latin, Greek and Aramaic, and it has spelling mistakes. It was a derogatory and mocking gesture, proclaiming his condition of king of the Jews. It was written by illiterate people -not soldiers-, and therefore it was likely to have mistakes, as we can see.

Nuestra Señora de la Presentación (Our Lady of Presentation) – [PHOTO #1; #2]
The Virgen de la Presentación (Virgin of Presentation) was made by religious sculptor from Córdoba Miguel Ángel González Jurado around 1990.

NAZARENE HABIT.
Black sackcloth tunic inspired in the habit of San Pedro de Alcántara, tied with a white cord; over their shoulders, a similar cape. Black face-coverer and sackcloth hood. Black straw spadrilles.

IMPORTANT INSIGNIAS.
Banner of the brotherhood, with fine gold embroidery and designed by Francisco Pérez Artés.