The origin of the Brotherhood of Saint John is linked to that of its primitive Image, property of Ms. Francisca de la Peña Aledo. Born on November 28, 1818, this 'sanjuanista' was the daughter of Mr. Juan de la Peña Angosto and Ms. Juana Aledo Quílez.
Guided by her seraphic existence, Ms. Francisca would turn the upper floor of the family home into a true sanctuary. This particular oratory included a Inmaculate Conception, another sculpture of Saint Francis and the carving of Saint John, all of them housed in three niches adorned with stained glass.
It seems that Saint John obeyed a tragic memory... On November 23, 1809, his brother Juan was born, and years later he was tragically a victim of the tuberculosis he suffered from. At twenty-two years old he was the first-born, the only boy, and he honed the tradition of being called Juan. Little 'Paquita' then felt her irreparable loss.
The joy and youth of the beloved brother were transfigured into the image of the Beloved Disciple, whose devotion and worship resembled the imperishable family memory. Then, his devotion to Saint John encouraged him to found a Brotherhood in 1856, assuming its financial maintenance.
The new Brotherhood organized around the titular effigy of the youngest of the apostles, Ms. Francisca de la Peña would guard the carving in her private oratory, and then process it through the streets of Cieza during Holy Week. It was her responsibility to be the first Chambermaid, as stated in the Book of Brothers, which lists in alphabetical order the members of the Brotherhood of Saint John from its foundation in 1856 to 1885.
In total, 108 were the founders of a Brotherhood that still exists. and during the twenty-nine years covered by the brotherhood registration book, a large group of people emerged united by the extensive ties of blood with the Peña family. It should be noted that numerous leaves are faded, cut or torn off, even used for cooking recipes. Therefore, the Founding Book lacks references to the inventory of the Brotherhood and the record of the letter jota has been suppressed, in such a way that there is no record of the supposed first older brothers, Mr. Juan and Mr. José de la Peña Angosto.
The Brotherhood would be governed by a series of statutes, perhaps with episcopal validation, but in reality they would remain under the tutelage of a certain family. And as previously stated, the Peña family will be in charge of the economic support of Saint John, until at the end of the 19th century they were replaced by the López family, and in the mid-20th century by the Pérez and Templado family.
The Brotherhood should be highlighted for three particularities: the first, for the incorporation into its ranks of a professional group sutured by the common belonging to medicine; the second, for the harmonious tonality of the notes of the Orchestra of his Brotherhood; and the third, for the multitude of 'chitos' who will always accompany the youngest of the apostles in joyful chiquilliría. One of the defining characteristics of the Brotherhood's evolution over time lies in the continued presidency of the figure of the doctor since its origins. From its founding in 1856 to 1962, the 'Beloved Disciple' was guided through a medicinal century, that is, a period in which several of its directors and prominent brothers respected the hippocratic oath.
After the death of her first Chambermaid, 'the Saint' retired to the Hermitage of the Holy crist of Consolation, in the 'Horcas Hill', in 1883 through the mediation of the popular Mr. Pedro Marín Martínez 'Macharro', who was also chaplain, was interested in depositing the Image in the hermitage. 'The Evangelist' would remain there, moving along with the other Images in the popular 'Bringing of the Saints' to participate in the Holy Week processional parades.
The good work of the cabinetmaker Mr. José Izquierdo Mestres and the friendship of Ms. Visitación Aguado Moxó with the wife of the 'Sanjuanista' Elder Brother, Mr. Juan López Gil, facilitated Ms. Eugenia Ruano Blázquez to order a new throne for the Image in 1896. These were times of renewal and the throne served, in the "family brotherhoods", as a letter of social introduction.
Starting in the last third of the 19th century, the neo-baroque taste further promoted the construction of thrones rich in decoration, with large and complicated branches, and with electrical installations as a synonym of modernity. Under these conceptual principles, Mr. Izquierdo Mestres designed a throne that fits and particularizes the ciezanos: the living room throne (double pedestal, supported by a central element as a vase, column or capital, succinct decoration and scarcity of arms of light or chandeliers). Those belonging to the 'Perla del Segura' are defined based on the dimensions of the main door of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption.
In 1897 the throne would be adorned with the gilding of Mr. Iganacio Amoraga Latorre. Since the 1870s, the skilled murcian and his wife, Ms. Dolores Vecino, settled in Cieza, combining the gilding of the catalan wood with the sound of the artistic burnishing of the gold leaf of goldsmithing and cabinetmaking together with their children, the confectioners and musicians, Francisco and Miguel. It is then, thanks to the work of the Lorente Brothers, a circumstance that preserved them and allowed them to parade again through the old town of Cieza after the Civil War. Being restored again between 1956-1957 by Manuel Juan Carrillo Marco. The renovated 'sanjuanista' altar underwent four alterations: the first, replacing the primitive decoration of the penalties with another based on successive rockeries and palms, corbels with scrolls in the corner of the first body and cartouches in the center of the first and third pedestal; the second, placing a silver eagle in front of each of the vases, while the arms of the candelabras were stylized with vegetal decoration of elongated leaf litter; and the third, covering the base as a corinthian capital and supporting the two bodies of the bases.
At the end of the eighties, in 1988, in the murcian workshops of Manuel Lorente Sánchez the throne was adapted, adding a lower base that increased the number from three to four rods. And definitely, with the help of the ciezano Bonifacio Pérez de Yébenes, the Brotherhood recovered the typical white pumps in 2009. On the other hand, to better show off the throne wore, since 1984, finery embroidered in gold on rao made by Ms. Bienvenida Semitiel Segura; to which were added those embroidered by the Felicitación Gaviero Galisteo workshops in 2016.
Apostolic tabernacle, jewel of nineteenth-century cabinetmaking, its light composure adjusts to the hasty walk of the 'Beloved Disciple', capable of inspiring the anonymous composition of 1947 entitled 'Romance of Saint John', perhaps written by Mr. Juan Pérez Templado: "Saint John is coming! His throne of gold rushes forward on white foam of white robes. Drums roll, violins sing and children sing under the platform. Saint John is over".
The Civil War caused the destruction of all the images kept in the Asunción and in the Hermitage of Saint Christ. It seems that his head was saved from that smoking pyre. Delivered to the eldest brother of the Brotherhood, Mr. Julián Pérez Cano, the head would be guarded throughout the fratricidal conflict until in 1940 it was placed in the hands of the murcian sculptor, José Planes Peñalver who, in addition to restoring it, gave shape to the rest of the body. Thanks to the work of Planes, the Image was presented in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption on March 18, 1940. Whims of fate, the hand that guides the path of so many ciezanos suffered a mishap that forced Manuel J. Carrillo to restore it.
However, "is the collected and restored head the same head of the ancient apostle?" Obviously not. A mere comparison between the current Image and the preserved photos of the destroyed San Juan verify at a glance that they are two unequal constructions. Therefore, "what is the origin of the current San Juan head?" It is the head of an Immaculate Conception of the 'Daughters of Mary' from 1907.
Throughout history, the Brotherhood of Saint John Evangelist in Cieza is linked to the history of its music. From its origins, musical notes were interpreted by their brothers who found in the Image an associative entity in which to group together to develop their creative work and maintain a specific scope of social relations. That is why, in 1860, in order to form a music band, the 'Saint John Band' was born under the direction of Mr. Antonio Verdú Martínez. In its Founding Book the presence of several 'sanjuanistas' Brothers is already confirmed. So much so that, between 1868 and 1877, they were cited as "musician brothers" who would join together in a small orchestra to accompany Saint John in the Processions as an inseparable part of their Brotherhood, turning this primitive orchestra into the pioneer within the ciezano brotherhood world. Foreign professional musicians, school teachers, notable figures from local society and sacristans performed the original ciezana musical keys with rhythmic and severe gestures. Under these batons the musical life of the town began to adapt, testing the staff of future performers, directors and composers.
The scores of the 'Procession Marches No.1 and No.2', dedicated to the Apostle, are due to the meritorious inventiveness of Maestro León, also director of the Orchestra; very excellent works and recently recovered by the Brotherhood. To this we must add the very traditional 'Saint John Pasodoble', a composition commissioned by Mr. Juan López Gil in 1891 at the initiative of his son Benito López Ruano. Thanks to the popular imagination, the first and very well-known 'sanjuanista' stanza and hymn is: "Saint John, Saint John is going to fall. Saint Raphael is going to catch him". Well, a carving of Saint Raphael was placed right in front of the Evangelist's chapel, in the Hermitage of Consuelo, and the eternal myth of its collection in the home of the 'Young Disciple' was fantasized... And since 'thanks' to the Archangel there was never any stumble, the complete lyrics of the famous 'pasodoble' were written in 1943 thanks to the poetic plectrum of Mr. Juan Pérez Templado.
Under the presidency of Mr. Juan María Buitrago Iniesta, already in 1972, the Brotherhood commissioned the carving of the Ecce Homo to the Murcian image maker, Juan González Moreno. A work that encompasses, with a serene expressive force, the recollection of the prisoner and the greatness of divinity. Condensing in the same size the canons of Murcian imagery, Castilian gravity and a Renaissance expressive force. In the words of the ciezano Mr. Antonio de Hoyos: "it is harmonious, balanced, serene...".
The work was paraded for more than thirty years on a throne of the Lorente Brothers that belonged to the Virgin of the Rosary of Nonduermas (1962). It was not until 2004, when the current throne of the Image arrived in Cieza. Work of the carver Domingo García Chahuán, with a basket finish and topped by the figures of the four evangelists.
A year before the arrival of González Moreno's beautiful work, the Brotherhood commissioned Concepción Escámez to create a very luxurious banner, which was embroidered with the same style and drawing on the front and back.
Already in 1992, the Brotherhood commissioned the Jumillano image maker, Mariano Spiteri Sánchez, to create the Throne titled 'The Lavatory of Pilate', transforming in 2011 into 'The Sentence', after the restructuring process of the Ciezano passion parades.
Finally, since the middle of the 19th century, the Brotherhood of Saint John Evangelist became a key piece of Holy Week in Cieza when it was integrated, with the rest of the Brotherhoods, in the founding in 1914 of the Board of Passionate Brotherhoods.
Photographs by Manuel Carpio.
© Archive of the Board of Passionate Brotherhoods of Cieza
