Good Friday processions in Malta date back to the 16th century. The first ever procession was held in Rabat by the Fransiscans and Rabat still boasts the oldest Good Friday statues in Malta. This statue known as The Redeemer is from the Mosta set. In Mosta, as in a few other parishes, chained and masked penitents take part. This is a tradition that dates back to the eighteenth-century Birgu, where slaves and "forzati" (persons condemned for various reasons to wear chains) took part in the procession. I remember the first time, as a small boy, hearing the eerie sound of the dragged chains and the penitents wearing white robes like the ones of the KKK. I was terrified!
