Date Published: 13/01/2011
Barrio of San Anton in Murcia, the panecillos of San Anton
Fiestas of San Anton in Murcia, Barrio of San Anton
2011-01-13
Each year, the ladies living in the Barrio of San Anton in Murcia gather together to prepare thousands of what are known as the panecillos de San Anton.
The blessing of breads and biscuits takes many forms, in some parts of the region these are little round rings, sweet , hard , little rolls, almost like a dry biscuit but more like a bread stick texture to look at, and in other areas they´re more like a traditional shortbread biscuit.
In this district they take the form of flat biscuits, marked with a cross, the panecillos de san Anton.
The legend says that whoever carries one of these with them in their purse or handbag , will never lack for money.
On the Friday before the celebration of San Anton, at 6pm, the little panecillos are blessed in the church of San Anton and then distributed from the doorway of the church, in return for a donation, which goes towards church funds. A booth is set up outside, and purchasers make a donation in return for a little bag of rolls.
Many places throughout the region prepare and sell these little rolls of san anton, which commemorate the saint walling himself up for 6 months to pray, during which time he had only flat, dried bread to eat.
Not knowing the significance of these little rolls, we bought some when attending the Romeria of Torreaguera for the first time, sold by two lovely ladies accompanying the figure of the saint through the orchards of the Huerta on a donkey drawn cart.
We ate the whole lot on the way home, and very nice they were too, and were mortified to discover when doing some more reading up later on, to discover that had we left them in the car instead of eating them that we´d have had protection from ill luck all year and money to pay the bills.
Needless to say, this year, they´ll be left hanging up in the kitchen, well out of reach of the ever inquisitive and endlessly greedy cats.
On Monday 17th, the day of San Anton, mass will be celebrated at 12 midday and 7.30pm, and following mass there will be a blessing of the animals ceremony, followed at 8.30pm with a procession, in which the figure of San Anton will be carried around the streets of the district.
Following this, the figure of san Anton is left in the hermitage of San Francisco Javier until the 23rd of January, at which point he is returned to his own hermitage.
Parroquia San Francisco Javier San Anton
C/ Isaac Albéniz, 14, 30009 Murcia, España
Click for map, Parroquia San Francisco Javier San Anton