Guatemala, being traditionally very Catholic, celebrates Semana Santa on a scale quite possibly bigger than Christmas. My landlady’s whole family came into town for the week and stayed in the extra beds at my place, effectively turning the place from an ever-quiet respite to a carnival, complete with loads of food and indoor soccer (see below). They also brought with them the Priest from their local parish who was delightful and taught me lots about the significance of different Semana Santa events.
Among those events were plays in which people from my town acted out the whole passion of Christ from the last supper until the resurrection, including a real live crucifixion (don’t worry; they tied, not nailed his hands to the cross). The whole thing was really quite amazing and experiencing it alongside my neighbors was something I’ll never forget.
On Saturday night the whole town gathered on the basketball court to remember the women who went to Jesus´ tomb to mourn with a candlelight service. There was a short reading from the Bible and then we began lighting our candles. The flame started with the priest in the middle and then was passed person to person until it reached the outer limits of the circle. It was a beautiful ending to my first Semana Santa.
No comments:
Post a Comment