The Beauty of Latin American Holy Week

                                     

Viacrucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Holy Week in Latin America, Semana Santa, is a spiritually intense time and this spiritual

intensity is reflected in the beauty of its rituals.  This article provides links to a few that

are among the most spectacular of these.

The sawdust carpets of Antigua Guatemala are world famous.  Created as a holy surface for 

the religious processions to walk over their stunning beauty is short-lived.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-anatomy-of-sawdust-carpet-lent-in.html

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Huertos, which translates as orchards, are elaborate structures made of fruits, vegetables and 

palm leaves, meant to symbolize an earthly paradise.  

 

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-huertos-of-guatemala-and-nicaragua.html

The sawdust carpets of Sutiava in Leon, Nicaragua are very different from those of Antigua.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/05/art-as-sacrifice-sawdust-carpets-of.html 

The Via Crucis Aquatic of Granada, Nicaragua is a unique event.  It is one of very few Stations

of the Cross performed on water in boats.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2018/04/via-crucis-aquatic-granada-nicaragua.html

Dia de los Muertos: An Overview

Pomuch Campeche MX

Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is celebrated throughout Mexico.  The holiday, which combines elements of Christian belief and practice with indigenous elements, runs from October 31-November 2, although in practice Dia de los Muertos events and preparations begin well before the designated dates.

Celebrations in all areas of Mexico involve the belief that during the days of the Dead, the boundary between the living and the dead becomes  permeable and the dead return to the sphere of the living with the invitation of the smells of special foods, flowers   and incense that are arrayed on altars built for them.  What is most interesting is how the customs vary from place to place. 

The linked article below has several links that will take you to articles and videos about the  unique celebrations of Dia de los Muertos in different areas of Mexico. Please take alook.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-dia-de-los-muertos-odyssey.html

Hidden New Mexico

 

Jose de Gracias Church, Las Trampas, New Mexico

Taos High Road, rock formation

North of Santa Fe is a road that leads back in time.  The Taos High Road winds its way  

through old  New Mexican towns like  Truchas, Cordova and Las Trampas.  In each of these 

places there is an old adobe church.  In the last two weekends of September, the High Road 

comes to life with the annual High Road Art Tour.  The church in Las Trampas is open to the 

pubic, though no photos of the interior are permitted.  The little church in Truchas is beautiful

and an  of the colonial New Mexican style. It is not open to the public, but I received special 

permission to photograph within it.  

This link will take you to an article about this rarely seen uniquely New Mexican colonial 

church.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/07/new-mexican-gem-of-taos-high-road.html

 

The Unique Holy Week of Central America

Via Crucis Aquatic-Granada, Nicaragua 

 

Holy Week in the Central American countries of Guatemala and Nicaragua is similar to that in other parts of the Latin American world, but also very different. Nowhere else will you find the elaborate sawdust carpets, Huertos (elaborate gardens constructed of fruits and vegetables) or a Good Friday Via Crucis in boats on the water.

The sawdust and floral carpets created during Lent and Holy Week are unparalleled. These carpets are created on streets before the passage of a religious procession and are meant to be destroyed as they are walked on by the procession.  They are a gift to the divine.  Antigua, Guatemala is world-famous for its carpets.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-anatomy-of-sawdust-carpet-lent-in.html

The carpets of Barrio Sutiava in Leon, Nicaragua are very different from those of Antigua.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/05/art-as-sacrifice-sawdust-carpets-of.html

This video, shot in Antigua, Guatemala takes an in-depth look at these carpets and their construction.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/03/video-available-sawdust-and-floral.html

                                        ___________________________ 

Huertos are spectacular displays of fruits and vegetables constructed in churches and, in Nicaragua, in special structures built for the occasion.  The word huerto translates as vegetable garden or orchard and they symbolize the abundance and redemption of the resurrection. 

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-huertos-of-guatemala-and-nicaragua.html

                                       _____________________________

On Good Friday, throughout the Christian world, the Via Crucis, Stations of the Cross is performed publicly.  In Granada, Nicaragua there is a completely unique Via Crucis in boats on the city's Lake Nicaragua.   

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2018/04/via-crucis-aquatic-granada-nicaragua.html

                                      _______________________________

Nandaime, Nicaragua is a small country town that has a celebration that turns the ancient purification ritual of self-flagellation on its head.  In Nandaime on Holy Wednesday each year for one hour, participants roam the streets good-naturedly whipping anyone in their path. It did sting a bit, but was interesting to be there.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2016/04/taking-hit-holy-wednesday-in-nandaime.htm

                                          ___________________________________                                                                     

Antigua Guatemala is world-famous for its spectacular Holy Week processions. Here is one that took place on the day before Easter, an important day in the Latin American world.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/04/video-holy-saturday-procession.html

                                        ____________________________________

Bands are a central part of processions.  Special music has been composed for them over the years. In essence they are funeral bands.  

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-music-of-holy-week-processions.html

The Day of Guadalupe

                                                                         Guadalupe

Although Dial de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, may be Mexico's most famous holiday, tomorrow is equally important. On December 12, throughout Mexico, is the festival of Guadalupe.  Actually, the festival has been in motion long before this culminating day, with pilgrims rushing to reach their goals.  Some head for the official Shrine of Guadalupe in Mexico City.  Others head to their home churches, but all are striving  to fulfill a promise made to Guadalupe that they would make a pilgrimage in honor of a prayer she has fulfilled. 

Guadalupe is the Patron Saint of Mexico and her day is a national holiday.  The time surrounding the holiday is dynamic, colorful and deeply moving in its depth of religious commitment and passion. The following post describes  journeys made by pilgrims in observation of the festival.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-race-for-guadalupe.html

Celebrations of Guadalupe's day differ from region to region,. The next article shows a colorful and beautiful celebration of the festival in a small beach town on the Yucatan Peninsula's "Riviera Maya".  

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/02/guadalupe-in-paradise.html

 

 

Nicaragua's Holy Week Gems

Constructing a Huerto, Diria, Nicaragua

Nicaragua has not been as well-known a site for Holy Week tourism as Guatemala.

Yet, the observances there are beautiful and several, the Aquatic Stations of the Cross, the good natured penitential floggings of Nandaime and the magnificent huertos, you won't see anywhere else.  Below is a link to  compilation of writings of Holy Week events in Nicaragua. 

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2019/04/semana-santa-holy-week-in-nicaragua.html

 

Guadalupe's Day

 

Tomorrow, December 12,  is the Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe Mexico's Patron Saint. It is one of the most important days in the Mexico being both a religious and national holiday.

Much of Guadalupe's feast day involves believers reaching a destination (Guadalupe's Shrine in Mexico for some, a home church parish for others) to fulfill a promise to undertake a pilgrimage in thanksgiving for some favor bestowed upon them by Guadalupe. 

Here is a compilation of articles from this blog about Guadalupe and her story :

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2014/02/our-lady-of-guadalupe-miracle-or.html

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-race-for-guadalupe.html

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/02/guadalupe-in-paradise.html

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2014/02/video-basilica-of-guadalupe-mexico-city.html