Sacred Saturates Profane: Holy Wednesday in Masaya Nicaragua

Holy Week in Latin American countries is a time when the sacred and profane intermingle in daily life to an extent rarely seen elsewhere.  These photos from Holy Wednesday in Nicaragua's Masaya region, lying just outside the beautiful colonial-era city of Granada,embody this intermingling.  In them, you will see a group of men carrying a figure of Jesus from one town to another either to or from one of the many religious processions of Holy Week.

Moving a Processional Statue, Holy Wednesday, Masaya Nicaragua

                                    

                                   

Group transporting processional figure resting along road, Holy Wednesday Masaya Nicaragua

                                                 

Processional Figure of Jesus along road, Holy Wednesday, Masaya Nicaragua

                                                     

                                           

Group transporting Processional Figure of Jesus, Holy Wednesday, Masaya  Nicaragua

                                               
Although this was an exotic spectacle to an outsider, for these Nicaraguan believers this was just business as usual.  A figure needed to be moved, so they moved. Above all, what these photos show is the extent to which these religious images are a part of the daily lives of those who believe in them.  A recent post of this blog (May 13, 2016: Person or Statue: The Complex Religious Images of Latin America) discussed this theme.  Please note that the image of Jesus in the photos above is not the same image as in the May blog post.