ColonialMexicoInsideandOut: Processions

Friday, March 2, 2018

Good Friday Procession: An Invisible Participant

Semana Santa, Holy Week, is the final week of the church's observance of Lent, the

40 day (more or less) penitential period of the church leading up to Easter. In Mexico and all of Latin America, Semana Santa is a major event, marked by religious processions and ritual. The Holy Week processions of certain places are famous, particularly the world-famous processions of Antigua, Guatemala. Please follow the links below to see previous posts and videos of some of these:
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/04/video-holy-saturday-procession.html
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/04/videos-of-holy-week-in-latin-america.html

As you can see from the videos, processional figures and floats are elaborate and their imagery rich. The major actors from the biblical accounts of the last week of Jesus' earthly life are represented in beautiful and costly images, as in this float bearing Jesus carrying his cross

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However there is one curious exception you will see on Holy Friday in Antigua. In the photos below we see a procession forming at the magnificent early 18th century church of San Francisco el Grande. There are the incense and standard bearers and some of the clergy in front of the church's magnificent baroque façade.

Good Friday procession, San Francisco church, Antigua Guatemala

A red velvet canopy emerges carried by four men in the traditional hoods that conceal their faces and identities. There is no image visible under this canopy and it remains empty to our eyes throughout the long procession. Yet, it leads the procession.

Good Friday procession, San Francisco Church, Antigua Guatemala

The Holy Spirit in procession, Good Friday procession, Antigua Guatemala

Although the canopy looks empty, to the eyes of faithful believers it is not.
The occupant is the Holy Spirit, the spiritual force that breathed life into being and continues to support creation. In Christian theology, the Holy Spirit, along with God the Father and Jesus, is one part of the Trinity, a concept that was the end of long theological debate centuries ago.

In Latin American religious art, the Holy Spirit is typically represented as a bird. This can be seen in both Mexican depictions of the Trinity below.

Holy Trinity, Merida Cathedral, Merida MX

Trinity, Itzimna Church, Merida MX

Another typical Latin American representation of the Trinity is as one of three actual persons, as in this New Mexican santo.

Santo of Holy Trinity by Jose Maria Benavides, New Mexico

Yet, in the Antigua procession, there is no image. This representation of the Holy Spirit without any image is not seen in many (if any other) Holy Week processions where the focus is on Jesus, Mary, St. John and other central participants in the biblical accounts of the final week of Jesus' earthly life. It is something unique in the Latin American world, although perhaps there are precedents in Spain where the processions have a longer history, stemming from medieval times.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

The Anatomy of a Sawdust Carpet: Lent in Antigua, Guatemala (includes video link)

Carpet in progress, Antigua Guatemala

The sawdust carpets that grace the streets and churches of Antigua during the season of Lent (Ash Wednesday-Easter Day) are as beautiful as any valuable oriental rug that you can find. But these magnificent carpets have a very short life-span, sometimes only a few hours, although those created in churches for the vigils of the season are on display longer. The carpets in Antigua's streets are created by the residents and businesses; if a procession passes by your home or business, you have the option of creating a carpet in honor of it. Sometimes these carpets involve months and months or planning while others are created much more spontaneously. Holy Week ( Palm Sunday-Easter Day) is the time when there are the most processions and greatest number of carpets.

Sawdust Carpet detail, Antigua Guatemala

As exquisite as these carpets are, they are not meant to be decorations and exist for one reason only: to be walked on by the feet of those bearing holy images in procession. All processions start in a church and then follow an hours-long route throughout the city's streets, often late into the night. In the course of its route each of the processions you see below walked over many carpets that were created specifically for it. The act of the float-carriers walking over the carpet is considered to bless the carpet and the whole making of carpets is, at heart, a sacrificial act offered to God.

Holy Saturday Procession, San Felipe de Jesus Church, Antigua Guatemala

Holy Week Procession, Antigua Guatemala

All of the carpets begin with an empty space either on the street or a church floor. A rectangle of sand is spread on the surface to provide a base for the carpet. The designs that will be laid on top of it are intricate and precision is essential.

Sawdust Carpet under construction, Antigua Guatemala

Designs are not done freehand, but use pre-cut stencils of heavy cardboard that are used in various combinations to create the intricate geometry of the carpets. The stencils are quite costly and good quality ones are cut by hand, not machine and are meant to be used year after year.

Stencil for Sawdust Carpet, Antigua Guatemala

Making Stencils for Sawdust Carpets, Antigua Guatemala

The stencils are laid on the sawdust base and colored sawdust is applied to form intricate designs that in many cases look like actual oriental carpets.

Sawdust Carpet under construction, Antigua Guatemala

Eventually the carpet you see under construction will have a very densely patterned surface and look something like the carpet below. After the sawdust is laid the carpets are sprayed with water to set the design.

Sawdust Carpet, Antigua Guatemala

Carpets are created within churches during the time of the vigils which are held to honor the statues that will be used in procession. These carpets range from the relatively simple to the very complex as seen in the photo below in Antigua's La Merced Church. This carpet was created for a velacion, a vigil, and remains up for a period of time, perhaps a week or two. The scene in front of the religious figures are made to resemble a garden, huerto in Spanish.
The fruits, vegetables and candles are brought to the church as an offering before the scene is created.

Sawdust Carpet and Huerto for vigil, La Merced Church, Antigua Guatemala

All of the carpets will be destroyed the instant the feet of those in the procession hit it and there is no sense that these carpets are meant to be preserved. A carpet is made to be walked on by a processions and the holy images that are carried in it.

Sawdust Carpet after procession, San Felipe de Jesus Church, Antigua Guatemala

I invite you to view my video of these carpets at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbXvvBSCvSA

Not all of Antigua's carpets are made of sawdust; some are made of plant materials
and this type pre-dates the Spanish conquest. You can still see sacramental ground-coverings of pine needles in small, isolated Mayan villages. The fourth carpet down combines colored sawdust and flowers.