Holy Week in Guatemala
The Via Crucis is prayed every Lent Friday. It goes through the Chapels of the Steps from the church of San Francisco to the Calvary The Via Crucis tradition was initiated in Antigua Guatemala by Brother Pedro de San José de Bethancourt in the XVII century.
Every Sunday there is a procession of the Nazareth. It is from a different village each time and it passes through the main streets of the city during several hours. Holy Week starts Sunday on Domingo de Ramos) with great splendor. Thursday and Friday are days of great devotion with the processions of the Holy Burial and the commemoration ends on Easter Sunday with the celebration of the Resurrection. The citizens and the brotherhoods prepare beautiful carpets made with dyed sawdust, flowers, scraps of paper and many more materials for which they use their imagination at their best.
The vigils take place during the course of Lent in the churches of the city and of the villages. Vegetable gardens are simulated inside the churches with a large variety of fruits, flowers and birds that give the festivities a unique touch.
During the course of this religious cycle, the penitents, who are called ''Cucuruchos" dress in purple tunics, and in black tunics on Holy Friday. They carry various processions with the images of the Nazareth and of Christ in the Sepulcher. The images of the Virgin Mary, San Juan and Maria Magdalena are also carried in processions. Part of the procession is a band of musicians that play funerary marches.
When Is Holy Week 2016?
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