Friday, May 26, 2017

Semana Santa



Holy Week in Ecuador is a different experience of faith.  Ash Wednesday the church is full of people and on Good Friday the procession of the cross has almost all the people in the town participating.  

On Easter there are fewer people in the church.   The people relate much more to the suffering Christ than to the glorious Christ.  Suffering is so common and death is much more accepted here.  


On Thursday of Holy Week a 42 year old man came back from work and went to sleep and died in his sleep with no known prior illness.  A young father of two children went fishing in the river on Friday and was caught in the net and drowned.  Celebrating the passion of Christ in the church has so much more meaning when you see your neighbors grieving a sudden death of a healthy young person.  

People in Ecuador see so much suffering that celebrating the passion of Christ is very popular and people can relate to Christ suffering.  The challenge is to help the people get to the point of also celebrating the glory and joy of the resurrection.
The Saraguro Indians have adapted local traditions to the church celebrations of Holy Week.  They have a two-hour dance that includes flags, dancing backwards, carrying statues of Mary and a young girl being lifted up in a swing to announce the lifting of mourning from Mary.  

The photos included are the dancers announcing Christ has risen. Some have said that these are pagan celebrations and should not be allowed, but I like to think of these traditions of the Saraguros has them taking the faith and making it their own.

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