Holy Week processions in Guatemala

Holy Week in Guatemala
Sawdust carpet in Antigua Guatemala. In the background, Volcán de Agua.
Jesús de los Milagros procession, San José Churc, Palm Sunday in Guatemala City
Sawdust carpet in Antigua Guatemala with Maya motives.
Live crucifixion representation in Livingston, Izabal
Virgen Dolorosa in her Good Friday procession.

Holy Week in Guatemala is celebrated with street expressions of faith, called processions, usually organized by a "hermandades". Each procession of Holy Week has processional floats and steps, which are often religious images of the Passion of Christ, or Marian images, although there are exceptions, like the allegorical steps of saints.

History

The Catholic fervor that currently exists in Guatemala has almost magical and mystical dyes due to the syncretism between the Mayan religion and the Catholic doctrine; it combines elements dating from the old American cultures and from Catholicism imposed by the Spanish in the Colonial era.

Syncretism appears in subtle factors such as figure drawing of a butterfly on the sawdust carpet for a Christ procession, for the butterfly, for the Maya, more than a mere insect, symbolized the Sun -one of their most important deities- and also represented life and the afterlife. That image does not appear anywhere in Holy Week activities held in Spain.

Pre-columbine era

Jesús Nazareno de San José procession in Guatemala City which traditionally goes on Palm Sunday. Notice both the Catholic and the mayan insignia: Roman pendants and uniforms on one hand, and a carpet made of flowers on the other.

To understand the current Guatemalan Holy Week one must go back to the religion of the Maya, where there were amazing coincidences that perhaps helped the Catholic religion fit more with the beliefs of Native Americans. One of these similarities is that indigenous Guatemalans used a palanquin to transport wealthy citizens and rulers.[1][lower-alpha 1]

The cross is not exclusive of Judeo-Christian; even in Chiapas and parts of Huehuetenango it is still used to keep out evil spirits in some villages. Also as symbolic of purification, the Mayas fasted in the final five days of your calendar as well as for special holidays.

Juan Antonio Valdés, PhD in Archaeology[1]

For the natives it was not difficult to understand or accept the existence of the Holy Trinity because for them, the creators of this world were three, known by Mayan scholars as "G1", "G2" and "G3"; neither was to assimilate Virgin Mary, because they associated her with Ixchel -the moon, creative life- mother.[1]

Holy Week in Medieval Europe

Main article: Holy Week

Holy Week was created in the Council of Nicea -set up by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in the year 325 A.D.- because in that council it was decided when to celebrate Passover and how to calculate the date for the celebration. Subsequently, the Order of the Knights Templar promoted the praise for the Passion of Christ. After the disappearance of that order, -close order fourteenth century - the Franciscans were dedicated to preserve the traditions that had been acquired over time; they were the ones who developed the Via Crucis, one of the most representative aspects of the Holy Week festivities.[1]

The first liturgies were celebrated only among religious enclosed in churches, and sinners were not admitted. Later they evolved into processions where people took to the streets to express their guilt.[1]

Bourbon Reforms

Main article: Bourbon Reforms

In 1765 the Bourbon reforms were published by the Spanish Crown, which sought to recover the real power over the colonies and increase tax collection.[2] With these reforms, specific trade regulators were created to control the production of alcoholic beverages, snuff, gunpowder, playing cards and cock fights. The Royal Treasury auctioned annually some trade regulators and then bought them, thus becoming the owner of the monopoly of a certain product. That same year, four sub-delegations of the Royal Treasury were created in San Salvador, Ciudad Real, Comayagua and León and the political and administrative structure of the Captaincy General of Guatemala changed to 15 provinces.[3]

In addition to this administrative redistribution, the Spanish crown established a policy to diminish the power of the Catholic Church,[3] power that until then was virtually all over the Spanish vassals. The policy of reducing power of the church was based on the Enlightenment and had six main points:

  1. Decline of Jesuit cultural heritage
  2. Trend towards a secular and secularized culture
  3. Decidedly rationalist attitude
  4. Precedence of natural science over religious dogma
  5. Severe criticism of the role of the Church in society, especially the fraier and nun monasteries. These laws sought to limit excessive economic power of some brotherhoods, their large number, the lack of administrative and fiscal control by the authorities and public manifestations of piety, the latter listed as signs of backwardness and fanaticism, especially those of Holy Week.[4]

19th Century

After the overthrow and expulsion of members of Aycinena Clan in 1829, the Liberals ousted the regular orders and just left the secular clergy in the country, although without the fixed income from mandatory tithing.[5] This greatly weakened the Catholic Church in Guatemala, but after the failure of liberal governor Mariano Gálvez to combat an epidema of cholera morbus, parish priests incited the peasant population against him, and under the leadership of Rafael Carrera, drove Gálvez and liberal out of power. After a decade of government, Carrera allowed the return of the regular orders and conservative elite Catholics and authorized compulsory tithing again, reinforcing the Church in the country and the manifestations of faith such as Holy Week flourished. Indeed, in 1852, Guatemala and the Holy See signed a concordat in which the latter was entrusted with the education of the Guatemalan population and church-state union in the country was reinforced.[6]

After the fall of the Conservative regime and the Liberal victory in 1871, the Catholic Church suffered renewed attacks on its economic and political influence, as happened in 1829 when it was attacked by the Liberal government of Francisco Morazán. In 1873, the regular orders were again evicted, their property confiscated -including convents, haciendas and doctrines of Indians throughout the country- and mandatory tithing was abolished, leaving the secular clergy relegated to their parishes without stable income.[7]

Article 32: It guarantees the right of association for the various purposes of life, according to law. The establishment of monastic congregations and all kind of monastic institutions or associations, as well as the formation and operation of political organizations, either of international or foreign character is prohibited. Are not included in this prohibition, organizations that advocate the Central American Union and the Pan-American or continental solidarity doctrines.

Constitution of Guatemala of 1945[8]

In May 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued his Rerum Novarum encyclical -The situation of workers- key document that helped Catholic Church parishes gradually transform to fit in liberal states; in Guatemala this reorganization was reinforced by a new form of reproduction of ideas expressed in the press whose images and speeches were sent to the faithful for an efficient postal service developed by the Liberal State. The progress of Catholicism in the United States began to serve as an example in the reconquest of ideological power in totally liberal states.[9]

There was a strengthening of Catholicism during the government of General José María Reyna Barrios (1892–1898), thanks to the political opening of his government to secular clergy and his concern for the dissemination of art and the defense of local culture, which led him to subscribe to the Berne Convention, respecting the popular manifestations of faith, expressed primarily in the processions of the Passion of christ.[10] And this was accomplished even though Reyna Barrios was a high degree Freemason. However, the official entry of the regular orders was not allowed because the Guatemalan constitution forbid their presence in its soil at the time.[8]

20th Century

After the fall of Jacobo Arbenz regime, the Catholic Church regained some of the power he had had during the Conservative government of Rafael Carrera in the nineteenth century,[11] and as part of it, private religious education boomed from 1955 on, with the founding of several elite schools for boys which absorbed the elite students who had previously attended classes in secular government institutions.

Even though the Archbishop of Guatemala, Mariano Rossell y Arellano, published a letter explaining that the Catholic Church was not seeking privileges in its fight against Arbenz,[12] he managed to get that the government of Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas incorporated in the Constitution of 1956 these:

Rossell y Arellano started an aggressive campaign to get Catholicism back in Guatemala: he restored the Archbishop's Palace and the residence of Bishop Francisco Marroquín in San Juan del Obispo, Sacatepequez;[16] on July 22, 1953 he received fathers Antonio Rodríguez Pedrazuela and José María Báscones who began the work of Opus Dei in Guatemala;[17] and in 1959 held the First Central American Eucharistic Congress. Gradually he managed the get regular orders back to Guatemala and participated in several sessions of the Second Vatican Council, organized by Pope John XXIII.[18]

Over the years, and with advances in transportation and communication, the number of pilgrims and devotion to the Lord of Esquipulas made the city "Latin American Capital of Faith". In 1956 Pope Pius XII erected the Prelature Nullius Cristi of Esquipulas, which is formed by the Municipality of Esquipulas and its cathedral Sanctuary. The Pope also appointed as Prime Esquipulas Prelate Archbishop Rossell y Arellano. One of the first concerns of Rossell was seeking a religious community to take over the pastoral care of the temple; after many failed initiatives, he managed to find support from the Benedictine Abbey of San José in Louisiana, United States. On Palm Sunday of 1959, the first three Benedictine monks arrived at Esquipulas and founded the Benedictine Monastery.[lower-alpha 2] Considering many religious, cultural and historical aspects Blessed Pope John XXIII agreed to the request made by Bishop Rossell Arellano and raised the Sanctuary of Esquipulas to the rank of Minor Basilica in 1961.[18]

Holy Week art

Sculptures

Procession sculptures
María Magdalena y San Juan de la iglesia de La Merced, Antigua Guatemala
Cristo Yacente from La Recoleccion in Guatemala City.
Virgen Dolorosa from La Recoleccion.
Procession sculptures from various churches. Guatemala City.
Jesús de Candelaria in 1898; Guatemala City
Mary of Magdala from La Merced, Antigua Guatemala
Jesús de la Merced, Guatemala City

Arte efímero

Antigua Guatemala sawdust carpets

Processions

Guatemala City

See also: Guatemala City
Day Church Original religious order
since 1829
Current religious order
since 1956
Sculpture Hours Film
Saturday before Palm Sunday Iglesia de La Recolección

Propaganda Fide congregation

Franciscans
Jesús Nazareno del Consuelo10:00 am – 2:00 am1989 procession
Palm Sunday Iglesia de Capuchinas
There was no procession.
Secular clery
Jesús de las Palmas5:00 am – 12:00 pm
Palm Sunday Iglesia de San José
Secular clergy
Secular clergy
Jesús Nazareno de los Milagros9:00 am – 1:00 am2014 procession
Holy Monday Iglesia de La Parroquia

San Felipe Neri Congregation
Clero secular
Jesús Nazareno de las Tres Potencias[lower-alpha 3]3:00 pm – 12:00 am2011 procession
Holy Tuesday Iglesia de La Merced

Mercedarians

Jesuits
Jesús Nazareno del Perdón10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Holy Tuesday Iglesia de Beatas de Belén Jesús Nazareno de la Indulgencia2:00 pm – 12:00 am
Holy Wednesday Iglesia de Santa Teresa
Secular clergy
Jesús Nazareno del Rescate3:00 pm – 12:00 am1969 procession
Holy Thursday Iglesia de La Candelaria
Secular clergy
Secular clergy
Jesús Nazareno «Cristo Rey»7:00 am – 2:00 am2014 procession
Good Friday Iglesia de La Merced

Mercedarians

Jesuits
Jesús Nazareno del Perdón7:00 am – 3:00 pm1991 procession
Good Friday Iglesia de La Recolección

Congregación de Propaganda Fide

Franciscans
Señor Sepultado de La Recolección4:00 pm – 2:00 am2014 procession
Good Friday Iglesia de El Calvario
Secular clergy
Secular clergy
Señor Sepultado de El Calvario4:00 pm – 3:00 am2011 crucifixion
Good Friday Iglesia de Santo Domingo

Order of Preachers

Order of Preachers[lower-alpha 4]
Cristo del Amor4:00 pm – 2:00 am2014 procession

Antigua Guatemala

Day Sculpture Church Hours
Fifth Sunday of Lent Jesús de la CaídaSan Bartolomé Becerra7:00 am – 10:00 pm
Friday before Holy Week Hermano Pedro Viacrucis (male only)San Francisco el Grande3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Palm Sunday Palm processionIglesia de Jocotenango Sacatepéquez6:30 am – 12:00 pm
Palm Sunday Palm procession (live)Iglesia de La Merced, Iglesia de Santa Ana, Iglesia Escuela de Cristo, Iglesia de San Felipe de Jesús8:00 am – 12:00 pm
Palm Sunday Jesús Nazareno de la ReseñaLa Merced11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Holy Monday Jesús NazarenoSanta Inés del Monte PulcianoN/A
Holy Tuesday Jesús Nazareno del SilencioEl Calvario4:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Holy Wednesday Jesús Nazareno del MilagroSan Felipe de Jesús2:50 pm – 10:00 pm
Holy Wednesday Jesús NazarenoSan Mateo Milpas Altas4:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Holy Thursday Jesús Nazareno de la HumildadSan Cristóbal el Bajo11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Holy Thursday Jesús Nazareno del PerdónSan Francisco el Grande1:00 pm 12:00 am
Good Friday Jesús Nazareno de la PenitenciaLa Merced 4:00 am – 3:00 pm
Good Friday Acto de CrucifixiónParroquia de San José Catedral, Escuela de Cristo12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Good Friday Señor Sepultado y Virgen de SoledadParroquia de San José Catedral3:00 pm – 1:00 am
Good Friday Señor SepultadoSan Felipe de Jesús3:00 pm – 1:00 am
Good Friday Señor SepultadoEscuela de Cristo4:00 pm – 1:00 am

See also

General:

Notes and references

Notes

  1. As shown in the Ratinlinxul Cup, From Alta Verapaz, where the is a painting of a procession with a nobleman sit on top of several servants that are carrying him. Behind them there are five musicians, with instruments similar to trumpets. Also, a door frame in Temple I in Tikal has an sculpted scene in which a divine lord (K’ul Ahaw) is being carried on the shoulders of several people.
  2. United Fruit Company headquarters were in New Orleans at the time.
  3. Also known as "Jesús Nazareno de los Nobles" in Antigua Guatemala and as "Jesús Nazareno of the poor" in Guatemala city after the earthquakes of 1917-18.
  4. The Order of Preachers returned to Guatemala in 1956.

References

Bibliography

External links

Media related to Holy Week in Guatemala at Wikimedia Commons

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