Semana Santa in Antigua, Guatemala

Easter week is called Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the Hispanic world. It represents the peak of the season in which we remember Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. On each Sunday of Lent, the five weeks before Easter, processionals are held through the streets of town. It draws crowds to Antigua that make it the largest Easter celebration in the Americas.

It is hard to describe what happens because we are experiencing it for the first time and don't know exactly what is done when and why it is done. But here is our experience, broken down into a few categories.

Processionals
In the weeks preceding Good Friday different villages close to Antigua are given a Sunday to plan a processional which is a remembrance of Jesus and His walk to the cross. Hundreds of people take part in each processional. Each one is a little different as they are decorated differently, but there are many similarities.

The procession begins at a Catholic church with Roman Soldiers, some with trumpets or flutes and drums to announce the processional. Following the soldiers are about 200 men dressed in purple gowns leading the way for the Anda. The Anda is a wooden structure dedicated to carry religious sculptures. Each procession will have 4-5 different Andas.

The first carries Jesus. It is quite large, and can weigh up to 7000 lbs. It will be carried by up to 80 men in purple. These men will carry it for a few blocks at which point a new group of men will take over. Behind the first Anda will be more men in purple and a band playing funeral marches. Interspersed in the processional are men in purple carrying pots of burning tree resin. The procession route gets quite smoky. Behind that will be another Anda which carries Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is carried by women who are dressed in white clothes with black lace head scarves. In front and in back of this Anda will be other women who will also trade off carrying the Anda. Behind them might be some other Anda's with saints, possibly another band. Finally, behind all will be men with shovels and buckets, as well as a dump-truck to clean up the remnants of the Alfombras.

These processionals will last 12 hours. Yes...12 hours, they start around noon and will continue until mid-night when they return to the church from which they started. Our apartment is just down a side street from one of the main routes of the processionals. It is quite handy for us, as we don't need to fight the crowds to catch a view. We have become used to the music and smell (from incense) of the processionals.

Alfombras
An Alfombra is a carpet-like design made from saw-dust and/or flowers to decorate the streets. If a processional is in front of your house or business, you and your neighbors will work, many times all night, to create an Alfombra in front of your house. Many times the Alfombras are finished just before the processional comes. While the Alfombra is beautiful, it is short-lived and will soon be trampled by the processional.

Each Alfombra is totally unique and each year the family works to create a new plan for this year's Alfombra. People have a lot of fun working together to make them, but they are also a serious task. They are an offering for Jesus as He goes to His death. No one steps on the alfombra until the Anda carrying Jesus marches over it. Sometimes small gifts, like a basket of flowers or figures, are placed on the Alfombra. These are picked up by the Anda carriers as an offering.

Often the Alfombras have biblical themes such as the miracles of Jesus, the last supper, and of course the cross. Sometimes they have Guatemalan themes depicting indigenous life and textile weavings.

When Rick and Elena when to view the processional from Jocatenango (nearby town), Elena was able to join in the making of an Alfombra!

Activities
During Samana Santa there are events going on all the time. The closer it gets to Easter, there are more processionals, and more activity. For example, on Good Friday, there are 4 different processionals going on in Antigua. Each church has velaciones at different times. These are vigils for Jesus or the virgin Mary. The focus on the suffering and death of Christ is powerful. Saturday night our nearby Catholic church, La Merced, has an all-night prayer vigil.

What we miss, is the focus on the resurrection. There is a small processional on Sunday, but nothing compared to all build-up that is given for remembering the death of our Lord Jesus. We are told that in other areas of Guatemala, there are great processionals on Sunday that begin at 4 AM from the cemetery and leads to the Catholic church. They are processionals of joy, to celebrate our Lord's resurrection from the dead. He is alive, for He has Risen!

The following video was not taken by us, but it is really good, showing different sights from Semana Santa 2006.

A YouTube Video taken at Samana Santa 2006