Easter

.  Disclaimer: Views presented in this blog are those of Roger German.  They do not represent the views or opinions of the U.S. Peace Corps or the Government of the United States.

            Benque Viejo has a strong Catholic heritage that emerges from the quiet background of small town life during two seasons in particular; Christmas and Semana Santa, or Holy Week.  On Palm Sunday the Catholic Church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, stages a procession into town at 8:30 in the morning, with a young man representing Jesus riding a donkey to the church.

            On Monday night, women “cargadoras” wearing black, with their heads covered by black mantillas, carry a platform with a statue of Mary in a silent procession through the town.  On Tuesday night, two processions leave the church, one with statues of Mary and St. John, the other with a statue of Jesus with his cross.  They travel different routes through town, then meet up on George Price Boulevard in a symbolic reference to the 4^th Station of the Cross, “Jesus Meeting His Mother.” 

            Good Friday is the busiest day of the week, with many households, organizations and businesses creating colorful sawdust tapestries (alfombras) in the street, with themes relevant to the Passion.  The mats cover the streets along the principle routes of the Friday night procession “Santo Entierro,” which reenacts carrying the crucified body of Jesus to the tomb.

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Leveling sawdust to start an alfombra in front of Our Lady of St. Carmel Catholic Church

Young boy working on dyed sawdust design in front of church

Front of church with finished alfombra

            It was Josefina Salas who brought the tradition to Benque 10 years ago.  She had seen similar mats in Guatemala years before, and she and her children created one in front of the church in 1986.  But she hadn’t thought about them at all since then, until she had a dream that she was making the carpets, and that she should continue it for 7 years.  So she did.  It has grown from the single alfombra in front of her house, to more than 70, all along the route of Santo Entierro.

            When I interviewed her for “El Chiclero,” she said after the 7 years she was tired of it and ready to stop.  She had to raise money to buy the imported dyes and all the sawdust, she showed people how to make the molds and forms to create the intricate patterns, she even organized food to keep everyone going from 6 in the morning until mid-afternoon.  “But then I dreamed I was still doing it,” she said, and that she is.

Looking west down Baron Bliss street from the top of a ladder....

...guys holding the ladder while I took the picture from the top...toes of my shoes sticking through

            Most folks take a break from laboring on the alfombras to follow the drama of the Passion of Christ, reenacted by about 40 members of the church community, and played out in the streets and homes of Benque from 10 a.m. to noon.  With the heat, and the dusty, rocky streets, it’s not too hard to find realism in the simple production.  The fine white dust chokes sweating spectators, and when the man portraying Jesus falls, he falls hard, on sharp rocks.  Even what doesn’t go well works.  When the Centurions hoist the two thieves and Jesus up onto their crosses, it’s hard work, the bodies are slippery, the bolts don’t easily find the holes to attach the crossbeam to the post.  Jesus’ crown of thorns comes off and is pushed roughly back on his head, and the thorns are real.

A Benque woman portraying Veronica wiping the sweat from Jesus' face...

            But as the crucifixion drama unfolded, I found myself thinking of the Centurion and the common soldiers whose duty that day was to execute 3 criminals.  Soldiers who had probably done the same thing many times, who just wanted to get it over with, go home or to their barracks and have a strong drink.  Execution duty was doubtless a thankless task, and probably not for the rising stars of the Roman Legion.  Two thieves and a political prisoner killed by unknown soldiers in the name of government, while their leader washed his hands of that blood.  Politics has to be the deadliest disease known to man.

            At noon in Benque, it is finished.  The crowds break up, some to home, some back to work on their alfombras.

            At 6 p.m. the Santo Entierro begins, and three platforms or “andas” process through the town, carried by “hermandades”, walking on the carpets so laboriously crafted throughout the day.  The andas with the representation of the body of Jesus is huge.  And heavy.  It takes 40 men, 20 a side to carry it through the streets.  There is a replacement platoon of men to relieve them, as the procession winds along for more than 3 hours.

40 men carrying the "andas" bearing symbols of the crucified Jesus

            I mentioned to a friend, one of the hermandades, that it seemed quite a lot of work, carrying the andas.  He said it was good penance.  That registered at a Catholic level, and I thought it a good response.  When another friend of mine, another Peace Corps Volunteer, commented similarly on the amount of work those men went through, I responded with his comment.  She said, what’s this all about then?  I thought (Jesus) went through all this pain and suffering to forgive sins.  If sins are forgiven, why is he doing penance?  He should be celebrating.

            Hadn’t thought of it quite that way, I had to admit.

Comments

[Jim Echternacht]

What a great read -Thnx

[C]

Extraordinary photos and desciption of dedication

[Sandy]

Have written and rewritten and deleted several comments on this thread. Great story and photos, as always. It was the last few sentences: penance / forgiveness that stayed with me. I have to agree with your friend. This particular teaching of the Catholic church has always bothered me. Much more focus on sin and punishment than celebrating the great gift of Jesus. I do not believe that most Catholics are taught what He really did for us on the cross. If they did, my father, while facing the fact that he was dying, would not have doubted his salvation. We are to serve out of joy and sharing the natural gifts God has given each one of us - not to earn Heaven: Jesus did that for us on the Cross.