The Most important tradition in Guatemala is called Semana Santa (Holy week). This begins on Ash Wednesday witch is the first day of Lent. The Climax takes place on good Friday. On this day we remember when Jesus Christ was crucified. Guatemala is a very catholic country and when it comes to these religious events they give the best of them that way when tourist come visit they can see how important Jesus Christ is to most of the population there. The processions consist of big floats or “andas”, bearing statues of christ with a cross that are carried by hundreds of purple uniformed men.
The beautiful carpets that the floats step on are hand made with sawdust. The patterns that the carpets have are very beautiful and also have symbols that have to do with the Catholic religion. Through the whole procession the floats go on top of these beautiful carpets so at the end of this procession all of the carpets are destroyed. Another beautiful part of this tradition is the uniforms the men used that are called cucuruchos moradas (purple robed men) The men that carry the floats have to be uniformed the same It shows respect for god and the men also wear white gloves and turns out to look wonderful because every thing is nice and in order to begin the procession.
Women also carry floats but are smaller than the ones the men carry. The women carry the Virgin Mary and the men carry Jesus Christ. The women also have to wear uniform. This tradition is very meaningful to us guatemalan people because it reminds us that god gave up his life because he had unconditional love for us and because jesus had great faith in god. Both the crucifixion and resurrection are important in Guatemala and celebrated.
The music that they use during the procession is a marching band that plays during this wonderful passionate procession. The music makes you really feel the pain and makes you very sad because its a sad tone. During the procession everybody is praying and explaining every station were jesus fell with the cross and tell you the whole story and the story they tell has touched many hearts and makes a lot of the people cry. This day becomes a very sad day in Guatemala and we remember and thank God for everything he did for the love he has for each and one of us.
This is a tradition that my family has made me grow up with and will always take a very important place in my heart. I also was taught that through out this holy week I must respect it a lot and not do things i normally would do. You are also suppose to give up something you really like for 40 days because Jesus Christ went 40 days without any thing to drink and eat and we do this in memory for the love we have for Jesus Christ and because he did not care to sacrifice his life for us so we should not care to give up something we really like for him.
