El Día de la Cruz

Parque Central, the central park is the center of what´s happening in Xela. For one thing, the cathedral of this diocese is along the western side of the park. People, churches, groups, protests are frequently held at the park. Today, the first Sunday of the month, is a small artisan market. Guess who forgot to go to the bank yesterday to cash travelers´ checks?

Today is El Día de la Crúz, the Day of the Cross. In the Catholic processions, churches use the actual statues from their altars and sanctuaries. These figures of the Holy Trinity are removed from the cathedral and placed on the anda, a platform that we might call a float in a Mardi Gras or homecoming parade. The member congregations of a “hermandad” or brotherhood-sisterhood societies from a number of parishes in the diocese support the procession and bring their banners to display in the procession.






I do not understand all the intricacies of these societies, but there are many of them. The faithful who earn the privilege, carry the anda on their shoulders like a burial casket. This is especially powerful imagery during Holy Week, when the passion of the Christ is portrayed with quite a lot of drama, with the emphasis on the death of Jesus at the hand of the Romans. This anda portrays the Holy Trinity and angels, all clothed in silver armor.

A man in the procession is holding two poles with U-shaped metal ends. These are to hold the platform when people get tired, when the procession stops for any reason, or to give people on one side a break. The anda is decorated with live plants from the altar of the church.








Two women are holding bowls of incense. The incense is very strong, made of a pine resin formed into a kind of intensely fragrant incense that comes in chunks the size of a charcoal briquette. The procession ended at the cathedral, with a service of worship and adoration.








Yesterday was the day for the youth of Guatemala. From all over the world, member churches of the Mount Sinai hermandad gathered here in Xela. They carried banners from churches all over the world. I think maybe a world-wide youth organization, but I´m not sure. This procession was huge, lasting for many, many blocks through the city.

In Latin America, there is Catholicism and everybody else, who are Evangélicos. Catholicism grows mostly biologically through birth, but Evangélics grow through evangelism. I should also mention that the Mayans actually practice a form of syncretism that blends the ancient pre-conquest cosmology of the Mayans with the worship and practices oriented around the saints of Catholicism.