Holy Week: An Equal Opportunity Celebration

That is right, Semana Santa in Guatemala is an equal opportunity celebration. Sure, cucuruchos take the majority of the clicks of cameras and most of the video recorded, but children, women and dogs have a place in the Holy Week celebrations. Women’s float or andas are a bit smaller and carry virgins or angels most of the time.

Right about now, you may be asking yourself, what are processions anyway and what do they represent? Well processions are representations of the the last days of Jesus Christ. Processions represent the funeral march of Jesus Christ. Processions in Guatemala also represent a penitent act.

Here is the background information about La Dolorosa Procession, taken from last year entry:

La Dolorosa or The Sorrowful Mother is the biblical figure of the sorrowful mother Mary which follows Jesus in his way to his crucifixion. This act is represented by a smaller anda (long carved wooden flatbed image-carrying float [*]) —carrying the effigy of sorrowful Mother Mary and other female biblical representations— which is hauled exclusively by women who mostly dress in black or white as this is the appropriate dress code for a funeral. Jesus’ funeral.

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