This Sunday is Palm Sunday and thousands of families will attend mass early and return home with an olive branch , symbol of the triumphant and humble entry of Jesus Christ, son of Mary and Joseph, into the city of Jerusalem. This date marks the beginning of Holy Week , in which the public life of the Messiah of the Christian religion is commemorated, culminating in his tragic death and divine resurrection. During these seven days, many traditions are followed in Lima and in the provinces, because our country, due to the Spanish presence and domination, has a great religiosity that manifests itself in various ways. Despite the superficiality that characterizes modern times, in which Holy Week It is seen as any long weekend by many people, these traditions are still observed with respect and devotion, in a contradiction that for many faithful is intolerable. It is not new that reports abound, told in a humorous and almost condescending tone, of the camps that end in grotesque images of inappropriate excesses for these dates of religious mourning. But even so, the true spirit of Holy Week It reaches believers and non-believers, a sign of respect between human beings who recognize their differences.
It is known as Holy Week to the evocation that takes place every year within the Christian world and in which the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is celebrated. This celebration begins with the traditional Palm Sunday, which commemorates the triumphal entry of the Messiah into Jerusalem and culminates with Resurrection Sunday, the date on which Jesus of Nazareth is supposed to have returned from the dead to appear before his apostles.
In Peru, as in most Christian countries, there is a period known as Lent. This period begins with the traditional Ash Wednesday and ends on the afternoon of Holy Thursday. The duration of Lent symbolizes the test to which Jesus underwent when, according to the texts of the New Testament, he remained for 40 days in the desert, before beginning his public mission.
In Peru, in the department of Ayacucho, the celebrations for Holy Week They have a great tradition. For Ayacucho, the Holy Week represents the largest and most important religious holiday. The processions of the Lord of Agony, the Virgin of Sorrows and Saint John begin the celebrations of Holy Week in this department in the south of our country, recognized for its beautiful churches, colonial buildings that amaze its thousands of visitors, nationals and foreigners.
In the department of Moquegua, the commemoration of Holy Week It has been declared Cultural Heritage by the National Institute of Culture since 2010. The Lord of Mercies is the most important religious figure within the festival that begins on Holy Thursday in this region. The devotees prepare seven altars with a height of between eighteen and twenty meters. The Lord of Mercies is decorated with flowers, palm trees and olive trees.
In Catacaos, Piura, devotees dress in black as a sign of respect for the death of the Son of God. Several processions take place in Holy Week in the most representative streets of Piura. This date is also the opportunity that many Piuran diners and visitors take advantage of to taste the delicious stews of this hot northern region. It is worth saying that on Good Friday, the Piuran inhabitants taste typical dishes of their cuisine that have been made from fish, because within the Christian belief it is considered offensive to eat red meat or beef on the day of the death of Jesus Christ. The most typical dish of Piura for this date of the year is La Malarrabia, a meal prepared with parboiled ripe plantain, and accompanied with cheese, beans and fish.
In Cajamarca, the Holy Week It takes place mainly in the Porcón farm and in the city of Contumazá, places where the Procession of the Crosses is celebrated. On Holy Thursday, in the streets of Contumazá, an interpretation is carried out in which the devotees pretend to be black and white penitents who meet to greet each other and continue their religious journey.
In Trujillo, capital of the department of La Libertad, the main image is that of the Lord of Mercy. On Holy Thursday, the faithful prepare an altar adorned with lights to offer it to Jesus. On Good Friday, Christ is presented on the cross, assisting the parishioners to listen to the Sermon of the Seven Words of the Messiah. Traditionally, twelve people dressed in white remove the nails from the crucified Christ and move the Sorrowful Virgin to her place in a glass urn.
In Lima, Surco is one of the districts in which more celebrations are held because of the Passion of Christ. In this district of Lima, the believing population walks through the streets and carries the traditional olive tree to the central square of the district. One day before Jesus' death on the cross, male parishioners dress in white and cover their heads with cones to stand guard throughout the night. After the Sermon of the Three Hours, in which the words of Christ on the cross are reflected on, the faithful take the image of the Lord from the Holy Sepulcher to the Parish of Santiago Apóstol. The most picturesque event of this religious celebration in Surco is the floral carpet contest, in which not only residents but also devotees from the interior of the country participate.
The best-known customs in Metropolitan Lima –and in other regions of the country- are the route of the so-called 14 stations (the “Via Crucis”, which in Latin means “the path of the cross”) that the faithful carry out remembering fourteen specific moments of Jesus on his painful route to Calvary. This custom occurs in other countries of the world such as in Israel (Holy Land) where the exact places that Jesus crossed are visited. In Lima, it is also customary to visit seven churches, the best known in the center. This visit, which is done as a family, is a tradition that came to us from Italy and Spain. Other traditions include the massive attendance at Palm Sunday Mass, where each believer takes home an olive branch to commemorate Jesus Christ's entry into Jerusalem, the Sermon of the Three Hours or Seven Words, and the Procession of the Holy Sepulchre.
In past decades, during the central days of Holy Week (Thursday and Friday) you couldn't listen to music and even the radio stations suspended their transmissions on those days as a sign of respect. Television channels also dedicated their programming, entirely, to films and programs that encouraged reflection and mourning. Although the latter continues to happen –every year it is already a modern tradition to watch movies like The 10 Commandments, Ben Hur , among others, there is a huge contrast with past times because now a large number of city dwellers see Holy Week as just another holiday, and indulge in ordinary celebrations, as if it were any other long weekend.
And the Easter Egg? It is common to see on these dates the shelves of shopping centers and supermarkets full of colorful chocolate eggs. This tradition, which has both Jewish and Christian roots, was also once a reason for family unity in the houses of Lima of yesteryear, as parents and grandfathers hid the candy eggs so that the children would look for them and eventually find them. In the Hebrew tradition, the egg was a symbol of fertility and Easter coincided with the arrival of winter. In the Christian tradition, on the other hand, the Easter egg and rabbit - elements of this tradition consisting of hiding chocolate eggs - represent the persecution of Jesus and his family by Herod and the divine intervention that prevented them from being killed. found. Today they are just decorative elements, put up for sale without further explanation or symbologies.
Because of its historical tradition coming from Spain, the Holy Week It is deeply rooted in the Peruvian population and its customs. It is a time of reflection and recollection in which many Peruvians show their Christian faith, a faith that has been inherited from generation to generation for several centuries.