Semana Santa

Last week was Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Seville celebrates it like no other place on earth! Everything is closed for this week and the city grows from less than a million people to over THREE million! Each day there are processions (pasos) throughout the city and huge crowds gather to watch them go by. Each church has its "images" that are carried from the church to the main cathedral. This takes hours, some lasting all day or all night.
There are various parts to each "paso". They are made up of a band (usually, but not always) that plays sad funeral dirge-type music, men carrying crosses to pay for their sins, men in masks and robes who are asking God for a miracle, the images (one of Jesus and one of Mary), and men carrying the images. Each image of Jesus depicts some scene from the passion. Some show him being whipped, some show his arrest, but most show him dead on the cross and Mary crying at his feet. At the end of each procession is the image of Mary. This image generally excites more people than the one of Jesus since Mary is the one you pray to and it is her suffering that they want to identify with.

The above image is "La Soledad" (lonley). This particular procession is the only one without Jesus. Notice that Mary is alone and Jesus is not on the cross. This takes place on Friday, so he's already buried. She is left alone in her suffering.

This one is typical of most others. The image of Mary is following along behind the image of Christ. She is always depicted crying. The people say that the whole procession is about identifying with Mary in her suffering and that is why she is last...so you are left with that reminder. When I went to see "pasos" with my Spanish friend (see below) she was telling me about this particular image. Each one comes from a church and you identify with the one that is from your neighborhood. (You may never actually GO to your church, but it is still your virgin.) Cristina was telling me about how her grandmother believed in the power of this image. She always carried a picture of her around, had pictures and shrines up in her house, etc. She prayed to her for everything. Cristina was quick to tell me she did not believe in the power of this image, but that many people, especially the older generation, do believe that it can cure you, heal you, answer your prayers. After she told me all of that, she told me the story about how this church caught on fire about 50 years ago and the image burned up. She was so proud to tell me about how they worked so hard to re-create the same exact figure since the other was so beautiful and was centuries old. (Have I mentioned that most of these images are 200-500 years old?) After she finished telling me I said, "Cristina, you just told me that your grandmother and others believe that this image has power. Does the fact that it burned in a fire not tell you something? If the image couldn't save itself from a fire, what can it do for you?" She thought for a moment and said, "You know, I had never thought of that."
Please pray for my friends here in Seville. They are entrenched in these lies. I mean, I lived in Uganda and saw witch doctor shrines all of the time, but I have never seen idol worship like I see here. Please pray for my conversations with my friends. Pray that I will be able to speak Truth to them and that their hearts will be ready to receive the Truth.
Possibly the saddest part of the whole week...the fact that it all ends on Saturday night. At midnight there is ONE image of risen Jesus and happy Mary and then everyone goes home. Cristina told me no one really goes to it. All of the good ones are already over and everyone is tired from partying all week.
On Easter Sunday when I went to church to celebrate the resurrection, there was no one out on the streets. They celebrated His death and Mary's suffering all week, but no one bothered to tell them the end of the story...He's alive and we don't grieve like those who have no hope.