Holy Week begins in San Juan Puerto Rico

Friday night found Bella and I in San Juan. What we stumbled on was something neither of us had participated in previously. This is Semana Santa, Holy Week, the week before Easter. This special week is celebrated here with powerful drama and passion. In Old San Juan and across the Isla, but especially in Old San Juan the pageantry is strong. Friday night saw a procession bearing an icon of the Holy Mother, dressed in black mourning cape. (If you click on the image above and make it bigger, you will be able to see the Icon on the left side of the photo.)

The procession began at La Forteleza, the Governor's Palace and wound its way though the medieval streets of Old San Juan. The procession was lead by musicians playing a sorrowful and slow dirge, followed by small children who rang hand bells. A contingent of the Knights of Columbus processed immediately in front of the icon of the Holy Mother. A group of Autunas who were dressed in medieval costumes, carried the Holy Mother on the litter. A solumn group of men bearing crosses was also present. The litter was alternately carried by the autunas, a contingent of police commanders and other individuals. A priest bearing an incense burner spread the scent of sage throughout the streets. Sisters and brothers from the Convent and Monastery were marchers as were others in religious habits. As the procession wound its way through the streets, small candles were distributed and illuminated.

Now usually one of us has a camera but this trip we were focused on our music and left the cameras at home. I had with me my computer and Bella reminded me that perhaps I could use the on board camera in the computer... which I did. The image above and the one below were made with the camera in the Macintosh. I set the computer up on the hood or roof of parked cars and at one time stepped into the street with the computer open and imaged the procession as it rounded a corner.



The procession stopped periodically... perhaps reflecting the stops of the Stations of the Cross. At balconies marked with torches, (the photo immediately above shows one of the balconies) the procession halted and the litter bearing the Holy Mother was lowered. At the stop, music was played on the balcony and a part of the story of Christ's Passion was read and was concluded with a Rosary. I was told that the houses at which the procession stopped had experienced the passing of a loved one in the previous year. Along the path of the procession, people lined the streets and walked along beside the procession with their candles. We also saw a number of women wearing black and a long black mourning veils.

More tomorrow.