|
Costa Rican society today stands out among many other modern societies because of the way it has been able to preserve its cultural traditions which have been celebrated in its small town communities for years. I observed an example of the preservation of our culture while attending a procession on Good Friday this past month in the beautiful community of San Joaquin de Flores, Heredia. However, before retelling my experiences I would like to quickly reflect on the history of this quaint town. The town of Flores is the 8th of 10 towns in the province and is located a few kilometers west of the downtown area of Heredia City. The town was founded on the 12th of August, 1915 and is named after doctor Juan Jose Flores (1843-1903) who spent much of his life working for the development and progression of the Heredia province. In the center of San Joaquín lies a romantic Catholic church, home to many valuable paintings, and surrounded by a garden full of flowers and marble stations of the Via Crucis. The church’s construction began in 1868 and was finally completed in 1888. Between this twenty year span, members from the rural community of San Joaquín traveled in carretas (large wooden carts driven by oxen used to haul heavy cargo) all the way to the northern town of Cartago to bring back, one by one, the stones which would eventually form the church. In 1888, when construction was finally complete, Father Francisco Chaverri along with Bishop Bernardo Augusto Thiel gave the blessing of the temple. Following the Procesion
del Encuentro, on Holy Friday in San Joaquín is an experience
that I can say is cultural, spiritual, and impossible to replicate
and the majority of the members of the community come to participate
in the ceremony in a respectful and devout manner. All along the
one and a half kilometer procession trail one sees entire families
(fathers, mothers, grandparents, children, grandchildren, aunts
and uncles, nieces and nephews) walking together stopping to pray
at each of the stations of the cross. The boys and girls of these
families constantly ask their parents about the motives of each
reenactment of the stories that they see as well as about each of
the characters that walks down the center of the street. |
| Here I would like to point out that the Holy Week processions in San Joaquin are famous for being “live” representations of the stories told of Christ’s death in the Bible. The characters in the stories are portrayed by a group of actors and actresses from the community who prepare for quite a while before Holy Week so to ensure that people experience each procession with intensity, respect. and faith. Jesus and the apostles, Pontius Pilot, Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, the roman soldiers and Simon of Syria (among others) are all part of the reenactments. The emotion that one breathes and feels during the procession is a mix of solitude and anxiety. Anxiety above all is felt at the final moments of the procession when Jesus is hung on a life-size cross next two the two criminals who were crucified with him, at the foot of the cross await the sorrowful mother of Jesus accompanied by the Apostle John. The community lives, minute by minute, these last moments of the Passion of Christ while listening to music and sounds representative of thunder and rain. At the end, each spectator returns home to reflect and share with their family the life and death of Jesus. The community holds a respect that you can feel in the streets and heart of each person. Today, when traditions are attacked by globalization, the tradition of the Holy Week processions survives and exists in the heart of each Costa Rican. Holy Week celebrations in San Joaquín de Flores (and in many other communities around the country) are a faithful reflection of the undeniable and valid existence of the values that built what Costa Rica is today. April 2007 Written by: Marcelo Arroyo,
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
