Holy Week In Guatemala: Palm Sunday At La Merced Church In The City`s Historic Center Editorial Photo

Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. It commemorates Christ`s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy Week. For adherents of mainstream Christianity, it is the last week of the Christian solemn season of Lent. In most liturgical churches, Palm Sunday is celebrated by the blessing and distribution of palm branches or the branches of other native trees, representing the ones which the crowd scattered in front of Christ as he rode into Jerusalem. These palms are sometimes woven into crosses. Holy Week in Guatemala is the celebration of the passion and death of Christ, through the processions carried out by the brotherhoods of all the parishes nationwide, during the period between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, usually at the end of March and beginning of April annually. It is a religious phenomenon of a sociocultural and tourist nature of great importance. Processions are characterized by colorful sawdust carpets that adorn the streets, and images of Jesus and Mary are carried on shoulders by large congregations for periods of up to eighteen hours in large carriers. Each procession is accompanied by Symphonic Bands that interpret funeral or festive marches. The Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic in 2020 forced the suspension of processions for two years, coming back in 2022 after the brotherhoods and authorities implemented Biosafety Protocols.