The St. Thomas Mission Committee sent a letter to our brothers and sisters in Chichipate, sharing how we are marking Lent and Holy Week and how we will celebrate Easter. We received the following information in return this week about their practices in Chichipate. The photos above are of Teresa's grandkids and her family, including the great grandma! Teresa has been involved with Sister Parish for a long time. Here is how our friends celebrate Holy Week and Easter:
On Palm Sunday there is a procession that leaves one Catholic Church and walks to the other Catholic Church in Chichipate. After the procession they celebrate Mass.
One Wednesday the catechists and committees meet at 11 pm to make sure everything is ready and the jailing of Jesus starts at 12 pm. This is a re-enactment in which people dressed up as Jews put an image of Jesus in a jail. At 3 pm they take the image of Jesus out of jail and there is a procession that goes by every house in Chichipate. This procession ends around 8 pm when they return to the church and put the image back in the jail. There are also 24 people dressed up as apostles in this procession. The women and the catechists are the ones that carry the processional float.
On Thursday the organizers gather at 7 am and the procession begins at 8 am, ending at 12. Everyone goes home and comes back at 3 pm for the Washing of the Feet Mass. After Mass the committees chip in to buy sweet bread to share. At 7 pm there is a procession to the other Catholic Church.
On Friday they gather at the other church to process back to Santo Domingo de Guzman. At 3 pm they lower Jesus off the cross and at 6 pm they do the Stations of the Cross.
On Saturday afternoon everyone gathers on the soccer field. Each individual is to have brought a small candle. A large fire is built and a large candle is lit from this fire. Then each person lights their candle from the large candle and proceed back to the church for and evening Mass.
On Sunday they celebrate Mass of the Resurrection. Sometimes there is an invitation from the committees for a meal afterwards.
Emilio’s family eats fish and pacaya (date palm) on Friday and on Thursday they eat bread sweetened with honey. At Martin’s house they eat pacaya fried in egg. Enrique shared that his family’s tradition is also to eat fish during holy week. Ellen, the Executive Director of Sister Parish, had the pleasure of eating pacaya stew with egg and achiote flavouring at Teresa’s house on Monday morning.
Let us keep our friends in Chichipate in our prayers as each of our communities celebrate the Easter season.
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