Guatemala Catholic boys and girls are spectators during Lent and Holy Week activities. Some even participate in courts dedicated to them, such as Ramos Saturday or Consuelo’s, where the child of the demand is in shoulders and the Blessed Virgin.
There are also other courtships that leave the Temple of Santo Domingo or the Holy Parish Name of Jesus, Temple of Collection, to name some examples that repeat the exercise of sharing with children in the country.
Fray Edwin Alvarado, Rector Temple of San Francisco El Grandehe explains that there is talk of a domestic church, that is, he starts as a family and is from home that he begins to take children on the path of faith.
But what should be the goal of guiding children during Lent and Holy Week?
Bring children closer to Lent and Holy Week
In the temple of San Francisco el Grande in Antigua Guatemala, The first Cucurucho Children’s Dayan activity where families and children approached to learn more about this season through catechesis, as well as different activities. About 350 children participated with their parents, from months to older children.
In the same activity that was inside the temple they created a carpet and each put their ingenuity through molds and sawn colors. “The most important thing was the accompaniment of their parents to participate together”Alvarado adds.
They also participated in a procession within the atrium while they learned about the importance of life testimony to be an exemplary cucurucho, “there was talk of respect for parents, colleagues, not damaging animals, and other issues,” says Alvarado.
For his part, Luis René Sandoval, Communication Director of the Archbishopric of Santiago de Guatemala, comments that LAs processions are catechesis that, since their origin, were made for children and also for people who did not know how to read or write. “Through the images the most important moments of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus are represented, and from them the children can be taught how these events were,” he describes.
What activities do with children during Holy Week?
Vatican’s message to the children of the world
During the first world day of the child, in 2024, Pope Francis He made some reflections in which he highlighted the power of children’s hearts. A child asked him how to make adult hearts more flexible, to which the Holy Father responded that there are so many closed people, with “a hard heart, with a heart that looks like a wall.” “It’s not easy,” he repeated, ” But you, children, should have the illusion of doing things to reflect adults. You have to call the door of adults and ask these questions, and also to God. You, children, can make a real revolution with these questions and with these concerns, ”he urged.
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Cardinal José Tolentino de MendonçaPrefect of the Dicasterio for Culture and Education, also commented during the activity, that children “are teachers of those universal arts that today’s world urgently needs”, When referring to the art of friendship, hug, forgiveness, fraternal coexistence, simple joy, to accept differences as wealth and not as a threat, and of a faith lived in a vibrant and natural way.