The Vatican recognizes that Guatemalan Holy Week is one of the most important events in the country, in which the entire society also participates. “In its origins it was the manifestation where the Christian faith was intertwined with pre-Hispanic customs, giving rise to new expressions of religious art, gastronomy, music and rituals,” it describes on its main page.
According to official figures, there are between 85 and 95 processions during Lent, and between 35 and 40 additional during Holy Week, according to an article published by Free press. In 2022, Holy Week was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Among all of them, which bring together Guatemalans in faith and tradition, one stands out for its size and route.
The walk of the Recumbent Christ of Calvary It is considered the largest. This litter carries an image dating from 1643, measures 27 meters long and 2.5 meters wide, and is carried on the shoulders of 140 people.
The processional procession is made up of the consecrated images, the steps of the Way of the Cross, the Roman century, a group of Palestinians, Nazarenes and cucuruchos dressed in black tunics.
The procession left on Good Friday, April 3, from the Rectoral Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, El Calvario, located at 18th Street and 6th Street. avenue “A”, zone 1.
The litter of the Buried Lord elegantly highlighted the allegory that carried the message “I conquered the world.”
The priest Francisco Raymundo Pop, before the departure of the litter, shared a message in which he assured that the Guatemalan people hope for a better homeland and job opportunities. “Prayers will be raised throughout this procession; let us bring the Lord Jesus to hear these cries of his people.”
The Holy Christ Recumbent, “Christ of the Poor”, was transferred to the New Guatemala of the Asunción and located in a straw ranch in the area of the current Concordia Park. A document from 1657, found inside a Crucified Christ from El Calvario in Antiquity, indicates that this and a “Holy Sepulcher” (1643) are works of the sculptor Pedro de la Rosa, who would be Pedro de Mendoza, according to the architect Mario Ubico Calderón.
It was on Good Friday, April 4, 1896 when this image went out in procession for the first time in Guatemala City.