Palm Sunday- Holy Week

Sunday April 17th, 2011
This morning I woke up to go to Mass at the church to which my host family goes, Catholic and less than three blocks away.
-for the record when I say that my family goes to this church it does not mean that they sit in mass for an hour each Sunday (or Saturday or various days of the week in the evening that mass is held). They are a Catholic family, as almost each Peruvian family is, that do not attend each week. This is a fairly normal practice. For instance my previous host family, though shocked that I had never been baptized, never once attended church even as we passed through the holiday season. My current host family does go with more frequency, more so when there are important religious events happening.-

This Sunday is an important religious day because it's the Sunday before Easter, Palm Sunday!
Today is celebrated because it is the day that Jesus returned after being in the desert for 40 days. When he returns he is showered with palms in celebration.
Today at this church (and I would make an educated guess that at almost all others) merchants were selling hand made plants which had been folded into crosses and other designs- made of palm and containing olive branches and some with carnations. These plants represent parts of the Easter celebration which is Semana Santa = Holy Week here. Each important event of Jesus' Crucifixion is celebrated since this is considered the most important part of his life- and he is greatly admired here.
The palm represents his return from the desert. The olive his arrest and that proceeding since he was arrested in an olive grove. And the carnation represents his rebirth on Easter Sunday (which I searched to make sure and I found that it is literally written into the bible that the flowering of the Carnation represents the resurrection of Jesus).

Outside of the church we bought our plants (for one sole, the equivalent of about 35 cents) and went inside for Mass. After the opening we were all ushered outside, each person with their plant arrangement. Here the father took holy water and splashed it all over us-the small crowed of people holding these plants over our heads waiting to be blessed. The plant collection, after being dashed with the holy water (along with us) is blessed, and later kept in the house to bring good blessings to the household and those who live inside.
Then we returned back inside to hear the rest of the mass, which includes many songs, some readings in which we read back a phrase or two as a congregation, listening to the father speak and last, Communion.
In this Mass, as it opens the Holy Week that is Easter, all of the parts of Jesus' story were reviewed. They spoke of his return, his arrest, the decision of the city to crucify him, his Crucifixion and his rebirth. They announced as well that each day there would be Mass, and confessional open all week until late in the evening to accommodate all schedules. And that on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday the specific Masses would celebrate the important occurrences of that day: the last supper, his Crucifixion, his burial, and his Resurrection.

I thought the process which they do to celebrate Jesus' return and this Holy Week is pretty neat. I am going to be attending all of the Masses, those held on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (which are religious holidays for everyone- so most people take advantage of this week or long weekend to travel, go camping that sort of thing). I won't be doing anything special so I am going to make sure I get to experience this important religious event!
It is important as a part of this religion and in so a big part of this culture as Catholicism is a big part of Latin America and even more so are celebrated Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

This will be an interesting and very distinct Easter for me this year!