In Guatemala …
Semana Santa (Holy Week) is perhaps the most widely celebrated holiday in Guatemala throughout the Catholic church. In Antigua, Guatemala, leading up to the celebrations, artists from around the country spend days perfecting carpets made of sawdust lining the streets. The sawdust is dyed many colors to create these works of art. It’s carefully arranged and designed, and the sawdust carpets are adorned with flowers and fruit. The intricate details portray screens of Christ on the cross, the Virgin Mary and any other portrayal of the Passion of Christ. On Good Friday, the Catholic churches have processionals around the city, carrying icons of all shapes and sizes, the smell of incense covers the streets, and thousands of feet trample the sawdust art.
In Guatemala, the evangelical church does not participate in these ceremonies, but celebrates the Lord who is alive and risen. Celebrations are modest, often at sunrise, with time spent in fellowship as a church after the service, much like in the U.S. Perhaps, Easter is the time where the distance between the Catholic and Evangelical church in Guatemala is most widely demonstrated. Celebration of Christ’s passion and death versus the celebration of He who has risen.
In the Philippines …
As in most Catholic countries, Filipino Catholics, devout and nominal, take Holy Week celebrations very seriously. Most business completely shut down on Good Friday, making it the best day to drive in the city. Many Filipinos walk miles, across several days to churches around the city. Street are filled with people, some physically hurt themselves to emulate the suffering of Christ.
Pray for Filipinos who do not know the true reason of Easter and are lost in the ritual. Pray they will know that He is Risen, that he is ever present and active in our lives and the world. Pray they will seek to know and serve our Savior.
In Austria …
Easter has a significant place in both Eastern and Lutheran traditions, many similar to what may be seen in the U.S. Celebrations of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Good Saturday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday, which continues (in the Jewish condition of Peschach or Passover) as the 8th day of the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. In church circles, the evening is spent singing hymns.
A unique aspect of Easter in Austria is the relationship with Jewish tradition of Passover. On Maundy Thursday, there are Passover celebrations in the true and rich Jewish tradition. In the year that the church received the Nicene Creed (325 A.D.), Christians were prohibited from their traditional celebrations with Jewish friends in celebration of their holidays in their traditions. However, now in Austria, there is a movement of the Spirit of God that is undoing this particular mandate from this council. It has been pioneered and is now a part of the regular teaching of many free churches along with some Catholic and Lutheran churches.
