(VIDEO) Semana Santa: Rituals and Legacies in SMA [] Rotary Club Video Presentation

Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende
– Rotario Midday, A.C. –

“Semana Santa: Rituals and Legacies in SMA”

Recorded: Tuesday March 30, 2021

YouTube Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A09ZgOnMBQ

By: Chris McCaskill

Often considered the most important season in Mexican culture, on March 28^th Mexico begins a week-long period known as Semana Santa.  During this week, Christians acknowledge the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus Christ followed by his Resurrection celebrated during the week of Pascua.

The differences between the celebration of this season in the United States and Mexico differ significantly as the Midday Rotary’s guest speaker, Charlotte Bell, explained.

Bell, author and photographer, will not bring a religious agenda to her discussion, but rather, will teach us more about the rituals, the cultural practices, the role of suffering and penitence, the altars and other visual wonders of this period, which begins March 28th.

Charlotte Bell, since 1994, has lived part of each year in Mexico which she calls a candy store for photographers.  She’s with us today as the author of “Tears from the Crown of Thorns”, a book replete with photographs that she gained access to by meeting with revered citizens who shared stories going back hundreds of years. A closer look at the statues, paintings, altars and other expressions of this season will illustrate the unvarnished expression of sorrow inherent in the period.

Charlotte will place the special relevance of this centuries-old tradition into a contemporary context, by discussing issues of compassion and suffering during the pandemic and other social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter.

Each day of Semana Santa holds special significance. The week usually begins with elaborate woven palms and a dramatic procession on Palm Sunday, and proceeds through Good Friday—a sorrowful remembrance of Christ’s crucifixion.   Next comes the tradition of Holy Saturday where, in some locations, the locals enact the burning of a cardboard or paper-maché Judas in effigy.

Charlotte is a community organizer who became active in 1999 with a rural women’s craft cooperative, the Rug Hook Project Los Rancherita.  She conducts village tours where local women can sell their rugs.

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