Last Sunday was Easter and here in Mexico it was the culmination of religious observances known as Semana Santa (Holy Week). One aspect of the celebrations is the act of penance, defined, a bit dryly, in my dictionary as “Voluntary self-punishment inflicted as an outward expression of repentance for sin and for which the person is granted absolution.” I knew about penance from when my many Catholic friends would give something up each year for 40 days during Lent like coffee, sweets, hard drink, or maybe Facebook.
What I saw in the town of Taxco in the state of Guerrero this past weekend was a different kind of penance altogether. It was a difficult, physical, immediate, and painful kind of penance. It was demonstrated in fervently Catholic processions of hundreds of people including stooped barefoot women walking with chains around their feet, men carrying heavy bundles of thorns tied to their back and arms, and men kneeling and flagellating their backs with nail barbed whips. The pictures certainly do not do this justice, but I don’t think I have any words that would either.
I had mixed emotions about sharing these photos because I worry someone may mistakenly think Mexicans are a violent people, which they are not. Semana Santa is a public religious observance to remember the suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection in the last days of Jesus Christ. In this celebration, and in many others, Mexico has kept their rich culture and traditions alive in a way many countries and cultures have not.
