Celebrating Holy Week in a state of alarm
Holy Week is one of the most important Catholic celebrations of the liturgical year. Every year all Christians celebrate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Father Jesus Christ. Every year we commemorate the victory of life over death, the light of Christ overcomes the darkness of death, granting us the hope of eternal life next to our Heavenly Father.
Holy Week is a time of penance, repentance, suffering and pain, but it is also a time of hope and joy. The three liturgical colors of Holy Week (white, red and purple) reflect the feelings that we collectively experience during processions, acts and celebrations.
The color red is the main protagonist in the celebrations linked to the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ during Holy Week (Palm Sunday and Good Friday).
On the other hand, the purple color is a symbol of humility, penance and the purpose of amendment that Christians must seek within us to find Jesus.
Finally, the color white represents Easter joy, happiness, purity, life and light. White liturgical vestments are the main protagonists on Easter Sunday. Day in which we celebrate the return to life, the victory of Christ over sin. After suffering innumerable accusations, sufferings, after suffering the Cross, Christ comes back to life for us, for the forgiveness of our sins, to give us the light and hope of eternal life.
This Easter will be different from all the others, this year humanity as a whole will face a challenge like never before, the disease that we all know as the coronavirus. Everything has changed for weeks, all forecasts and plans have had to be revised. Everything has been disrupted by this virus that distances us from our loved ones, which forces us to keep our distance from friends, family and acquaintances.
In these circumstances it is more important than ever to remember the teachings of Our Father Jesus Christ that we commemorate each Holy Week and that are summarized in the liturgical colors red, purple and white. Teachings that all the faithful experience throughout the entire celebration of the Passion and Death of Jesus, but especially during the Easter Vigil, during the celebration of the Resurrection. Moment in which the darkness of death and disease are overcome by the light of Christ. The shadows of despair are overcome by the clarity of hope that our Savior brings us.
The current situation is very complicated, the world as we knew it seems to be falling apart, but the hope of salvation must never disappear. The shadows will disappear and the light will shine again. It has always been that way and it always will be.
It is important that we do not forget that the light will come. Hope must always be present in our lives. For this reason we would like to share with you a poem that a friend has sent us. We do not know who the author is, but his love for Holy Week, for Christ and for the Virgin Mary is evident in each line. You will also appreciate the love for your friends and neighbors, for all those who are on the front lines of the battle against the virus.
We would like you to share the work on your social networks with a double objective. The first is that we believe that it is a composition that will brighten the day of many people. We find it beautiful and full of good feelings. The second is that we would like to meet the author of the work in order to pay him the tribute that, in our opinion, he deserves.
Always remember that "And how is Hope not going to come out If that's what's left?"
Who says there is no Easter this year?!
Who says this year
the Christ of Health does not come out,
if he is dressed in green
blue or white in hospitals?
who says that the nazarenes
they will not do their penance
if they come with their sick
at the emergency doors?
who says that Jesus Fallen
will not go out on Holy Wednesday
if we see our doctors
fallen and exhausted
with humble Cyreneans:
guards, cleaners and health personnel?
And just like in the Borriquita
Christ brought us the Good News
our trucking heroes
spend the nights awake
to bring us all food to our pantry.
and defy the roads
where the virus already flies,
thinking of their families
and in not being quarantined.
And the Virgin of Peace
will wear his white mantle
in so many ADL sisters
what care of our elderly
bringing them the peace of love
with their uniforms also white.
and with tiredness in the look
as when in the Garden I was praying
Christ is also present
in which in any supermarket,
or in a small shop
of those that are in our neighborhoods,
restock the shelves
or are they in the cash registers
to satisfy our hunger
as I did in that miracle,
with the same humility and patience
with which he goes out on Holy Thursday.
And our holy priests
with the Virgin of the Rosary
offer your prayers
for the entrusted people.
And in our Police and Civil Guard,
He is also crucified
giving us all his love
and his tremendous care
so that the plague passes suddenly
and we do not suffer any damage,
that they don't stay at home
and they are in the street watching.
And how is hope not going to come out
if that is what is left?
hope for those
that have businesses closed,
and they look asking for remedies
in their confined houses.
And the Virgin of La Palma
also coming out this year
for the gratitude of the people
then touch the palms in an applause
to those who risk their lives
for us to be healthy.
And to the Virgin of the Conception
we ask this year
that just like she was so pure
So preserve us under your mantle
and this town remains pure
without any contaminated.
And if you think about how many of us
they feel alone and abandoned
you will understand that too
the Captive goes out this year
because locked up in their houses,
without being able to go anywhere,
They feel like Jesus in prison
that goes out without being Holy Tuesday,
and only feel the company
of the Virgin of the Forsaken.
And when I see the people
that without a loved one they have remained
and cry looking at the sky
looking for a holy consolation,
I feel like it's gone too
the slum piety
or the Virgin of Sorrows
with her son on her lap.
And it will also leave at dawn
the Christ of Expiration,
who by dying saved the world
and cleansed him from his sins,
in our cleaning brothers,
so that there is no infection,
pick up our rubbish
in silence and abnegation.
How important are these brothers
who work in the fields
carrying heavy cross
like the Christ of Calvary
demonstrating his strength
exposed to contamination
But they always keep going
as the Lord walks in his path.
that's why don't tell me
that we are left without Easter
that the Lord already said,
that he himself was
in the one who is your neighbor
and your love I needed.
That maybe there will be no processions
of beautiful carved images
but as you can see, Christ goes out into the street
with his mother every morning.
And you will discover the face of the Virgin
when you look at an old lady
what is going on in quarantine
so alone at home,
and when you close your eyes you will see
that that holy granny
is the Virgin of Solitude,
with gray hair.
And the Virgin of Sorrows
although with his mantillas he does not go out
will also be on the street
in our brothers of the
pharmacy
that to ease our pains
the medicines dispatch us.
And although it scares us all
passing through the tomb,
even there is the strength
of the one who is the King of the world,
and take refuge in Bitterness,
that she is a safe harbor,
that in her tears there is sweetness
and after this there will be triumph.
that every day blesses us
Our Father Jesus Nazarene
without going out to the hill or to the square
He continues to take care of our people,
so that we live this Holy Week
with the heart and the feeling.
A different Holy Week,
and when everything is over
we will actually check
that Christ is Risen,
and will bring us with Him the joy
of a recovered town
to dance like Antigua dances
and live better as brothers.
That although there are no processions
in our town in spring
keep smelling the incense
that puts its good people,
because our feeling is not suspended,
because our faith is true,
because it's always Easter.