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It’s strange. Yes, it’s strange.
How it feels.
It’s dark, dreary, quiet.
Quiet, silent, other than the raindrops today. It’s been raining all day.
I watch outside my window. There are no people, no processions, no celebrations, no singing.
Is there no Semana Santa in Spain?
This week, schools are closed around the country. Many people aren’t working. Many businesses and stores close their doors. Locals usually travel to visit friends and family to celebrate.
Travel. That’s not possible this year, once again. Borders are closed, allowing you only to move within your own province.
Everything has changed this Semana Santa in Spain.
Before moving to Spain, we had heard about this important cultural event. Semana Santa—Holy Week, Easter—is one of the major highlights in the country. It’s a week of celebrating faith, celebrating Jesus, celebrating the cross.
This year, the second year in a row, Semana Santa is cancelled.
Or is it?
Yes, the processions, the gatherings, the public celebrations are cancelled again. That’s true.
Can restrictions to gather, closed church doors, cancelled events, dreary and quiet Good Friday and Easter Sundays steal our faith?
When all is stripped away . . . when there is no church service, no community circle, no joyful singing, no spoken corporate prayers . . . does our faith remain?
In the quiet and silent reflection, in the isolation inside our home, in the confinement of this country, do we still have our faith, our beliefs?
When there is no public Semana Santa in Spain . . . is there still a Holy Week?
Holy Week resides in our hearts, in our souls. It’s not found in the processions, the gatherings, the celebrations.
Holy Week is in the whisper, in the quiet. It’s not heard in the spoken prayers, the singing, the crowds.
Holy Week is here.
Perhaps the restrictions make it even more meaningful, more beautiful, more real. Perhaps the confinement makes it more personal, more intimate, more authentic.
Perhaps Holy Week, Semana Santa, in Spain is here in a new way, in a more powerful way this year.
I Heard It Again
On my walk a few days ago, I heard it in the distance. I heard it again . . .
I remember hearing the same sound last year, awakening me from my pandemic stupor.
I Heard the Church Bells Rings—A New Normal?
I heard the church bells ring.
Yes, the church bells in Spain still ring. I stopped to listen. It went on and on and on . . . for at least five minutes. Yes, the church bells still ring. It’s a beautiful sound. One that reminds me of life, hope, faith.
Yes, the church bells still ring.
Restrictions will not restrict my faith.
Today, during this beautiful Semana Santa in Spain, I can say that my faith still stands. It feels battered and bruised, yet it remains. What about yours?
—THE CULTURAL STORY-WEAVER
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LET’S WEAVE CULTURES!
Where do you stand in your faith when everything else is closed, confined, and crumbling? Has anything changed inside your heart as your external circumstances have drastically shifted?
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures!” Write about them in the comment box below.
