Ruk’ux Scholarship: Easter at Ruk’ux

Easter 

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, who died on the cross on Holy Friday and on the third day rose from the dead. That is why for the Catholic faithful is the biggest celebration and is celebrated with great joy. 

To get to Easter, every Catholic Christian goes through a 40-day spiritual preparation, this is called Lent and represents the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert. This is a time for every Catholic Christian to reflect and meditate on the suffering of Jesus.

During Lent, believers perform penance, prayer and fasting beginning on Ash Wednesday and every Friday thereafter. They also participate in different activities such as: the Stations of the Cross, which is prayed every Friday of Lent and consists of 15 stations that represent the passion of Christ until reaching Calvary. All of the above with the objective of arriving at Easter with a clean soul and to be able to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord.

There is also a group of people called cofrades, who perform traditional activities that reflect the culture of the people. But these differ greatly from the traditions of the Catholic Church.

They start their activities every Friday, processions go through the main streets of our town with the images of Jesus, the Virgin of Dolores and the Apostle San Juan. They also eat alborotos and chickpeas in honey.

Holy Week reminds us of the last moments that Jesus spent on earth. Beginning with Palm Sunday, which is the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In the church of our town there is a walk through the main streets, raising the branches and singing with joy, as a symbol of preparation and way to Easter.

This is done only by Catholic Christians, the people in general perform activities led by the cofrades according to our culture.

The arrival of the corozo flower is on Sunday, for Tuesday the arrival of fruits, especially bananas, is done, the procession of St. Simon, who stands for a moment in front of the municipality and then is taken to his chapel to be hanged and hanged on a tree, as a representation of Judas betraying Jesus by handing him over to the Jews, is performed on Wedenesday.

The Catholic Church celebrates Holy Thursday, representing the last supper of Jesus with his 12 apostles with a holy mass. During the Holy Mass the feet of the apostles are washed and they are given the manna bread that is specially made for the occasion. 

After the mass, adoration of the sacramentalized Jesus is made as a representation of the prayer that Jesus made on Mount Tabor, to be later delivered by Judas to the Jews. As a custom of the people, the cofrades do readings in the church and at midnight they symbolize by means of four men carrying the image of Saint John, the moment in which he ran to warn the Virgin that Jesus was being beaten. 

On Holy Friday, the church celebrates the Passion of Christ with the Holy Offices, from one o'clock until three o'clock in the afternoon. Afterwards, an act is performed as a symbol of the descent of Christ on the cross and people go to the holy burial.

The holy burial is a procession that takes place through the main streets while the catholic people pray for the death of Christ. The streets are adorned with carpets, in order to grow spiritually and obtain forgiveness of sins through penance. 

On Holy Saturday or Saturday of Glory is when people carry out different activities, family gatherings and some go on trips.

The Easter Triduum begins on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, the three days in which the Catholic liturgy celebrates the passion, death and resurrection of Christ until Easter Sunday. 

The Easter Vigil begins at eight o'clock at night on Holy Saturday and begins with the liturgy of light, all Catholic Christians who participate light a candle as the expectation of the resurrection of the Lord. It also represents the liberation and forgiveness of our sins, since Jesus has conquered death and will be victorious, for Catholics it is the happiest day in their Christian life.

The Vigil consists of four parts; Liturgy of Light, which represents the splendor of glory and teaches us that darkness can be overcome. Liturgy of the Word, where the responsorial psalm and seven readings from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament are sung. Baptismal Liturgy, where the celebration of the Passover of Christ begins, the blessing of water and the renewal of baptismal promises and Eucharistic Liturgy, the Eucharist is the Paschal sacrament and begins with the singing of hymns of joy.