Easter in Costa Rica is a very special time for the country’s 5 million citizens. What a happy, relaxing, spiritual time it is for all involved. .
The time leading up to Easter Sunday is known as “Semana Santa” in Costa Rica. It is one of the country’s most important religious holidays. Most all residents have the entire week free from work. Schools, banks and stores are closed. . EVERYTHING is closed! In addition, Thursday and Friday are government-mandated holidays so that families may spend time together. Lots of cooking, preparing meals and family time. Friends gather and enjoy each other’s company. Thousands flock to the beaches. Traffic is HEAVY, but no one seems to care!
Conservative Catholics refrain from eating meat during Lent (the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter), so traditional Holy Week cuisine revolves around seafood. Chiverre squash also plays a prominent role in the week’s gastronomic offerings, appearing as sweet jelly, filling for turnovers and jams. Other specialties vary by regions. For example, families in Guanacaste spend weeks gathering wild mangos for marmalade and other sweet treats. If you’re on a diet, you will cease any form of eating right for at least two week! It’s time to eat, celebrate and enjoy life.
Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is the most important holiday for Costa Ricans, as it celebrates the death and resurrection of Christ with processions all across the country. In each town, the Catholic Church organizes the big event to take place on Holy Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.The biggest procession in the country is held on Friday in Cartago, and is a long-standing tradition for many families. The grand procession is a dramatic reenactment of Jesus going to the cross, starting with his journey through Jerusalem to crucifixion and resurrection. Participants in the procession dress in timely garb and act like the Roman soldiers who traveled with Jesus toward his death. Spectators line the streets of each city to mourn and pray, while members participating in the event vow that they have lived sin-free for the past year.
There was a big meeting this year among the priests and bishops here in Costa Rica. With the COVID problem, there has been changes made. . here’s a few of them. .
- Some of the COVID protocols previewed are as follows:On Ash Wednesday, the priest should sprinkle ash on the head of each participant, rather than applying it directly to their forehead.
- Each priest should limit the number of masses in which they participate.
- Large processions will remain suspended, as they were last year, since they “generate some degree of risk for the spread of the virus”.
- Churches should observe the appropriate capacity restrictions for their buildings.
- It will be “at the discretion of the priest” whether to participate in the “Anointing of the Sick”.
Let’s all say a little prayer today, on Easter Sunday, to ask for a better year in 2021 and perhaps pray a long prayer asking about how NEXT EASTER, the world will be rid of this terrible plague.
Take today to reflect what Easter means to you. If you’re in Costa Rica, go grab a piece of toast with mango marmalade spread on top and enjoy this special day!
