When I left off, it was early evening on Jueves Santo (Holy Thursday) in Teotitlán del Valle and the church doors were to be left open all night. Sometime after dark, the statue of Jesus was removed from the church and incarcerated behind a petate (woven palm) mat.
All during the night, the faithful waited their turn to visit the incarcerated Jesus.
On Viernes Santo (Good Friday) morning, as the last of the villagers had paid their respects, the petate mat was removed.
At the same time, in the esplanade in front of the rug market, a pulpit was constructed and decorated with tapetes — on loan from the nearby vendors.
At 10:30 AM, a procession of Mary, Mary Magdalene, and St. John left the church, enroute to the esplanade.
Then Jesus, bearing the cross, began his journey to the esplanade.
Accompanied by throngs of faithful and the Roman Centurion, he wound his way through the streets along a different route from Mary.
Jesus entered the plaza between the Municipal Building and the new Cultural Center.
While Mary entered the plaza from the opposite direction — between the museum and the rug vendor stalls.
Mary and Jesus stood facing one another. They inched closer, as the priest continued his recitation, and at a designated moment, the statues were tilted so they could touch in farewell — this was the encuentro (encounter).
Everyone joined together in a single procession back to the church.
The Centurion returned to the church, as well, and couldn’t stop smiling.
Jesus, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and St. John made their way back to the village church, Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo.
Following several hours spent under the unrelenting brilliant sun, most villagers made their way across the street to the mercado for a refreshing nieve (water or milk based ice cream). Maybe that was why the Centurion was smiling.
Townspeople returned home for a traditional meal of salted fish and white beans — sustenance for what was to come — an evening Mass of the Crucifixion, followed by a second parallel procession to the cemetery, where another encuentro took place, and culminated in another joint procession back to the church. Alas, I was exhausted, and chose bed over the evening’s events.
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