In the beginning of February there is a day for the Virgin of Suyapa, which is a huge day in Honduras. The back story is apparently an idol appeared out of thin air a few times to someone and when the person looked at it, it was of the Virgin. Anyways, every year they have a big ol’ celebration at the beginning of February, and this year we attended one of the masses. The actually day is on the 3rd, but for several days leading up to the actual feast day they have services for different parts of Honduras, so that not all the Catholics in Honduras will try and go to mass on the feast day. We went a couple days before, and brought three busses of people from Talanga. It was really nice to see just how excited everyone was to go to this mass and see the idol they have on display there. The Basilica of Suyapa is absolutely beautiful as well, so that it itself was really nice to see and experience a mass in. Prior to mass there were about 20 priests hearing confessions, and true to Honduran form, mass started about an hour late. I think that the priest did a great job with it, and the people loved it and were very moved by it. As you will see in one of the pictures I can hopefully attach, the people came from all over and expressed their devotion in many ways. There was one woman that entered the church on her knees, and continued on her knees, shuffling her way to the front of the church and in front of where the idol was displayed. It was a beautiful testament to the faith that the Honduran people have, and it left me in awe of this elderly woman enduring physical discomfort to demonstrate her faith and her spiritual journey.
Also, here in Honduras they have woman’s day that they celebrate once a year in January. For our domestic violence group we took a bit of a break from the usual bible studies and discussion and the women decided to put on a play about domestic violence for us. There were about 5 of the women involved, and it was really well done. The theme was empowering women, and the scenes went from a woman and her children being physically and verbally abused, to the woman calling the police, to the women being liberated and are happier. It was a really nice depiction of the struggles that many women face, and I think the women really enjoyed being able to lead the group and put something together for all of us. They did a great job, and we were happy they felt so good about the work they could put together.
Thanks for all your continued support!
Our cat might have a problem..... (for those of you who are unsure, hes holding a cheap Mexican beer!)(Its still closed, don´t worry!=)
The chaos during the setting up for the mass and the procession
The view from inside the Basilica looking out at Tegucicalpa
a woman that waddled to the altar of the church before mass on her knees
Rosa and Alejandra during their women´s day play
A gorgeous sunset one night as seen through our new razor wire security system
The sign announcing the feast day and is events
The Basilica of Suyapa in Tegucigalpa
2 comments:
Was great seeing you here in the U.S. and now you're right back in Honduran mode! Your pictures are gorgeous! The one of the woman on the knees is very touching, very. The one of the sunset could be passed off as fires - and with the barbed wire fencing - wow! Love the Boozing kitty too! Hugs!
back in the saddle...it realy is different reading your blog and looking at pictures since our visit. The razor wire does look nice with the sunset!
love dad
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