The Quito Holy Week agenda was presented on March 24, 2022. The Jesús del Gran Poder procession will be carried out with biosecurity measures.
REMOVE. The tradition that Washington Moreno jealously guarded for more than 20 years will be taken up again in the convent of San Franciscoat Quito’s Historic center.
Until before the pandemic, volunteers like Moreno were in charge of caring for, cleaning and even restoring the 1,200 suits. cones, veronicas, romans and other characters that are part of the Jesús del Gran Poder procession.
Since 2020, these vestments have remained in storage, due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but now they are beginning to dust off for use by old and new penitents.
Attire must be in impeccable condition before April 10, 2022 (Palm Sunday), but the agenda of activities for Easter already began on Thursday, March 31, 2022 with the XX edition of the International Festival of Sacred Music. Programming includes 11 Ecuadorian groups selected through a public call from among 29 contestants, the musical cast of the Fundación Teatro Nacional Sucre, and two international collaborations with Spain and Colombia. In addition, community meetings, fanesca festivals and more are planned.
end to restrictions
José Simbaña, representative of the metropolitan curia Quitopointed out that this year the face-to-face activitiesafter two years of hiatus due to the pandemic of COVID-19.
One of the most anticipated activities, precisely, is the Procession of Jesus of the Great Power, which returns to the streets of Quito. This activity, the most important of the Major week, It will be on Friday, April 15, 2022, from 12:00.
Historically, more than 250 thousand people come together every year for the procession. On this occasion, despite the presence, there will be control of physical distancing and biosecurity measures.
Schedule
The official acts will begin on Palm Sunday with a procession that will leave the Basilica of the National Vow towards the Church of San Francisco, and will continue on Holy Tuesday with the procession of litters in the parish of Puellaro.
Holy Wednesday will be one of the most special days and the Drag of Caudas in the Cathedral of Quitothe only one in the world that preserves this tradition since it arrived in the country from Spain in the 16th century.
“We still keep it here, and it is an honor and a privilege for the Primatial Archdiocese of Quitobecause we, as Christians, live it in a very profound way, “said Father José Asimballa, one of the canons who participated in the ceremony.
In the ritual, the Archbishop of Quito and his canons make a procession inside the Cathedral in which they carry on their backs the caudas, heavy black capes almost two meters long that symbolize the sins of the world.
After completing the ceremony, the canons, who are the oldest religious in the Quito church, prostrate themselves in front of the main altar so that the archbishop waves a large black flag with a red cross to transmit, symbolically, the virtues of Jesus Christ.
the great procession
For Holy Thursday, the visit to the seven churches of the Historic Center of Quito will be made again, a massive pilgrimage that runs through the main temples of the city. That same day at night will take place the light processionwhich will go from the Basilica of the National Vote to the Church of Santo Domingo.
Good Friday is, perhaps, the most awaited date for the people of Quito: they will recover in the streets of the capital the procession of Jesús del Gran Poder, the most massive in the country, according to the general manager of Quito TourismMaria Cristina Rivadeneira.
Although it has been held since 1961, this procession has all the scenery and devotion of the great Holy Week processions, such as those of Seville, with Nazarenes covered with hoods that accompany the centenary image that arrived in Quito from Spain.
Along with them, the veronicas also march each year, a group of women dressed in purple robes and veils that symbolize the woman who, according to the Gospel, wiped the bloody and sweaty face of Jesus Christ during the Way of the Crosswhich was later captured on the canvas.
One of the oldest verónicas is Laura De Herrera, who explained that, for them, the day of the Jesús del Gran Poder procession is the most important of the year.
Devotion
Among the people who carry the statue of the Jesus of Great Power will be one more year, as always since 1965, Mrs. Luz Morales, who at the age of 78 will once again put the image on her shoulder to thank him for all the miracles that she considers he has done for her.
«The ‘Jesusito’ has performed so many miracles for me… my son was told that he had polio and that there was no cure. I entered the church kneeling (on my knees) asking him that, if he is going to give me a prostrate son, it is better that he take me, and if not, that he heal him. And, after a month, my son settled down. He is now 56 years old and he is a driver », he recounted.
Despite her advanced age, Luz affirmed that carrying the walk “is a joy, a great affection, because I live for it.”
The events will end on Holy Sunday with the Blessing of the Firein the church of Alangasi, religious ceremony that represents the fullness of light and how good wins over evil, despite the darkness brought about by the death of Jesus. EFE/LAHOUR
