Three years after his last visit to Managua, already freed from the “chains” of the COVID-19 pandemic, the image of Santo Domingo de Guzmán returned this Monday to govern the festivities in his honor, the largest celebrated in Nicaragua.
Tens of thousands of faithful Catholics gathered for the first time since 2019 in the southeast of the Nicaraguan capital, to accompany the image of Santo Domingo de Guzmán on its annual journey of ten kilometers, from the outskirts to the old center of the city.
From the early hours of the morning, the parishioners gathered in the surroundings of the parish of the Las Sierritas region, where the image of the venerated remains permanently, to pay promises left behind for several years.
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Catholics have not had this opportunity since the Episcopate decided to suspend crowding activities in mid-2020, after it was confirmed that the coronavirus pandemic had reached Nicaragua.
The promises were paid with the best-known performances at the local level: Some walked on their knees or on their backs, others dedicated themselves to praying, some dressed in “huipil”, “diablitos”, “inditos”, or “vaca culona”. ”, and those who dedicated themselves to dancing.
As has happened since 1885, the tiny image of Santo Domingo, about 18 centimeters high, left its temple on a pedestal carried by “promising” and adorned with hundreds of flowers, amid a hubbub, philharmonic music and firecrackers
A BOAT ON THE RIVER OF PEOPLE
In the old center of Managua, groups of traditionalists waited for the procession of tens of thousands of people, led by the venerated image, to welcome him at the foot of a huge arch of fruit, in an atmosphere of popular festival.
The tradition continued with the image of Santo Domingo traveling the last route to the parish that bears his name in Managua in his usual “Boat”, a boat that does not sail on water, but on a river of people who come to meet him every year. to acclaim him pay promises.
Contrary to the years before the pandemic, this year the procession and pagan customs, expressed in the excess consumption of alcoholic beverages, did not overshadow the Christian faith.
Previously, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes asked the Catholic faithful to pray the Holy Rosary as they walked in the procession.
The cardinal’s request coincided with the motto of this year’s festivities: “With Santo Domingo de Guzmán, together with María.” The same was remembered by the priest Boanerges Carballo just before the start of the procession.
As a result, the march to the old center of Managua this year moved with a speed rarely seen before. The Managua traffic did not suffer as before, and the participants, in a smaller number, quickly disintegrated.
From now on, Nicaragua entered into a dynamic of ten days of popular festivals, which will conclude with the return of the image of Santo Domingo to Las Sierritas in a procession similar to today’s.
The festivities, which can attract hundreds of thousands of people, make believe that Santo Domingo de Guzmán is the patron saint of Managua, but while everyone celebrates, a few kilometers away, the image of the true protector, Santiago Apóstol, ages engraved in the old cathedral from the city.
