Holy Week or Semana Mayor, as the last week of Lent is called, It is defined by the Catholic Church as a reminder of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.. It begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Resurrection Sunday. In addition, it gives importance to a series of Christian symbols, which from the point of view of religion and history are extremely important for followers and believers. For this reason, on this occasion, you will be able to learn more about the meaning of the symbols of Holy Week.
To begin historically, the Catholic Church affirms that its origin is based on the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ and that it was built under the precepts that the apostles and Jesus defended. However, there is clear and much analyzed evidence that shows that this was not really the case. Nevertheless, Christians and their beliefs were persecuted and banned during the first 280 years of Christianity. This changed with the coming to power of the Emperor Constantine, who in the year 313, legalized Christianity in the Edict of Milan; then in AD 325 he convened the Council of Nicaea in an attempt to unify it.
During this time, the Roman Empire was losing power, it was fragmenting and Constantine thought of this unification of Christianity as a way to prevent the empire from dying; so he sought a way to merge the pagan beliefs of the Romans with the Christian faith and get the majority to accept this proposal more calmly. Well, in reality this Emperor and his great Empire were not completely given to all the beliefs of the Christians, which is why he promoted a Church mixed between paganism and the faith of the Catholics.
In this way the Christianization of pagan beliefs was born, giving Christianity a new identity, hence some examples of this phenomenon that Constantine achieved before the fall of his empire: It is well known that most of the Romans had polytheistic beliefs, that is to say they believed in various gods; over time that tendency was transformed into what was called henotism or belief in several gods, but with the particularity that one of them was a supreme god who was above the others and this in turn commanded the pantheon where they all were. That is, a kind of union between polytheism and monotheism.
Consequently, the Catholic Church transformed that pantheon full of Roman and pagan gods into the gallery of Saints that today fill the churches and just as they had a god for war, peace, love, etc., the church has a saint for the impossible, to get a job, to find a partner, to protect animals, as well as patron saints. The truth is that this is proof of the paganism present in the origin of the Christian religion.
Another aspect that is taken as an example of the pagan in Christianity is the concept of the Lord’s Supper or Catholic Communion, which was born in Mithraism, a religion that existed in the Roman Empire and was never recognized as such. Nevertheless, Mithraism was widely followed by Roman soldiers and was almost the most popular religion in Rome, until Christianity arrived. Within the rituals of this doctrine it was customary to drink and eat the meat of the bull. The god Mitra, who was symbolically present in that flesh and blood, was consumed by those who needed and wanted salvation, since in that sacrificial food, God himself was found.
Therefore, Constantine replaced the concept of this ritual with that of the sacrament of communion, which would later become mandatory in church masses., that is, the Eucharist, where the body of Christ is symbolically consumed. Likewise, Mithraism also had the concept of the seven sacraments. For these reasons, the similarity of some Roman customs and their religious beliefs with respect to what is today the Catholic religion cannot be overlooked.
Now, after having learned a little about Christianity and its origin, for many Catholics, the origin of religion continues to be in what happened in Holy Week and, in turn, continues to be a lot of reflection on Jesus and everything that It happened before his death and resurrection. That is why the sacrifice that he made when surrendering and freeing humanity from sins is always reviewed; likewise, many use this week to pray, to contemplate his actions, how to improve and how to get closer to God. Holy Week, if you will, is what follows from those forty days that Jesus spent in the desert, time that has been called Lent, in which he obtained a preparation for what was to come.
The most important days of the Holy Week are Thursday, Friday, Holy Saturday and Resurrection Sunday, since the most important celebrations are centered on these. Likewise, Catholics carry out different traditional activities in which they relive everything that Jesus Christ and his apostles lived and suffered. Normally the processions, the staging, the masses are very common and above all to highlight all the meaning of the symbology of that historical drama that Jesus lived.
In the same way, Catholic parishioners from all over the world join in this celebration and many make promises of high sacrifice, such as fasting, abstaining from eating meat, carrying the cross in a procession, dressing in purple simulating the Nazarene costume. , among other things.
However, within the most significant symbols that the Holy Week has are the branches of olive trees and palms. These were used by the Hebrews to celebrate the arrival of someone important to their cities, such as a king or illustrious person. When Jesus Christ arrived in Jerusalem, this town received him triumphantly among palms and branches as a sign of acceptance as the messiah. So on Palm Sunday the celebration of Holy Week begins with a procession between songs and palms to demonstrate the closeness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the subsequent days are for meditation and reflection on sins.
On Holy Thursday, a mass is celebrated first thing in the morning, called the Chrism Mass, in which the bishop consecrates the oils and the chrism. These oils and perfumes, blessed close to Easter, will be important for some sacraments., including baptisms and the anointing of the sick; and just as the derivatives of the oil perform a series of benefits on the skin: they soften, heal, beautify and keep it in shape, likewise, the similarity is that God wants to work through these sacraments for the good of human beings.
Similarly, this day the sacrament of love is celebrated and the service is the demonstration of love, which Jesus Christ performed by washing the feet of one of his disciples before the last supper. For this reason, at Holy Thursday masses, the priests wash the feet of the parishioners who attend.
With regard to Good Friday, the story of the passion is heard, the Eucharist is not celebrated for the death of Jesus; but a song of acclamation is made to Jesus Christ and in a simple act he is presented to the cross so that the parishioners make a simple gesture of adoration as a sign of admiration and gratitude towards Christ and the surrender of him. On Holy Saturday the Eucharist is celebrated in a night mass to await Easter and the blessings of fire and water are given, which represents light and darkness. A vigil is also held at the doors of the churches with a fire bonfire and the Cirio is lit, which will remain so for the next seven weeks of Easter.
The Candle represents the light of the world that is illuminated by Christ, through Easter that must be welcomed by all Catholics to be shared. Likewise, baptisms are performed for the incorporation into the life of Jesus and after his death, being baptized means resurrecting with him. Likewise, other significant symbols during Holy Week are the colors white, purple and red that are used in the different rituals to be celebrated; also the bells of the temples that ring as a sign of the resurrection and with them the incense, the flowers and the music full of joyful songs for Easter.
To finish, heMajor Week is for Catholics, the time to remember and renew, through rituals and symbols, the Christian promise to live in Christ. Therefore, knowing the meaning of many of them is essential to have a true approach to God that allows a life full of peace and kind actions as expressed by Jesus Christ through his teaching. For Catholics, this celebration is the maximum demonstration of recognition to the greatest representative of him, Christ in the delivery of him.