Falling into a Surprise

Hola, I went to the church this morning. Every Good Friday, members of the church carry the cross through the streets and the procession that follows sings the most beautiful sweet music.
This event happens every year.
In addition, on each Friday before Good Friday, for many years the procession returned in the evening and visited the Altars of Viernes de Dolores, or Sorrowful Friday. Many homes and businesses constructed religious altars in observance of Our Lady of Sorrows for the evening. It was magical to walk through the dark night and view these candle lit altars. However, the lady who organized this passed away and the night event was no longer held.

So I was pleasantly surprised to discover that as we proceeded through the streets we were going to be viewing altars of Viernes de Dolores. We wound our way over cobblestone streets and up to the Alto Tacubaya barrio where we saw, during the course of several hours, over ten altars. We stopped at each altar and listened while the priests blessed the altar. Then two new men picked up the crosses and we continued on. As we walked everyone sang. Religious music here is like something I have never heard in a church before. It is very folksy, very, very soft, and very moving.

After leaving the Tacubaya hillsides we walked back down to town where we continued to sing and wind our way through narrow streets to even more altars.




Below are three young girls at the cross of thorns, altar #9. They stood completely still through out the blessing until the one in pink sneezed and the little one in purple giggled.

Most of the altars were very simple. Here is altar #7, very simple, yet moving in its display of wood, lace, flowers and candle light. Even though I had expected to see the Good Friday procession, climbing up into the hills of Tacubaya and seeing the simple, but touching altars was unexpected.
I love falling into a surprise and this certainly was one. Alamos, you never cease to amaze me.
hasta manana! linda lou