Holiday-Easter

“In Spain, Easter time is one of the most important times of the year, especially in southern Spain. For those who do not know, we have these big parades with this entity like an intrafraternity council that coordinates the different fraternities. They are each assigned to a different part of the parade. For example, one could be in charge of remaking the Last Supper. There will be over a hundred people carrying a monument representing the Last Supper because it is so large. Everyone in the community comes out and experiences an interpersonal moment as these fraternities display many of the great stories of the Easter holiday. Many of the people are in tears as they are moved by the great religious feeling. The parade shows the Easter holiday and its importance on the Spanish culture.”

Pablo said that Easter is very important to Spanish culture. He lives in northern Spain so it is not as important there as it is in southern Spain. However, he still feels like Easter represents an extremely religious moment for him and the rest of members of his community. He said that the fraternities are not like the ones you find at different universities. They are devout religious individuals that come together to make this event special. There are about fifty to sixty people in each fraternity, Pablo said, and depending on the size of the city in Spain, there could be few to many fraternities. Whenever he is in Spain, he always goes to the Easter processions because he has been going since he was a child.

When I asked Pablo what the parade meant to him, he said that it was a very interpersonal moment where he felt closer to God and the rest of his community. Pablo used to be an active member of one of the fraternities as he helped carry the monuments across the city. He said that this parade brings everyone into tears because of its overwhelming connection between the community and God. He enjoys Easter because everyone in the community comes out together to watch the fraternities parade through the city.

When I talked to Pablo about his Easter holiday, it made me visualize an entire community rejoicing together in the streets of their city. I agree that this would be a very interpersonal moment and that it also represents their culture. Not everybody has a parade with fraternities parading religious monuments across the city. This holiday shows that the people of Spain feel close to each other and God for the fraternities connect them all. I believe that this parade means that people of Spain want to show their religious practices not only to God, but to the world as well.