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Ash Wednesday |
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After all the Carnaval (Carnival) festivities of the past month that culminated in Fat Tuesday (Martes Gordo), Ash Wednesday (Miércoles de Ceniza) begins the season of Lent in Catholic churches across Mexico and starts the preparations for the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday (Domingo de Pascua)! Ash Wednesday always falls forty-six (46) days before Easter and is moveable, so it can occur as early as February 4th and as late as March 10th. Although Ash Wednesday is generally thought of as a Catholic practice, it is also commonly observed by both Lutheran and Methodist faiths.
According to the Bible and the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty (40) days fasting in the desert where he endured many temptations by Satan. Today, Ash Wednesday marks the start of this forty (40) day liturgical period of prayer, fasting and abstinence. Now you may question if it is only forty (40) days, how do they come up with forty-six (46) days before Easter? That is due to six (6) of the days being Sundays and as the Christian Sabbath, Sundays are not included during the fasting period, but are instead "feast" days during Lent.
Ash Wednesday gets its name from the placing of ashes on the foreheads of the faithful which serves as both as a reminder of human mortality and as a sign of mourning and repentance to God. The priests will mark the foreheads of each adherents with black ashes in the sign of the cross during masses held on Ash Wednesday. The ashes are typically worn until they wear off. The ashes used are most frequently the result of the priests burning the palm fronds from the previous year's Palm Sunday services. These are then kept until the next year's Ash Wednesday masses. These ashes are often blessed according to the various rites and beliefs for each religion. They also are very often mixed with Holy Water, water or even olive oil. This helps to provide a consistency to the ashes which will help affix the ashes when placed on the parishioners' forehead by the priests.
There are many traditions for Lent worldwide as there are also a number of Mexican Lent traditions. As in most cultures, the six (6) Fridays of Lent involve meals of seafood. Both shrimp and fish are very common meals over Lent on Fridays. Mexicans also make Empanadas de Vigilia (wakeful pies), a flour pastry shell stuffed with vegetables, seafood or often a combination. Tortillas de papa (potato croquettes), frijoles negros (black beans) and tortillas de camarón (dried shrimp croquettes) are often served at this time of the year. A popular dessert over Lent is Capirotada (bread pudding) that is filled with nuts and raisins (very addictive, you will not be able to stop eating this incredible Mexican dessert).
So if you are visiting Cozumel during the Lent season (and we hope you will be staying with us at IslaMar Vacation Villas) and would like to attend some of the Lent festivities, please contact us in advance to help us assist you in locating a church and mass service for you to attend. This is a wonderful time of the year to visit as not only will you be able to partake in a rich religious culture in celebrating the life of Jesus Christ during the Lent season, but our weather is absolutely GORGEOUS at this time of the year. So please come down and visit us, we would love to host you here at IslaMar Vacation Villas on the beautiful island of Cozumel!
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Copyright 2000 - 2024 Sherri Davis, All Rights Reserved. Contributors retain the copyright to their work. Please do not take art or written content without permission. Other graphics and reference materials are used and attributed as per the Fair Use Provision of The Copyright Act and individual terms of use.
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