Peace Procession

Last night, from 7pm to about 10pm there were a couple hundred people of all ages crowded between a pickup truck carrying giant speakers and a cart carrying a well decorated white float with the Virgin Mary. The procession walked, chanted, prayed, and sung between each of the four points of the town.

My host mom, two sisters and younger brother took me out on the street behind our house to join the procession near the end of the journey. It was a wonderful experience. Most people had two or three white balloons or a white candle. Some had attached their balloons to the top of their umbrellas or sticks to get them higher in the air.      

Many of you maybe surprised to hear that right now in Guatemala it is cold. It is a very humid, chilling cold.      Last night, everyone was wrapped up well. Women covered their heads with scarfs or shawls and men with hats. There was a group of children in the middle with people crowded around, I assume, keeping them a little bit warmer. The hot wax dripping on the hands of the women and children, looked almost welcomed adorning their hands with the color of peace. I wore my puffy jacket, three shirts, long pants and my tennis shoes, and I was chilled.

In preparation for the walk, the town had adorned the streets with white ribbons and each of the four crosses at each corner of town, and the cross in front of the Catholic Church wore white ribbons.  The float that followed the procession was at head level adorned with doves, red flowers, white ribbons and paint, and a statue of the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus. A group of adults with their white candles surrounded the float.

The procession stopped at each cross and had a small responsive prayer which everyone in the crowd, but me seemed to know like the back of their hands. In between crosses there was chanting. "No more violence in our homes, in our families, in our town." And "Paz," Peace in Spanish among other phrases.

The procession ended in front of the Catholic Church in a circle around the concrete cross. Here we had one last responsive prayer and one last petition to the Virgin Mary to inspire peace in the life of all Guatemalans. One last time of giving thanks for the open mind and open heart of God and the Virgin Mary and how they shared this gift with us.