Processions Are For Teaching and Learning

Dating back to the middle ages, Spain's Holy Week processions have always been tools for teaching.  As the gigantic religious floats (pasos) were carried through the medieval streets, people who were largely illiterate could see the Biblical stories come to life before their eyes.  In today's world of television, Internet and multimedia, the tradition of carrying the pasos continues. However, while the pasos continue to illustrate the traditional stories, the processions have evolved into tools of "active learning."  Active learning is defined as learning by doing.

Children and entire families now participate in the processions.  The traditional Brotherhoods, some hundreds of years old, actively welcome women and children to march with them.  For the children, it is a learning experience that allows them to become part of the story.

Holy Tuesday's (martes santo) Procession of Forgiveness (Procesión de Perdón) in León was at 6:45 p.m.  This was early enough that more children could be involved.

The Procession of Forgiveness is both traditional and very modern.  (You can click on images in this blog for a closer view.  Use the "escape" or "esc" key to return to a normal view.)

A young participant.

This girl is in traditional Spanish dress.

Even today, viewing a Centurion in a relatively authentic costume is a learning experience.

Even the child in the baby carriage is dressed in traditional penitent robes.

The lady pushing the baby carriage, presumably the mother, marches with bare feet, a true display of penance and devotion.

A girl munches on an oblea as she greets those along the route.  An oblea is two thin wafers filled with a sweet, sticky paste similar to caramel. 

This boy is obviously very pleased to participate in the procession.

This girl's pigtails fall from under her hood.

Despite all the children I've shown you, adults also learn from the experience.  Tonight at midnight, I will wear the hood and robes of the Brotherhood of the Seven Words of Christ on the Cross to march in the Solemne Via Crucis Procesional (Processional of the Way of the Cross.)  For me, that will certainly be a learning experience which I will report to you tomorrow.

I will be blogging about Holy Week from León and much more in the upcoming days.  If you would like to follow along and receive a notification when a new post appears, please subscribe by clicking here and entering your email address.

You can view my fine art photography website at:  www.tombellart.com.

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