Schedule
of Events
Monday and Tuesday
During the colonial period this was known
as the Confraternity of the Holy ECCE HOMO ("Behold the Man"),
but it was dissolved in 1911. In 1921 a new confraternity was
organized, the Confraternity of Our Lord of Patience.
Based on the age of the "aura"
(Jesus' halo) of their processional image, which was fashioned
in the year 1813, this confraternity celebrated 175 years of veneration
on the 6th of March 1988. However, the image's crown of thorns
was said to have been donated in the year 1742, and from this
we are almost sure that the confraternity dates from the 18th
century. The confraternity processes on Monday and Tuesday of
Semana Santa, known as the "Days of Christ’s Passion."
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Scenes or tableaux* accompanied
all these processions both in the colonial and the modern era. One
was the famous "Covites" ("The Invited Ones");
the tableau of this confraternity was known as "The Centurions".
These tableaux all but disappeared in the last quarter of the 19th
Century, except that the tableau for this confraternity endured until
1922. It and the others remaining were completely suppressed until
the year 1980, when Padre Julio Bethamcourt took the initiative to
include them again. The tableau or scene for this confraternity is
represented by three centurions (Roman soldiers), a little captain,
and an angel. The procession leaves Monday of Semana Santa from the
home of the outdoing president, bound for the Cathedral in the afternoon
hours. On Tuesday it leaves from the Cathedral at 6 p.m., processing
around its usual route and then directing itself to the home of the
new president. In the last several years the confraternity, which
was previously composed of men and women, divided itself and a separate
confraternity composed of women has acquired the image of the Virgin
of Sorrows.
Wednesday
Confraternity of the Jesus of the Columm
Information about the origin of this confraternity
was lost in the 18th Century, but in olden times it was known as the
Confraternity of Jesus of Humility, the Nazarene, and the Angel, whose
principal image was widely known throughout the entire town as Jesus
on His Knees. By arrangement with a priest of the Cathedral members
of the confraternity in 1945 commissioned the sculptor, Coyoy Estrada,
to convert Jesus on His Knees to Jesus of the Column, converting the
confraternity into the Congregation of Jesus of the Column. Originally
the procession, each Tuesday of Semana Santa, is preceded by the Angel,
then the Nazarene, and finally by Jesus of the Column. In 1961 the
congregation founded, along with the committee of the Church of the
Transfiguration, the procession of little children of Jesus of Nazareth
which accompanies the images of the Angel and the Nazarene (mentioned
above), and the Virgin of Sorrows, known as the Four Fridays of Lent.
The confraternity dissolved for some years until in 1992 another confraternity,
the Confraternity of the Holy Trinity, decided to organize the procession
again; now it is done on Wednesday of Semana Santa.
Thursday
The Brotherhood of the Little Children of Jesus of Nazareth and
the Sisterhood of the Virgin of Sorrows of San Nicolas
The committee of the Brotherhood of our Lord of the Sepulchre of San
Nicolas for the City of Guatemala decided to organize this first procession
of little children from the southwestern part of the country, and
founded this Brotherhood/Sisterhood on the 18th of April 1954, leading
the first procession in 1955. The little boys wear purple tunics of
crepe, white silk capes with threads and a purple "capirote".
The little girls wear a white garment. The procession of children
leaves on Maundy Thursday at 3 p.m. from the Church of St. Nicolas.
Good Friday
Procession of Our Lord of the Three Falls from Calvary Church
This image, whose artist is not known,
has been in the Church of Our Lady of Solitude since the 17th Century.
A legend says that the image of Our Lord of the Three Falls in Calvary
Church is really the one from Ayutla, and that the image of Our Lord
of the Three Falls of Ayutla is really the one originally from Calvary
Church. About the middle of this century, there was a Brotherhood
of the Three Falls and a Sisterhood of the Virgin of Solitude. The
procession is celebrated on Holy Friday at 4 a.m., leaving Calvary
Church for the Cathedral and returning at 6 in the morning. The procession
is called the "Way of the Cross" and also known as the "Dawn
Procession".
Brotherhood of Jesus
of Nazareth and the Sisterhood of the Virgin of Sorrows of the Church
of St. John of God
In 1910, the image of the Nazarene
arrived in Quetzaltenango, destined for the General Hospital. The
imposing and majestic beauty of the Nazarene captivated the people
who saw it, who went to the streets singing its praises. On the 16th
of April of 1916 they decided to found the Congregation of Jesus of
Nazareth.
Accompanying the Nazarene is the Sorrowful One, known as The Ancient
House because in 1854 it was found in the attic of a house, staying
there for ten years before it was donated to the Hospital in 1864.
The name of its artist is not known. The Sisterhood of the Virgin
of Sorrows was founded in 1925. Originally, the Nazarene processed
around the city on Tuesday of Semana Santa accompanied by a band of
violins. The Nazarene is one of the images that has made the biggest
impression on the people of this church, because it is very distinctive
and the people have lovingly named it "The Little Blond One."
The procession leaves the Church of St. John of God, the old Western
General Hospital, on Good Friday at 8 a.m., covering its traditional
route accompanied by the following tableaux: The Prayer in the Garden,
The Kiss of Judas, The Sentence, Veronica, and the First Fall.
The Brotherhood of the Just Judge and the
Sisterhood of the Virgin of the Sorrows of the Cathedral of Quetzaltenango
This image, known as Jesus of Nazareth of the Parish, was sculpted
in the colonial period by the artist Jean de Aguire and it has been
used in processions since the 18th Century. Upon the arrival in 1910
of the other Nazarene of St. John of the Cross (known as "El
Chancito") there was confusion among the congregations on account
of there being two images of Jesus of Nazareth. The confraternity
therefore decided to change the name of Jesus of Nazareth of the Parish
to the Just Judge in 1936. On the 21st of February of 1922, the confraternity
converted itself into a brotherhood. On the 2nd of April, 1937, the
Sisterhood of the Virgin of Sorrows was founded, its image fashioned
by Julio Dubois.
The procession of the Just Judge, known as "the Review,"
leaves on Tuesday of Holy Week at 9 a.m., going in the direction of
the house of the current president and returning at 6 p.m.; on Maundy
Thursday the traditional procession leaves the Cathedral at 12 noon,
takes one pass around its route and returns at 2 p.m. On Good Friday
it leaves the Cathedral at 8:30 am, moving through the streets of
the city and completing its route.
The Brotherhood of Our Lord
of the Sepulchre and the Sisterhood of the Virgin of Sorrows of San
Nicholas Church
By 1890 there was a Brotherhood of Our
Lord of the Sepulchre in the old Hermitage of San Nicolas, and it
is not known exactly when they started their processions. During the
first quarter of this century, the image of the Lord of the Sepulchre
was venerated by ladinos as well as by the indigenous population.
But on Good Friday of 1922, the guardians of the image found some
indigenous people drunk and lying around the float. They decided to
turn over control of the float to the ladinos; on the 30th of April
1922, the Association of Ladinos of Our Lord of the Sepulchre of St.
Nicolas was born, destined to become the premier brotherhood in the
western part of the country. As noted above, the Brotherhood’s
exceptional solemnity, order, and discipline gave rise to the well-deserved
fame that Quetzaltenango’s Semana Santa celebrations enjoy today.
It is the only brotherhood that possesses the images of the Angel
of Faith, The Seven Last Words, and the Stations of the Cross.
The Sisterhood of the Virgin of Sorrows had its beginnings when the
image of the Virgin and The Sorrowful Women of the Hospital and the
Pereira Family began to accompany the procession of Our Lord of the
Sepulchre. In 1926 the group that was to become the Sisterhood had
its own image of the Virgin of Sorrows created by Julio Dubois. The
Sisterhood was founded in 1934, presided over by the widow Valeriana
De Lopez. The procession of San Nicolas leaves on Good Friday at 3
p.m. and is considered the most important of all the processions.
Brotherhood of Our Lord of the Sepulchre and Sisterhood of the
Virgin of Sorrows of the Cathedral of 
Quetzaltenango
The approximate dates of the creation of the two images of Our Lord
of the Sepulchre have been shown to be 1753 and 1756, and it is from
these dates that Semana Santa has been celebrated. One of the images
stays in the Cathedral, while the other one is carried in procession
and spends the rest of the year in the house of the president of the
Brotherhood. The Brotherhood of Our Lord of the Sepulchre of the Cathedral
began on the 17th of April, 1928.
In 1931 the image of the Virgin of Sorrows of God the Father, the
Just Judge was invited to accompany the procession. As a result of
this invitation the Sisterhood of the Virgin of Sorrows was founded
on the 14th of February, 1937. The sculptor of the image of the Virgin
of Sorrows is not known, nor is the date of its acquisition. This
association is made up exclusively of indigenous women.
The procession leaves from the Cathedral on Good Friday at 4 p.m.
and ends at 10 p.m. in the Church of Our Lady of Solitude, a tradition
that has been handed down from the 18th century. The procession is
accompanied by tableaux of Jesus Praying in the Garden, The Sentence,
and the Encounter with the Virgin.
Brotherhood of Our Lord of the Sepulchre and Sisterhood of the
Virgin of Sorrows of the Community of La Ciénega
Old Ciénega, called "el Barrio" (the neighborhood)
by its people, is the seat of this third Brotherhood of Our Lord of
the Sepulchre. Their image of Our Lord of the Sepulchre, created by
Julio Dubois, was originally destined for the Church of San Bartolomé,
but ended up staying for many years under the control of Sra. Proquinta
de Bethancourt in Ciénega. The anniversary of the image is
celebrated in May. On her deathbed Sra. Proquinta donated the image
to a private chapel in Ciénega. In 1980 the bishop of Quetzaltenango,
Monsignor Oscar García, authorized its procession for Good
Friday. The accompanying Sisterhood of the Virgin of Sorrows was founded
in 1969. Their procession leaves on Good Friday at 4 p.m. from the
old church of San Cristóbal, now known as the Parish of Merced
(Mercy).
Brotherhood of Our Lord of the Sepulchre and Sisterhood of the
Virgin of Sorrows of San Bartolomé
In 1930, on the feast day of the Cross, residents of the neighborhood
of the Church of San Bartolomé cleaned and restored the abandoned
church and plaza, which had been partially destroyed by the earthquake
of 1902. Then they elected their first leaders. They solicited money
and commissioned their first image -- the one discussed above, that
never arrived but stayed under the control of the widow Bethancourt
in Ciénega.
This left the Church of San Bartolomé without an image. Another
group of neighbors got together in order to fashion another image
of Our Lord of the Sepulchre which was blessed on Palm Sunday, 1947.
The image of the Virgin of Sorrows was commissioned by Arturo Mendizabal
and Rosa de Paz. In 1948 the Brotherhood of Our Lord of the Sepulchre
and the Sisterhood of the Virgin of Sorrows of San Bartolomé
was formed as single group composed of men and women. Their procession
leaves at 4 p.m. on Good Friday.
Brotherhood of Our Lord of the Sepulchre and Sisterhood of the
Virgin of Sorrows of the Transiguration
In the earthquake of 1902, the old Church of the Transfiguration was
completely destroyed. Its images were entrusted to neighborhood homes
for safekeeping. The image of Our Lord of the Sepulchre stayed in
the house of Esteban Cotóm, who entrusted it to a committee
in 1924. In 1925 they decided to initiate a procession, not calling
themselves a committee, association, or brotherhood, but rather a
"Group of Bearers." This situation lasted until the 12th
of March, 1941, when, through the initiative of Pablo Oroxon, the
group became an official brotherhood, with Oroxon as its first president.
The Society of the Virgin of Sorrows began in 1937. Its image was
made by Rosario Coyoy Estrada, and is very similar to the image of
the Virgin of Solitude of Calvary Church. The procession leaves on
Good Friday at 5 p.m.
Sisterhood of Our Lady of Solitude of Calvary
The fashioning of this image of the Virgin of Solitude may have been
as early as the mid-17th century; the first official records of its
existence date from the first years of the 19th century, when it was
venerated in the in the old Calvary Church. The procession of the
Virgin of Solitude began sometime between the middle of the night
on Good Friday and the dawn of Holy Saturday, after the return of
the image of Our Lord of the Sepulchre of the Cathedral. In 1920,
a group led by Manuel Morales organized a society composed of men
and women, which became the Brotherhood of Our Lord of the Three Falls
and the Sisterhood of Solitude, which lasted until 1944. In that year
the Catholic Union transformed this brotherhood/sisterhood into The
Sisterhood of Our Lady of Solitude. The procession of the Virgin leaves
on Holy Saturday at 3 p.m. and processes itscustomary route in the
opposite direction from that of the processions during Good Friday.
Eastern Sunday
The Brotherhood of Jesus of the Resurrection and the Sisterhood
of the Virgin of Sorrows of the Church of San Nicolas
As mentioned above, on Good Friday of 1922 a number of indigenous
members of the original Brotherhood of Our Lord of the Sepulchre of
San Nicholas were discovered drunk in the chapel. Following this incident
and the creation of an all-ladino Brotherhood to process the image,
a second, smaller image of Christ was fashioned for the indigenous
ex-members to use. Both images were processed, the smaller behind
the larger, until 1939. In this year Bishop García y Caballeros
eliminated the procession of the smaller image, and asked the indigenous
people to a separate procession of the original image for Easter Sunday,
1940. This practice has continued, and the Brotherhood of Jesus of
the Resurrection was formed in 1980. Their procession leaves at 10
a.m. Easter Sunday.
Document updated in May, 2006
