Lent begins on February 22 in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church around the world.
It is known as Ash Wednesday, when this time of spiritual preparation of penance and fasting begins for thousands of Catholics.
At 7 a.m. there was the first mass and the imposition of ashes in the church of Santo Tomás in the region of Pico and Unión.
“It’s a blessing to be here in the church, to start our Lent and we always start with Ash Wednesday, because it reminds us that we came from dust and to dust we will return. These 40 days are a time to be in prayer, to renew oneself spiritually,” said Priest Mario Torres, parish priest of Santo Tomás Church.
For Torres, it is important that parishioners turn the cross marked on their foreheads into action.
“Repent and believe in the gospel, it reminds us that we need to repent, live the word of God, love one another,” Torres said.
For this Lent and Holy Week, the replica of Jesus of Nazareno who arrived from zone 1 of Guatemala City is already in the parish.
“Guatemala began to generate its own identity which we adopted at the time of colonization when the Spaniards began to teach us religion. They brought us images and began to teach us,” said Mario Díaz, director of the project to bring Jesus Nazareno.
To participate in the processions, carpets and liturgical acts is to continue to evangelize, commented the director of this project.
“Today, Guatemalan Holy Week is recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Heritage of Humanity,” Díaz said.
“I started wearing in 1989 and for me the representation of the image of Jesus is the representation of the image of Christ,” Marco López said of his work known as “cucurucho” from the Cristo Rey ministry.
For Marco, who is a “cargador or cucurucho” of Jesus of the Nazarene, faith has no borders.
“We used a phrase known to him in very distant places, which was used at the moment in the processional procession. You can imagine the emotion that brings these traditions here,” Marco said.
Prayer, fasting and penance are important during this Lenten season and are practiced by thousands of Catholics around the world.