{"id":3851,"date":"2026-04-03T07:10:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T07:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/?p=3851"},"modified":"2026-04-03T08:00:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T08:00:21","slug":"la-pascua-in-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/la-pascua-in-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"La Pascua in Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ are foundational to the Christian faith. That\u2019s why the major branches of Christendom memorialize \u2013 in various ways \u2013 the death, burial and resurrection of Christ each spring . In the English language this observance is called “Easter”, in the Spanish language it is La Pascua<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexico has a variety of traditional Pascua<\/em> customs, many of them deriving from Spain, with a diversity of\u00a0 traditions linked to particular regions and cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semana Santa \u00a0(<\/em>Holy Week) \u00a0begins on Domingo de Ramos<\/em> (Palm Sunday) , the day of Christ\u2019s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. \u00a0The Last Supper was held on Jueves Santo<\/em> (Maundy Thursday). Viernes Santo<\/em> (Good Friday) commemorates the day of Christ\u2019s crucifixion.\u00a0 \u00a0S\u00e1bado de Gloria<\/em> (Holy Saturday) memorializes \u00a0the full day Christ was in the tomb. Domingo de Pascua<\/em> (Easter Sunday) celebrates the Resurrection of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools in Mexico get a two-week vacation, the week preceding and the week following Easter Sunday. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Mexican School Calendar, 2025-2026.
Source: Mexican Government<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In some cities\u00a0there is a Procesi\u00f3n de Silencio<\/em>, a silent procession, wherein the people march down the street by candlelight, in silence. This custom is from the Spanish city of \u00a0Sevilla<\/em>, famous for Semana Santa<\/em> observances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Procesi\u00f3n de Silencio<\/em> of Morelia, 2023. Source: cbdigital<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My wife and I attended a Procesi\u00f3n de Silencio<\/em> in Morelia one year and it was truly impressive. Both the marchers and the audience were totally silent<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cburning of Judas\u201d is practiced on S\u00e1bado de Gloria<\/em>, in which effigies of Judas (with firecrackers inside!) are burnt. \u00a0The Judas effigy is often in the form of a contemporary person, frequently an unpopular politician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a photo of a “Judas” hanged in effigy in early 1900s Mexico City. It looks like the kids are having a great time. I assume they eventually got around to burning the effigy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source: Library of Congress<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Passion Play is a dramatic representation of the crucifixion of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most famous Passion Play in Mexico is in the Mexico City borough of Ixtapalapa.\u00a0 It has been\u00a0performed since Ixtapalapa survived a cholera outbreak in 1833.

The Ixtapalapa Passion Play is a true community endeavour, organized and carried out annually by the locals and sponsored by the secular Iztapalapa government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drama includes 5,000 participants, 150 with speaking roles, and draws 2.5 to 4 million spectators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the pageant\u2019s actors must have been born in Iztapalapa.\u00a0 Whoever portrays Christ is selected\u00a0 on the basis of both good moral character and physical strength. The actor \u00a0wears an actual crown of thorns, is flogged, and bears a 200 pound cross through the streets for two and a half miles, and up a hill before being \u201ccrucified\u201d (tied to the cross, not nailed). \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ixtapalapa Passion Play. Source: Mexico News Daily <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ixtapalapa Passion Play is truly a sight to behold.  When a reporter asked a local man about it, he replied . “We pray, we cry, as if all this is real. We know it is not. But yet \u2026maybe we come because we are all sinners. Maybe somehow it helps us make fewer sins in our lives\u2026Maybe, just maybe, people are better because of it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a1Felices Pascuas de Resurrecci\u00f3n<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source: zbolotnova<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ are foundational to the Christian faith. That\u2019s why the major branches of Christendom memorialize \u2013 in various ways \u2013 the death, burial and resurrection of Christ each spring . In the English … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,861],"tags":[778,862,540,860,855,857,487,5,856,859,858,863],"class_list":["post-3851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-religion","tag-catholic-church","tag-christianity","tag-education","tag-holy-week","tag-ixtapalapa","tag-jesus-christ","tag-la-pascua","tag-mexico-city","tag-morelia","tag-procession-of-silence","tag-quema-de-judas","tag-sevilla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3851"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3866,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851\/revisions\/3866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}