Happy Easter to each and every one of you, I hope you’re having a lovely Easter weekend. Today, my family and I will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ after the sacrifice he made on the cross on Good Friday. Christ is risen! Hallelujah!
At lunchtime today it will get very noisy in the village, and my dogs and cats will go into hiding, as the “Quema de Judas” (Burning of Judas) takes place. As you can see from the photo, which Tim took just a few minutes ago, our villagers have constructed a huge “tree” in our village square and have topped it with an effigy of Judas Iscariot. In just a few hours time the tree will be set on fire, Judas will be burned and there will be lots of bangs as the fireworks which have been packed into the tree all go off. As you can imagine, it’s rather noisy and chaotic!
In Tudor times, on Easter Sunday, the candles in the church and around the Easter Sepulchre would be extinguished and then the church lights re-lit by the priest from a new fire. The sepulchre would be opened and Christ’s resurrection would be celebrated with a special mass. This mass would be followed by families celebrating and feasting with good food. Easter Sunday marked the end of Lent so the people could enjoy meat and dairy products once again.
Whatever your beliefs, Easter Sunday deserves to be celebrated. It’s all about new life, love and hope. Happy Easter!
Update: Here’s a photo of the tree being burned.
