According to Wikipedia, the Feast of Corpus Christi is "is a Latin Rite liturgical solemnity celebrating the tradition and belief in the body and blood of Jesus Christ and his Real Presence in the Eucharist. It emphasizes the joy of the institution of the Eucharist, which was observed on Holy Thursday in the somber atmosphere of the nearness of Good Friday."
I've also learned that, "Use of firecrackers has intangible traditional meaning and religious symbolism in Ecuadorian festivals and events." and
"Religious events are announced with firecrackers. This is a custom that goes back hundreds of years. So you will hear firecrackers at 5am and then very loud music blasting off speakers on top of a truck, followed by 50 people carrying candles and singing and a big statue of the Mother of all people (Pachamama)."
And, Question: Why are there so many candy/sweet tiendas surrounding the Cathedral during Corpus Christi?
Answer: Many years ago when the Spaniards first came, the Indigenous people were not allowed to attend the catholic church services inside the church. The Indigenous were unhappy about the discrimination. So when it was a period of fasting for the religious Catholics, the Indigenous people would stand outside the church with sweets to tempt the Spaniards.
I'm sorry, but I think that is sweet justice!
For the next seven nights there will be fireworks and music. In December an old church caught fire from one of the globos. Because of this there has been a ban on globos and rockets. There was a back and forth with the fireworks, but it was finally decided today that the fireworks will go on. Yay! It would really harm the old traditions to not allow the fireworks. I'm not sure we will go up there at night because it gets so crowded, but we'll see.
We walked up to El Centro with Fabi, the kid's Spanish teacher and our friend, to check out the initial festivities.
(As an aside to address unschooling, I let the kids eat as much candy as they wanted. When we got home they both wanted something healthy and filling to eat.)
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| Fabi and the kids. |
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| We just missed the parade. |
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| Vendors set up along the square. |
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| How do you choose? |
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| The little balls in front are lime, carrot, beet, pineapple, etc... flavored sweets. |
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| Do you think these would be tempting to the fasting Catholics? |
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