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Blog - Traditions

Easter in Trinidad and Tobago

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This is the most important religious feast of the Christian liturgical year. Faithful Christians celebrate Holy Week beginning with devotions on Palm Sunday. - the commemoration of the Lord's entrance into Jerusalem.

It continues into Easter Triduum:

Holy Thursday - Evening mass of the Lord's supper with the priest washing the feet of twelve persons, symbolic of the twelve disciples.

Good Friday - Celebration of the Lord's passion and death.

Easter Sunday - Begins with Easter Vigil on Glorious Saturday and ends with the Resurrection of the Lord on Easter Sunday.

In Trinidad and Tobago, it is marked with public holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday. Easter Sunday marks the end of 40 days of fasting for the period of Lent. It is a joyous day for Christians and special care is taken to decorate the churches. It is also a day of relaxation, where friends and family unite for a special meal, trip to the beach or camp site. Easter weekends are busy at beach resorts.

Good Friday is popular for Hot Cross Buns. Bakeries sell quite a lot as it's traditional to eat these at thus time. Also traditional is the beating of the Good Friday "Bobolee", an effigy symbolic of Judas, the disciple who betrayed Christ. The beating now extends to politicians who have found disfavour with the population.        

                                                                    

        

Also popular at this time are chocolate Easter eggs, bunnies and chicks, and of course...Easter egg hunts. 

I the weeks preceding Easter, Bonnet parades and competitions for young girls are held. This tradition grew from the ladies/' habit of getting a new hat for mass on Easter Sunday. There is also horse racing in Arima, and in Tobago different animals race, such as goats.

La Divina Pastora is a uniquely Trinidadian celebration. It is held at the R.C. church in Siparia on the second Sunday after Easter. The church houses the statue of the Virgin Mart as La Divina Pastora (the Divine Shepherdess).

It is believed that the statue cries blood and that she is associated with miracles.. There is a procession through the street on the feast day, followed by a festival which is attended by believers and non- believers. To Believers of the Hindu religion, she is called Siparee Mai (Mother of Siparia) and they also visit the church to offer acts of devotion to her. 




 

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