Thread: Good Friday Procession in Waukegan

Good Friday procession in Waukegan

March 20, 2008
By RYAN PAGELOW rpagelow@scn1.com
WAUKEGAN -- Three Catholic parishes are planning a procession and re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross through the streets of Waukegan on Good Friday for the second year. The re-enactment will begin at 12:30 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 508 Grand Ave., and end three miles away at Holy Family Parish, 450 Keller Ave., around 3 p.m.

The re-enactment in Spanish of the Biblical story of Jesus's crucifixion will include more than 30 actors from Holy Family Parish in Waukegan, Immaculate Conception Church in Waukegan and Queen of Peace in North Chicago.

The procession will go north on West Street, west on Julian Street, west on Porter Street, south on the bicycle trail, west on Melrose Avenue, south on Orchard Avenue, west on Dodge Avenue and south on Keller to Holy Family.

Organizers expect about 700 spectators and ask drivers to drop their families off at Immaculate Conception and park at Holy Family.

Salvador Murrieta of North Chicago will play the role of Jesus for the second year and has participated in the church productions for six years.

"It's a reminder of our faith, a reminder of the struggle that our savior went through for us," said Carmen Patlan, human concerns director at Holy Family.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article

I suspect they had to cancel it. We are having a winter storm, up to 8 inches, no visibility, it's hovering around freezing. WE aren't going anywhere today.

What a crazy first day of spring?!

Ahh, they held the event indoors.


Storm drives Good Friday 'Stations' indoors
Parish bows to safety for re-enactment

March 22, 2008
By RYAN PAGELOW rpagelow@scn1.com

It's not a Good Friday celebration without a little suffering, but Friday's snow was too much -- maybe even for Jesus.

Plans to walk three miles from Immaculate Conception Church to Holy Family Parish in Waukegan were scrapped in concern for the safety of 500 faithful who showed up to watch a re-enactment of the final hours of Jesus. The Living Way of the Cross was held instead inside Immaculate Conception Church.
» Click to enlarge image
Salvador Murrieta of North Chicago portrays Jesus in a re-enactment of the crucifixion at Immaculate Conception Church in Waukegan.
(Laura Weisman/Staff Photographer)

RELATED STORIES
• Nasty Good Friday storm
• Officials hope for slow thaw

Early Easter

Easter this year is the earliest any of us will ever see in our lifetimes. If you were born in 1913 or before, you celebrated Easter on March 23. The next time it will fall on March 23 will be 2160.

The last time it was even earlier, March 22, was in 1818, the year Illinois became a state. The next time it will on March 22 will be 2285.

So why is Easter, the annual celebration of Christ's resurrection, early this year?

According to various astronomical and religious sources, it's because Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon -- a Paschal moon -- after the vernal equinox. Spring began March 20 and there's a full moon. Therefore, March 23 is the day it will be celebrated.

This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar and moves from year to year to preserve its relationship with astronomical factors. Most religious scholars believe Christ's resurrection took place in 30 A.D.

While Easter can be as early as March 22, the latest date is April 25, which last occurred in 1943. The next Easter falling on April 25 will be in 2038. Next year, Easter will be April 12.

Five of the stations were held in the church parking lot for about 20 minutes to give the crowd a taste of the suffering they would have had to endure on the walk.

"We just wanted to give the people a little taste," said Hugo Rodriguez, director of parish life for the community three churches that also include Queen of Peace in North Chicago. "The faith of the people is big, but we're not going to put people in harm's way."

Despite the weather, Arturo Xalapa of North Chicago asked for the day off of work and arrived with his wife and two children. Wearing a winter jacket, hood and gloves, he said he would have come no matter how much it snowed, or how cold it was.

"More than anything, it's our faith that motivates us to come here," he said in Spanish.

It was his first time seeing the play in Waukegan, but he said it was similar to the annual tradition in his home state of Guerrero, Mexico -- "except without the snow."

This is the earliest Good Friday since 1913, so the parish was expecting chilly weather. However, it wasn't expecting the nine inches of heavy, heart-attack snow Waukegan reportedly received by the afternoon.

Salvador Murrieta, a 32-year-old welder from North Chicago, played the role of Jesus for the second year in a row. Wearing only a loincloth, snow clung to his long hair as he carried the cross in the few scenes presented outside.

He's been through rain and snow before during the four years that he has participated in the play, but today's weather was "something different," he said. He didn't say whether or not he was relived not to walk three miles outside. He only said, "For us it's something beautiful to represent the Passion of Christ."

After walking outside, along with about 30 other actors, the final crucifixion scene was re-enacted in the gymnasium of the adjacent school, Academy of Our Lady.

Director Jorge Soto said having the play inside has its benefits.

"People can observe better, and the sound is better," he said.

His wife, Otilia, portrayed Mary, and his two sons, Eric, 18, and Jorge, 16, portrayed soldiers.

Rene Sixtos, a store manager from Waukegan, came with his family to watch the performance. Even though he's seen it a number of times over the years, and even played the role of Jesus once, the experience still gives him a sense of renewal.

"You can start to grow again," he said. "No matter if it's rain or snow. We have to be here. No question about it."

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article