Carpets of Holy Week Alfombras de Semana Santa
La Sagrada Familia Church
7719 Detroit Ave. Cleveland March 29, 2024
A Good Friday Procession covered 3 churches in Cleveland on Good Friday 2024. It began at La Sagrada Familia Church at 7719 Detroit Ave. on Cleveland's West Side. Rev. Michael G. Woost, auxiliary bishop of Cleveland, led the prayers before the procession and then he and other clergy walked over the Carpets of Holy Week - Alfombras de Semana Santa - to begin.
The procession included other priests, men carrying a large statue of the body of Jesus, people carrying a statue of the Sorrowful Mother, a man dressed as Jesus carrying a cross, Roman Centurions, Saint Veronica and more. They marched through the neighborhoods to St. Colman Church where they processed in for a service. We counted about 1,000 people in the Church. The final stop was at St. Michael the Archangel Church at Scranton and Clark in Cleveland.
Before the procession, people visited the gymnasium at La Sagrada Familia Parish which was filled with dozens of colorful, sawdust carpets, known as the Carpets of Holy Week. In Spanish, they are called Alfombras de Semana Santa. The handiwork was done by individuals, families, parish organizations, nonprofits and other groups.
This Church is home to worshippers from over 15 different Hispanic countries. The Carpets became an annual tradition in 2014 when their priest brought the custom from El Salvador. The carpets are a tradition there and in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and other places.
Volunteers go to a sawmill in Amish country to pick up 15-20 large bags of sawdust for the carpets. The sawdust is divided into large, aluminum trays, moistened and tinted with paint. The volunteers also tint several colors of sand. Father Robert J. Reidy was pastor of Sagrada Familia Parish until 2020.
The Good Friday procession walks over them and then these beautiful creations are swept up. They only exist through Holy Week. This is a video look at the carpets.
Here are some images of the Carpets of Holy Week, Alfombras de Semana Santa at La Sagrada Familia in Cleveland
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