78°
NORWALK, Conn. Religious observations took place simultaneously Friday at the same church in Norwalk, telling the same story in markedly different ways.
Inside St. Mary Roman Catholic Church on West Avenue, the Rev. Greg Markey made his way down the aisle, stopping to bend to one knee in front of depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the walls of the church. As Markey recited the solemn story, his congregation stayed in their places, mimicking his movements up and down.
Outside, Deacon Stephan Genovese led at least 200 singing parishioners around the church. The group paused at intervals, where parishioners dressed in black held crosses bearing paintings that depicted the same story. The group swelled into the street, blocking one lane of Leonard Street for a time and part of Chapel Street later.
The group inside heard the Stations of the Cross in English. The outside group did the story in Spanish.
"They respect our traditions. That is why we are able to do this," said Erlina Zelawa, who is from Honduras.
She said the observance of Good Friday was important to her and the other Hispanic people in attendance. "This is our faith," she said. "We were brought up with this. We might not have the structure where we come from, but we have the faith and that's very important."
Three people formed each station. A man in the middle held a cross. A family member or friend stood on either side, holding a rope that stretched down from the top of the cross.
Damaris Jimenez, Givoanni Jimenez and Amy Osorio, 14, formed the last station, with a painting of Jesus's body being put into a tomb.
"It feels nice because I feel like I can participate in what the church is doing," Amy said. "I feel that we can do a lot of things for our Catholic community and have people see that a man dying on a cross for us can save us. It's part of our faith."
Daniel De Menezes, a 10-year-old altar boy known as "Little Priest" to the congregation, helped lead the procession. "It is a very beautiful tradition that we should keep on doing every year," he said. Daniel was born in White Plains, N.Y. His father is from Brazil, and his mother is from Mexico.
"Here we are so many countries," said Emma Higareda, who is from Mexico. "We come together, we understand each other. We have different cultures but here we all one reason and that is it."
Parishioners were singing, "Please God, forgive your people. We didn't know." She said it was "a very moving song" that came from Spain. She grew up with it.
"Back in our countries, for us, Good Friday you hardly see any cars in the streets," she said. "We're very, very sad because our Lord is dead."
Easter morning will have a different feeling. "It is such a beautiful thing," she said. "It's the resurrection. That's why we who are real Catholics, we are not afraid of dying because we know we are always going to some other life, the real thing. This is just like, I think this is our, I don't know, purification period? That's the way I feel."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Norwalk and receive free news updates.
