Hello everyone & happy Saturday!
This week is one of my absolute favorites of the entire year for many reasons, one of them being that it is the week of Easter or Holy week. As a mexican-american, I grew up celebrating this week with mostly Mexican Catholic traditions that hold a special place in my heart. Each year I look forward to celebrate these Easter traditions & because they are very important to me, I would love to share about them with you all.

Ever since I was little, I remember holy week to be something so special, almost magical for me. As lent came to a close all the build up for this week would explode on Palm Sunday, which is exactly a week before Easter. On this day I always remember being so exited to go to mass, get the palms & make little crosses out of them while listening to either the gospel or the homily. Growing up the excitement doesn't fade as now it has become an even more special day as I know the deep meaning & symbol of it all. I know this day starts the week I so much love. 

The next couple of days usually seem to be like any other day  the only thing is that they feel different. Is as if there is something in the air, kind of like during Christmas time but much more special. The next tradition is until Holy Thursday, the day of the last supper. As a little girl, I remember that this day was so cool because it was when the church youth would to a representation of the last supper & we would get a delicious bread after mass. With the years, I have now been a part of the youth representation & have developed a stronger love for it. 

In the last two years, my family & I have adopted a Mexican Catholic tradition where after the mass on Thursday night you visit 7 temples or churches to worship & pray the Holy Eucharist. The seven temples represent the seven places Jesus visited before being crucified. There is something so powerful & beautiful about it that fills be with so much joy, I am glad we do this & I look forward to keep doing it in years to come. 

Last year, helping fix Jesus crown in one of the stations of the cross. 
Holy Friday or Good Friday is one of the highlights of the week. When I was little I remember that my sister & I would love to look out the window or go outside when the procession of the way of the cross would pass by our house. The way of the cross or stations of the cross is done differently by each church & around the entire globe, in my church it is tradition that the stations of the cross are done around the neighborhood & the youth does a reenactment of the passion of Christ.

 When we got older & were able to walk the entire way,  my cousins, sister & I would always try to get as close as possible to the youth as we wanted to see symbolically what we were doing acted out. We found it so fascinating, little did I know that I would participate in them & coordinate three of them in the future. God must have known how special this day would be for me as my 15th birthday was on a Good Friday & I got to represent the role of Mary.  This year I was able to participate with the choir & sing along to some of my favorite songs reflecting the way of the cross & death of Jesus.

My little brother & I on my 15th birthday.
On Easter Saturday, as a little girl I remember always being a day or rest & getting everything ready for Easter Sunday. My mom always being so artistically creative would decorate our Easter baskets & dresses with flowers & bits to make them beautiful. When we got a bit older we would attend the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night. The mass would begin with the lights off & everyone with lit candles. Then after all the readings the lights would turn on as a symbol that Christ had Risen. It seemed so magical to me. In the last years, as a member of the church choir I have the opportunity to sing the mass & play my flute in every other song. This mass happens to be my favorite mass of the entire year because it reflects & symbolizes so wonderful what I believe in. 

My siblings & I on Easter day 2005.
Easter Sunday is the end of holy week but the final celebration & what gives this week an entire meaning. Easter Sundays have always been so different but somehow all equally beautiful. Growing up my family would alternate celebrating between my dad & mom side of the family. No matter what I remember that there was an Easter egg hunt. The Easter eggs were were all so beautifully decorated in bright colors, inside filled with confetti, sometimes with money, sometimes even with flour. The plastic eggs were filled with sweet treats of jelly beans or chocolate mini eggs. all the kids would stay inside the house while the adults would hide them. Having large families from both sides, even if the egg hunt was for the kids all my aunts, uncles & cousins of all ages would join the egg cracking madness. I remember one year when it rain the entire day, that didn't stop the tradition & to the silly one who decided to fill some with flour the joke was on him as when the egg was cracked on his head with the pouring rain it soon turned into dough. It was pretty funny & they memory has stuck with me. 
Easter egg hunt 2000 with some of my cousins & my little sister.

No matter the tradition of Easter Sunday, my parents always taught us the symbols of why we did things & explained that it was something more that just fun. I really thank them for that because growing up I remember thinking that I never wanted to forget or lose the joy that this week brought me & I am happy that it has done the opposite. If as a child I was able to love & understand the meaning of this week, now I am even more in love with it because this entire week defines the whole meaning of my faith. 

 If you follow me in social media, you might have noticed that I have been quite inactive this week & now you might understand why. I spend my time just enjoying the joy it brings & reflecting the beauty of it all I just didn't even think much about being online. I know that there are many of you who celebrate Easter, many who don't & I would love to hear from you all what your traditions are. We are all so culturally diverse that it be quite interesting to read how we celebrate whether its Easter or Passover or maybe you just celebrate the holiday with your own traditions, you can all share in the comments.

 Thank you all, I hope you are all enjoying your weekend & have a very blessed Happy Easter!


With Love Celeste

 Xxx