Cathedral on Corpus Christi

Thursday was an exciting day around Maringá. In fact, I even planned my last trip to the US so that I could be back for it. It was the feast of Corpus Christi. This isn’t something we are used to celebrating much in the US even though we are Catholic. After a little research I learned this is because in English speaking countries the holiday is often celebrated on the following Sunday and not on the actual day.

Well, it is huge deal around here; bigger than Easter if you judge by the crowds around the Cathedral. What makes it even more an intriguing event here is the carpets that line the walkway in front of the church.

Before moving to Brazil we had seen a documentary based in Ouro Preto where this same practice took place on Easter weekend. We were disappointed to learn that this wasn’t common on Easter here, but then learned about Corpus Christi.

My husband and I were discussing on Thursday that we don’t know what the actual word for the creation is in Portuguese. In that documentary they translated it to carpets so that is what we have used to refer to them.

People were up early on Thursday morning. We heard that they start the night before, but this wasn’t the case this year. I’m not sure if we got false info or if it was because it had rained the previous night.

We went out early because we were curious about how these beautiful carpets were constructed from the beginning. We learned that they start on a piece of paper where often the group in charge has already drawn out the design.

Then for most of them, words and designs are lined with colored yarn, often black. After that, things like salt, sand and wood chips that have been blended with colors are used to create the picture. It looks to be a tedious job that takes a lot of time even with 4 or 5 people working on each one.

The carpets are left there for the day and mass takes place about 3:00pm. After mass, there is a procession along the carpets with the Eucharist. The whole day we wondered what happened to the carpets after the mass and realized as we drove back from dinner that night that they are simply left there to dissolve into the road and nearby ground. Papers and sand were all over the road where the beautiful carpets lay early in the day.

It is kind of sad to see all that hard work go to waste, but I’m not quite sure what you would do with them anyway. All I know is that they were certainly an amazing site to see as they were being created and completed throughout the day.

This was my husband's favorite.

This was my favorite.

I don't think this guy really had a favorite. He was sleeping through all the action.