The following notes have been edited to correct errors and to add explanations and updates. Parenthetical notes and remarks from the original are enclosed in parentheses. Present day [2022] updates are italicized and enclosed in square brackets.
7 October 1990 - Suchitoto
[Our intention for today had been to visit Panchimilama, a village which previous delegations had visited and which had received material support from PVC fund-raising efforts. On the previous evening, however, word had come to the Guest House that a fiesta was planned for the next day by the people of Suchitoto, who had requested that any internationals who were able to do so should come to the city as witnesses, thus providing some protection for the inhabitants as they gathered. After a brief discussion our delegation decided that this was where we were needed most and changed our plans accordingly.]
We leave at 7:30 AM for a 9:00 AM mass celebrating the 25th anniversary of a Sister who works for the church in Suchitoto. We are stopped at two military checkpoints along the way. Both times we are all ordered out of the bus, to line up along the side of the road and have our passports checked and our knapsacks searched. At the first stop we pick up J. and J. and two Salvadorans. They had been on a public bus on their way to Suchitoto, and had been taken off and detained. The bus did not want to wait for them while their documents were cleared, so they had been waiting for another ride to come along.
As soon as we reach the town, we proceed to the local military offices to check in with the lieutenant. Chris takes our passports into the battalion headquarters while we sit for an hour on the bus with the mass being celebrated in the church just a block away. They know that lots of internationals are in town for the special mass and the fiesta planned for afterwards, and they have picked our group to harass by detention. At last, 10:03 AM, we are given permission to proceed to the church. We enter the service just after the homily, but in time for the offering.
The church is quite ornate inside, but with plain wooden benches and kneelers. We scatter and find places at the ends of rows. The Pater Noster, sung to guitar accompaniment, is very familiar, but it takes me a minute to identify the tune as Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence." This is World Wide Communion Sunday, and most of us are eager to commune, so we join the procession without being overly concerned about being Protestants at a Catholic eucharist. We receive only the host, not the wine.
Announcements at the end of the service include a commendation of Sister Katalina, who is celebrating her 25th anniversary. Cyril talks with her after the service and learns that she has been here about four years, is originally from the mid-west United States.
There are lots of internationals here. The fiesta occupies the central plaza and one side street. Soldiers patrol around the edges of the crowd. A platform and loudspeakers are set up under the porch roofs which stretch the length of the buildings along the side of the plaza opposite the church. A large fabric covering has been stretched out from the roofs into the plaza, giving shelter from the sun to much of the crowd which has gathered to hear the performers. Linda tells me that the songs being sung and the speeches being made talk about the suffering here and the need for peace.
After listening for a while, Linda and I go into the church to look around. It turns out to be dedicated to Santa Lucia. There is an amazing statue of Christ carrying the cross, crying out in agony, but clad in a rich purple velvet robe. The face is anguished, realistic. The artists seem not to be so particular about the exact sequences of events in the Biblical stories, or consistency of images. There is a St. Joseph holding a baby Jesus dressed in white lace and chiffon, like a girl's first confirmation dress. Here is another of Mary and Jesus, with the child dressed the same way, and Mary with a bride's veil.
When we get near the front of the church, I take out my camera to take a picture of the altar area. A woman who is working in the church invites us to come right up into the sanctuary and take close-up photographs. Then I take one of her and Linda, standing in front of the altar, and Linda returns the favor by taking one of our hostess and me. This gracious woman shows us a steep wooden stairway behind the altar and invites us to climb it and view the statues close up. At the very top, at the foot of the largest figure of Santa Lucia, is a section of wall with one typewritten and several handwritten sheets of paper fastened to it. These appear to be testimonies of religious experiences. One describes a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary that the writer had while working in the church.
Returning to the plaza, we listen to the music for a while longer and then are invited to lunch at the convent before leaving. Sister Kay and several other of the sisters have prepared a delicious meal, which we share while sitting on benches along a cloistered walk overlooking a very beautiful courtyard.
Copyright © 2022 Marian L. Shatto
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