Salvadoran Cross

Easter Day! Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Today's cross comes from El Salvador though, unlike others from different place, it is not one that I bought when in that country, somewhere I have never visited. The brightly coloured Salvadoran crosses emerged in the 1960s and 1970s - I think I probably obtained this one (from Traidcraft) in the early 1980s. At that time people in El Salvador were frequently fleeing brutal persecution, the most prominent example of which was possibly the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980. The crosses were a reaction in which the people tried to express hope in the midst of the pain and suffering. Brightly coloured scenes that related to their faith were painted on to wooden crosses as a practical expression of faith. Some of the scenes were drawn from everyday life, others from the Bible.

If we were not in lockdown, we would have been 'blossoming' the cross at the service which I would have been leading. In order to blossom the cross, chicken wire, or similar, covers a wooden cross, so that the congregation can bring flowers and attach them to the cross. It represents the transition from Good Friday to Easter Day as we celebrate the joy of the resurrection.

I am reminded of Charles Wesley's hymn:

Christ the Lord is risen today,
Alleluia!
let creation join to say:
Alleluia!
raise your joys and triumphs high,
Alleluia!
sing, ye heavens; thou earth, reply:
Alleluia!