Nearly two dozen pieces of colorful, intricate sawdust art are on display through noon on Good Friday at Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) Parish, 7719 Detroit Ave., Cleveland.
The sawdust carpets or Alfombras de Semana Santa (Carpets of Holy Week), are created on the floor in the parish gymnasium by parishioners, organizations and other volunteers. Long rows of panels were marked off on the gym floor last weekend, then large pieces of plastic were taped to the floor and designs were traced onto the plastic by the groups creating the individual carpets.
Volunteers spent the past few days filling in the designs with sawdust colored by tempera paint and other materials, including flour, salt and sand. Borders around the carpet panels were finished Wednesday night and the public was invited to view the finished carpets on Holy Thursday. Parishioners will be on hand to discuss the project.
The carpets will be destroyed on Good Friday when the annual procession marches through the gym after a noon prayer service at Sagrada Familia Church. The procession then walks behind someone carrying the cross and moves to St. Stephen Church, 1930 W. 54th St., Cleveland, for a liturgy of the word, and finally to St. Michael the Archangel Church, 3114 Scranton Ave., Cleveland, for a closing prayer service. According to Father Robert Reidy, Sagrada Familia pastor, some people walk from church to church for the entire procession, while others join in for parts of the event.
Destruction of the sawdust carpets is symbolic of how the beauty of God is destroyed by the death of Jesus on Good Friday, which leads to the joy of the resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Sawdust carpets have been a Holy Week tradition for centuries in some parts of the world. Father Reidy said the tradition began in Spain and is common in Central America, especially in Guatemala and El Salvador. There, the carpets usually are created outdoors. Here, because of unpredictable weather, the carpets are inside.
The Diocese of Cleveland established a mission more than 50 years ago in El Salvador and continues to staff it. Father Reidy is one of the diocesan priests who worked at the mission.
Although Sagrada Familia Parish is primarily Puerto Rican, it embraced the custom four years ago, at Father Reidy?s suggestion. The first year, Roberto Santiago, a parishioner, headed the initiative as his Eagle Scout project. He worked with other volunteers and parishioners from Sacred Heart Chapel in Lorain, which has done the sawdust carpets for more than two decades. The project was so popular, it?s returned every year since. Other diocesan parishes with Hispanic ties also adopted the custom, including St. Agnes Parish in Orville.
For more information, contact Sagrada Familia at 216-631-2888.
