Fifteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

The Passion and its commemoration during Holy Week are important aspects of Catholicism. Priests and parishioners alike remembered the suffering of Christ in a variety of ways including processions and performances reenacting the final events of Christ’s life. Such reenactments culminated on Good Friday when Christ was crucified. Yet the Bible remains largely silent on the events immediately following his death on the cross, particularly regarding his removal. This moment, the Descent from the Cross or Deposition, developed in culture throughout the medieval and early modern eras to produce a performance of sorts explaining how Christ was removed from the cross, the sorrow of his mother, Mary, and the events leading up to his burial. Popular in Europe, the Deposition likewise crossed the Atlantic to be performed by Spaniards, Nahuas (Aztecs), and Mayas. Although studies exist examining Nahua performances of the Passion, none exist examining the Deposition through sermons dedicated to the event. And no studies exist examining the Maya and their sermons on the Deposition. This study employs Nahuatl and Yucatec Maya sermons from late colonial manuscripts to reveal how the Deposition was presented to the Nahua and Maya. In the process, the paper considers how individual traditions in European, Nahua, and Maya societies affected the sermons to produce culturally specific understandings and versions of the Deposition. In the end, how Christ was removed from the cross differed depending on if it was done in Europe, central Mexico, or Yucatan.