The Consecrated image of Jesús Nazareno del Rescate that is currently venerated in the Rectory of Santa Teresa has great features of the Baroque period. According to some historical documents it is believed that the Nazarene was carved in the middle of the 17th century and it is attributed to the Antigüeño master Mateo de Zúñiga.
The image measures 1 meter 81 centimeters but due to its inclination it reaches 1 meter 61 centimeters, it has fine finishes on its feet and hands which makes it a perfect work from the colonial period. This Nazarene is processed in a procession on Holy Wednesday and the procession travels through a large part of the Historic Center of Guatemala City.
Route of the Holy Wednesday procession
According to the social networks of the Rectory of Santa Teresa, this Holy Wednesday The procession will leave the temple at 12:00 p.m. and will be making his way through churches like the Parish of Our Lady of La Merced, the Sanctuary of Guadalupe and the Holy Metropolitan Cathedral Church.
- Departure, 12:00 hours.
- Parish of Our Lady of La Merced, 1:00 p.m.
- Santa Catalina Rectory, 2:30 p.m.
- El Sauce Park, 3:40 p.m.
- Guadalupe Shrine, 5:20 p.m.
- Santa Iglesia Catedral Metropolitana, 6:30 p.m.
- Isabel La Católica Park, 9:00 p.m.
- 11 avenue and 1st street in zone 1 of Guatemala City, 11:00 p.m.
- Entrance, 00:00 hours.
History of the procession of the Nazareno del Rescate
According to oral tradition, it is said that the procession of the Consecrated Image of Jesús Nazareno del Rescate took place occasionally inside or near the Rectory of Santa Teresa in the afternoon on Holy Tuesday.
In fact, some historians agree that there is a record of the first procession on Holy Wednesday, March 31, 1926, which was tried to be done continuously in the 1930s.but due to the lack of economic resources, the various occupations by the members of the Brotherhood and the priority of finishing the reconstruction of the temple, said procession disappeared in 1941.
In 1956 the Board of Directors resumed the tradition of processioning the Nazarene in the afternoon on Holy Wednesday. Said procession was carried out with a 22-armed anda and a number of three hundred and nine chargers. In the first years the procession was not as successful as expected and the expenses were very high.
In 1960 the litters had capacity for thirty chargers and the procession took six hours. And it is not until 1975 that a platform with a capacity of thirty-six chargers per shift opens.
A particularity of the procession of the Nazareno del Rescate is the interpretation of the official marches of the processionwhich were composed by the maestro Isidro Arana and that there is no recording by decision of the same maestro Arana not to be interpreted at any other time than on Holy Wednesday at the exit and entrance of the procession.