The Procession was due to return to the Church in Santa Ana at 11 PM, so a little prior to that I wandered down to the square.  There was no indication that the procession was getting close, so I began to backtrack the route.  There were people still making carpets in the final sections of streets.  Turns out it was about an hour behind schedule.  The good news in that was I got an opportunity to actually process the last mile or so of the route.  This is the first sight I’ve had of a float at night, and as you can see they are quite spectacular all lit up.   This is El Calvario Church, the final church the procession passes on this route.  In a previous post, when I wrote about people doing the Stations of the Cross, I mentioned El Calvario as the location of the final two stations.  And below is the final station outside the church grounds all lit up for the procession.  

The photo to the right was taken just moments before the main float disappeared back into the church.  And below, the very last carpet the procession walked over, meets it’s end.

It’s been an amazing thing for me to live this experience of a procession up close and personal.  There have been things happening in Santa Ana for a couple of weeks that I now realize were all part of the village preparing for this weekend.  I’ve been witness to excitement, lots of hard work, creativity and artistry, amazing reverence, and colorful pageantry.  And the culmination of all of it, Semana Santa, is still to come.  I feel so blessed.

I am well and hope you all are too.