The Funeral Of The Cross.

In previous decades, the month of May was the start of the winter season. So in a rural society as Los Santos and Herrera, which depended mostly on the agricultural activities, there were a series of rites which were intended to sanctify the beginning of the new season. Among them was The Funeral of the Cross, a sacred and profane activity that attracted rural residents around a sacred cross. The vigil lasted all night and alternated chants of décimas (traditional music) with rosaries. Other people carried small cans with corn or rice plants to be placed at the buttom of the cross, hoping that the power of God will give them rainfall and food in the winter time.
The contemporary era, with its process of secularization, has substantially modified the original patterns of The Funeral of the Cross, but remnants of the old rite are still observed in some villages in the region of Cubita (Azuero). Such as the case of La Pasera of Guararé.