A small rock in the Atlantic: Corpus Christi in Mazo

Archway decorated with leaves, petals and seeds for Corpus Christi in Mazo, La Palma, Canary Islands

One of the biggest annual fiestas in La Palma is Corpus Christi in Mazo. Catholics all over the world celebrate Corpus Christi, but here they celebrate with the most wonderful archways and carpets decorated with petals,leaves and seeds. On Wednesday evening and night, each village of the municipality makes their own archway with a carpet and a little altar, so Thursday morning is a wonderful time to see them. They'll be up until Sunday, but they do tend to suffer a bit from the wind and careless feet. And do pop into the church to see the decorations there, too.

On Sunday they'll hold a special mass in the church followed by a procession around the archways. Corpus Christi is the festival of the body of Christ. The priest walks on the carpets holding the blessed wafers in their special container (called a monstrance), and as he comes to each archway, he puts the monstrance on the little altar, kneels and wafts incense around.

You can see photos of the fiesta from
2010, 2009 and 2008