Worshippers pack Catholic church in Mundelein for Via Crucis
Hours upon hours of practice were on display for a Spanish-language drama that marked Good Friday at Santa Maria del Popolo Catholic Church in Mundelein.
Common throughout Mexico, the Via Crucis - or Living Stations of the Cross - depicted the final hours of Jesus' life. Santa Maria's production attracted a standing-room crowd of about 1,300 worshippers.
About 80 volunteer cast and crew members began preparing for Via Crucis early this year.
Santa Maria parishioner Luis Montes, who's directed Via Crucis since 1998, said rehearsals were two to four hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. He said the actors memorized their lines and learned about voice projection and proper facial expressions as part of the process.
"The first step is, with everybody with their script in hands, we start reading it so they can understand what they're doing," Montes said. "There's new people and they've never acted. They are afraid to talk in front of the audience."
One of the newcomers to Santa Maria's Via Crucis was Claudia Tostado. She played Mary Magdalene, a Jesus follower who was present at his crucifixion and resurrection.
"Practices have been hard," Tostado said about 45 minutes before the drama started. "We've been working, hard, working late."
Tostado said she participated in a Via Crucis in her native Mexico about 13 years ago. She said Santa Maria's Via Crucis compares favorably to the Good Friday productions she's watched in Mexico.
Angel Lozano returned for a third year of playing the devil and Herod. With Montes serving as a Spanish-language interpreter, Lozano said he's uncomfortable in the devil role because it's not the message he'd prefer to send to the crowd.
"The (devil) character is needed," said Lozano, who hopes to switch to being a commander of the Roman soldiers.
Unlike other Chicago-area churches, Santa Maria permanently moved its Via Crucis presentation inside in 2006 because of previous problems with poor weather.
Other suburban Living Stations of the Cross included Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines and St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic Church in Palatine.