Celebrating Christmas, the Birth of Niño Jesús, in Mexico
The Beginning: Las Posadas
We knew from our years in Mexico that Christmas celebrations begin in mid-December with night-time street parties called las Posadas, the Inns. Held each of the nine nights prior to Christmas, from December 16th thru the 24th, each night's posada is hosted by families living in a different street in a barrio (neighborhood) or different barrio of a pueblo (village or group of barrios). They are called posadas (inns) because the celebration centers on a re-creation of the arrival of the pregnant Mary and her husband, Joseph, in the town of Bethlehem in response to the census called by Caesar Augustus. The Holy Couple search for an inn in which to stay.
When we lived in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, our beloved and generous Spanish teacher, Alejandra, invited us each year to the posada in her family's street. Here in Mexico City the location of each night´s posada is set by the families involved, so it is difficult for a fuereño (outsider) to know how to find one. Fortunately, on next to the last day of the series this year, we came across a Facebook announcement by our neigboring Barrio San Mateo Churubusco of its posada that very evening, so we were able to attend.
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Mary and Joseph, and the procession
December 23, 2017.of the posada of Barrio San Mateo Churubusco. |
Apart from thoroughly enjoying the neighborhood "block" party, especially the breaking of multiple píñatas by the kids, we were struck that, in addition to statues of Joseph leading Mary on a donkey, also prominently present was a Niño Jesús—present even before He was born!
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| El Niño Jesús, Infant Child Jesus in the procession of San Mateo's posada, Dec. 23, 2017 |
The central celebratory event of Christmas Day is a private one, a family cena (dinner) held late on the evening of Noche Buena (literally, Good Night), Christmas Eve, before going to Mass, so there is no public celebration for us to attend. The next Christmas season celebration is Tres Reyes, Three Kings Day (Epiphany), on January 6, marking the Adoration of Jesus by the Three Wise Men, when a Rosca de los Reyes, a twisted, circular sweet bread, is eaten and children receive presents. We look forward to visiting our nearby Pueblo de Los Tres Santos Reyes to see how it is celebrated.
The Christmas season does not end until February 2, the mid-point of winter, when Candelaria (Candlemas) celebrates the presentation of the Infant Jesus by Mary and Joseph in the Temple of Jerusalem forty days after His birth. This presentation is part of a Jewish ritual for first-born sons and for Mary's post-partum purification (this feast day is also known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary). While there, His status as the Messiah (Hebrew) or the Christ (Greek)—that is, the Anointed One of God—was publically recognized by an old man, Simeon, who was present and who had hoped to live long enough to witness the arrival of the Messiah.
Living in Pátzcuaro, every February 2nd we would witness people carrying little baby dolls, usually dressed in baptismal gowns, through the streets on the way to the day's Mass. Some figures were even seated on small, hand-carved wooden chairs, a kind of throne. We learned that many practicing Catholic families keep such small dolls or statues of Infant Jesus in their homes throughout the year. He is placed in the family's nacimiento (literally "birth", but also used for the Nativity scene) on Christmas Eve. On Candelaria, He is carried to the church to be blessed at a special Mass.
After we moved to Mexico City in mid-2011, we encountered Candelaria the following February at the Church of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) in our own Plaza de Coyoacán. The big attraction for us was actually a Tamales Festival. Tamales (singular: tamal) are the day's traditional food. The delegación government takes advantage of that to sponsor the Festival, involving dozens of vendors from across Mexico and Latin America and attended by thousands.
The Ending: Candelaria
The Christmas season does not end until February 2, the mid-point of winter, when Candelaria (Candlemas) celebrates the presentation of the Infant Jesus by Mary and Joseph in the Temple of Jerusalem forty days after His birth. This presentation is part of a Jewish ritual for first-born sons and for Mary's post-partum purification (this feast day is also known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary). While there, His status as the Messiah (Hebrew) or the Christ (Greek)—that is, the Anointed One of God—was publically recognized by an old man, Simeon, who was present and who had hoped to live long enough to witness the arrival of the Messiah.
Living in Pátzcuaro, every February 2nd we would witness people carrying little baby dolls, usually dressed in baptismal gowns, through the streets on the way to the day's Mass. Some figures were even seated on small, hand-carved wooden chairs, a kind of throne. We learned that many practicing Catholic families keep such small dolls or statues of Infant Jesus in their homes throughout the year. He is placed in the family's nacimiento (literally "birth", but also used for the Nativity scene) on Christmas Eve. On Candelaria, He is carried to the church to be blessed at a special Mass.
After we moved to Mexico City in mid-2011, we encountered Candelaria the following February at the Church of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) in our own Plaza de Coyoacán. The big attraction for us was actually a Tamales Festival. Tamales (singular: tamal) are the day's traditional food. The delegación government takes advantage of that to sponsor the Festival, involving dozens of vendors from across Mexico and Latin America and attended by thousands.
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| Parishioner with Niño Jesús, Candelaria at San Juan Bautista, Villa Coyoacán. |
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| Niño Jesús Candelaria at San Juan Bautista, Villa Coyoacán. |
Mexico has specialized markets for everything. Not surprisingly, then, there is a tianguis (street market) in East Centro´s Barrio La Merced for a couple of weeks before Candelaria, where artisans in street stalls prepare and sell hand-painted Niño Jesuses, along with all styles of dress (including soccer uniforms!), carved wooden chair-style thrones and other accouterments. We have read that the development of such a market and the consumer demand it reflects is a phenomenon of recent decades. Evidently, el Niño Jesús is becoming increasingly popular (and diversified in His symbolism).
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| Puesto, Stall Candelaria Tianguis, Street Market, Barrio La Merced, Centro East |
New Year´s Day Surprise
We were surprised, therefore, when we saw an announcement that the patron saint fiesta of Coyoacán's Barrio Niño Jesús was to be held on January 1, New Year's Day. We had assumed it would be on Candelaria, and we wondered why a day marked by secular celebrations was His feast day. A check of the Catholic litugical calendar informed us that, following Jewish custom, Jesus was circumcised on that day, the eighth day of His life.
We first met the barrio's Niño Jesús in the summer of 2016, as we were following the series of visits made every summer by el Señor de la Misericordia (the Lord of Compassion, who resides year-round in Pueblo Tres Santos Reyes, Three Holy Kings) to many of the pueblos and barrios of Coyoacán. One of those visits was to Barrio Niño Jesús. It is a very small barrio (two short blocks wide and maybe six long), immediately south of the Colonial-era Center of Coyoacán.
As we walked down the barrio's typically narrow central street towards the church that Sunday afternoon, we observed that the neighborhood seemed composed of a mix of modest cinderblock houses and larger, newer, more upscale ones (one notable marker was the two-car wide, stylishly modern electric garage doors, instead of iron gates, facing the street). Past the church, at the end of the street, was the gated, guarded entrance to a group of private homes.
Our impression was that the barrio was being "gentrified". This was understandable, given it is adjacent to the highly desired and, hence, expensive neighborhoods of Coyoacán Centro. (Subsequently, checking Google maps, we saw that the entire southern half of the small barrio is now occupied by a large apartment complex and superstores.)
As with Barrio San Lucas, immediately east of the Center and from which el Señor was arriving that day, we wondered to what extent the barrio residents were able to maintain traditional customs in the face of such modern economic pressures. Similar traditional barrios in northern Coyoacán and in Delegación Benito Juárez, to its north, have largely succumbed to such pressures. Although their churches still carry out patron saint fiestas and acknowledge their long histories, they have morphed culturally into more contemporary style "parties". The fact that el Niño Jesús was receiving el Señor for a week's visit told us that barrio residents were certainly trying to maintain its traditional identity.
Subsequently, in early September of that year, we saw el Niño Jesús when He and his parish joined el Señor's impressively large welcome home procession to Tres Reyes. We recently saw Him again, this past November, in a procession of saints in nearby Colonia Ajusco. So, His barrio clearly actively identifies as a traditional one and is actively engaged with the other traditional pueblos and barrios of Coyoacán.
Traditional Barrio Life Facing Modern Pressures
As we walked down the barrio's typically narrow central street towards the church that Sunday afternoon, we observed that the neighborhood seemed composed of a mix of modest cinderblock houses and larger, newer, more upscale ones (one notable marker was the two-car wide, stylishly modern electric garage doors, instead of iron gates, facing the street). Past the church, at the end of the street, was the gated, guarded entrance to a group of private homes.
Our impression was that the barrio was being "gentrified". This was understandable, given it is adjacent to the highly desired and, hence, expensive neighborhoods of Coyoacán Centro. (Subsequently, checking Google maps, we saw that the entire southern half of the small barrio is now occupied by a large apartment complex and superstores.)
As with Barrio San Lucas, immediately east of the Center and from which el Señor was arriving that day, we wondered to what extent the barrio residents were able to maintain traditional customs in the face of such modern economic pressures. Similar traditional barrios in northern Coyoacán and in Delegación Benito Juárez, to its north, have largely succumbed to such pressures. Although their churches still carry out patron saint fiestas and acknowledge their long histories, they have morphed culturally into more contemporary style "parties". The fact that el Niño Jesús was receiving el Señor for a week's visit told us that barrio residents were certainly trying to maintain its traditional identity.
Subsequently, in early September of that year, we saw el Niño Jesús when He and his parish joined el Señor's impressively large welcome home procession to Tres Reyes. We recently saw Him again, this past November, in a procession of saints in nearby Colonia Ajusco. So, His barrio clearly actively identifies as a traditional one and is actively engaged with the other traditional pueblos and barrios of Coyoacán.
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El Niño Jesús (rear) welcomes el Señor de la Misericordia to His home barrio.
They have just passed under the permanent portada at the barrio's entrance. |
Given our questions about the extent to which the barrio residents have been able to maintain the traditions such as fiestas in the face of gentrification, we were especially interested in re-visiting it to witness and experience how those faithful to el Niño Jesus expressed their devotion to Him and their communal identity. (For our frame of reference, see our page: Fiestas as Creative Acts of Cultural Transformation and Continuity.)
The posted schedule for the fiesta said that there would be a procession with el Níño Jesús through the streets of the barrio at 3:30 in the afternoon. So at about 3 pm on New Year´s Day we head off. Conveniently, el Barrio Niño Jesús is about ten minutes by taxi from our home in Colonia Parque San Andrés.
The Church of el Niño Jesús
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| Church of el Niño Jesús The church rests on a small knoll and is entered by stairways flanking the front door. It sits directly at the edge of the street's sidewalk, where electrical and telephone lines make a clear photo of the front virtually impossible. |
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| Floral portada over the entrance. "Child Jesus, bless us and give us peace." |
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| Mass was in progress. (The wooden supports of the chancel arch and the apse behind it are due to damage caused by the major earthquake suffered by Mexico City on Sept. 19, 2017) |
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| El Niño Jesús in front of the nacimiento, Nativity Scene. |
El Castillo
In the atrio which, atypically, is at the side of the church, workers from a pyrotechnic company are busy raising the castillo ("castle") of fireworks that will be quemado (burned, i.e, ignited) at the close of the fiesta tomorrow night.
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| The castillo consists of a stack of box-shaped wooden frames raised by hand-cranking a winch (to the left); each additional box is slid underneath. |
La Banda
Soon, Mass ends. Shortly after, that essential component of all fiestas and processions, a brass banda, shows up. After climbing stairs to a large balcony above the building on the side of the atrio opposite the church, they begin to play. We climb up after them, the better to see and take photos.
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| The essential tuba. |
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| Lots of Oompah! In addition to the omnipresent tuba, three baritones are included, an unusual addition to the traditional Mexican banda. |
La Procesión
After playing a few numbers, the banda gets up and leaves the balcony. We know the procession is supposed to follow, but see no indication of it in the atrio, where they usually form. We wait, sitting on a ledge, asoleandonos, sunning ourselves, savoring the warmth of the New Year's sun.
Suddenly, from the far side of the church, we hear the banda playing again. Equally suddenly, in the street in front of the atrio, a flower-bedecked anda (portable platform) appears, bearing el Niño Jesús, followed by a number of parishioners and la banda. The procession is on the move! We have to rouse quickly from our relaxed state and hurry out to the street.
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| Anda, covered with fresh mums, bears el Niño Jesús. The peacock is a frequently used symbol of royalty. The hummingbird (far left), because it sucks nectar, is an indigenous symbol of sacrifice. |
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| El Niño Jesús The three silver rays projecting from His head are signs of His Divinity and, possibly, of the Holy Trinity. |
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| The entrance to one street is decorated with an arch, featuring the Virgin of Guadalupe, whose feast day was December 12, followed by las posadas beginning on December 16. |
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| Some barrio side streets, essentially laneways, are dead ends and so narrow that the anda is carried into them backwards, allowing the procession to return without turning the anda around. The legend on the anda reads: "Little Child Jesús, illumine our faith." |
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| The papel picado, cut-paper designs hanging above, are truly hand-cut paper, not machine-cut plastic. This is very unusual nowadays. |
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| The bearers of the anda have to stop and rest every so often. |
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| El cohetero, igniter of cohetes, rocket-style firecrackers, leads the way, announcing the procession's arrival. |
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| Tapete de aserrín, sawdust carpet, has been laid out in one cul-de-sac. Roses are the flower of the Virgin Mary. The bottom legend reads: "God, we don't forget you." |
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| Papel picado (here, the now usual machine-cut plastic) remains from the fiesta honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe. (Note the caged songbirds, upper left, common household pets in the outdoor patios and balconies of Mexican homes.) |
The Community Watching
As always, we enjoy—and photograph—the rostros (countenances, faces) of those watching a procession along its way. Taking informal portraits is actually one of our primary goals in our Ambles and participating in a procession provides a wonderful opportunity to capture some of the faces of community members.
Maintaining Tradition and Community Identity in the Face of Gentrification
As we noted earlier, we were particularly interested in returning to Barrio Niño Jesús to see to what extent its residents are able to maintain the customs of traditional patron saint fiestas while the neighborhood—given its "prime" real estate location—continues to undergo the economic and social pressures of gentrification.
Our conclusion, at the end of experiencing its procession through its narrow laneways, is that communal tradition and the shared identity that goes with it is doing fine in the barrio. The fiesta has all the traditional, essential components:
~ Portada (even one covered with fresh flowers) over the church entrance,
~ Banda,
~ Cohetes,
~ Anda carrying the patron saint and covered with fresh flowers,
~ Papel picado (even hand-cut ones) hanging above the streets,
~ Tapete de aserrín,
~ Additional portada arch across one of its streets (in addition to the permanent one at the barrio's entrance).
~ Castillo (a big one!) for the grand, pyrotechnic finale on the last night of the celebration.
(See our page: Fiestas as Creative Acts of Cultural Transformation and Continuity.)
Clearly, Barrio Niño Jesús still has a community of residents committed to investing the time and money required to carry out such a fiesta, including its more costly elements such as fresh flowers on the portada and anda, which communities with fewer resources have replaced with plastic ones.
There was also the less tangible but essential element of animo, the spirit, vitality, of the participants. The leaders of the procession were clearly committed to executing it with energy and devotion, both to their saint and to the customary forms of such processions.
But also, those following along and even those watching from their doorways showed their identification with the ritual in their crys of "Viva el Níno Jesús", "Long live the Child Jesús". As a result of our participation in many such processions, we have come to realize the "Viva" is a shout of community identity and desire for its continuation. There were also the looks of attention--sometimes serious, sometimes happy--and even pride that showed in their faces.
In Barrio Niño Jesus, "God (and community tradition), we don't forget you."
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| Delegaciones of Mexico City Coyoacán is the purple delegación in the center. |
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| Delegación Coyoacán and Its Pueblos, Barrios and Colonias. Barrio Niño Jesús is marked by the green/yellow star. |
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