Original Villages | Pueblo Candelaria, Coyoacán: Fiesta of Candelaria, an Extra Special Occasion

The Two Roots of the Fiesta of Candelaria 

Candelaria, (in English, Candlemass) is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church on February 2, forty days after the birth of Jesus the Christ, celebrated on December 25. It was Jewish custom that a first-born son be presented at the Temple in Jerusalem the fortieth day after his birth. According to the Gospels, Mary and Joseph followed this tradition. Candelaria is the feast day celebrating this early event in the life of el Niño Jesús, the Child, or Infant, Jesus.

Presentation of Christ at the Temple
by Hans Holbein the Elder, 1500–01 (Kunsthalle, Hamburg)
Wikipedia

MCA Note: In the early fourth century, church leaders fixed the date of Jesus's birth as December 25. This was the date of the winter solstice on the Roman (Julian) calendar. When our current Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory in 1582, all dates were moved ten days ahead to align with the sun's positions during the solar year. The misalignment had developed over time because the Julian calendar did not include a leap year every four years needed to keep the calendar aligned with the sun's cycle of positions in relation to the earth. However, Christmas was kept on December 25. The decision to place Jesus' birth on the winter solstice also implied that he was conceived on the spring equinox, nine months earlier. Wikipedia.

February 2 also happens to mark the mid-point of the season of winter in the northern hemisphere (summer in the southern). It is one of the so-called "cross-quarter days" of the solar calendar, falling halfway between the "quarter days" of the winter solstice and the subsequent spring equinox, therefore marking one-eighth of a solar year (6.5 weeks or 45.5 days).

Andrés Medina Hernández, a researcher at the IIAM (Institute of Anthropological Research) of the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico), has noted that Candelaria is celebrated with particular fervor in Mexico City, especially in the southern, more traditionally indigenous delegaciones (now alcaldías) of Iztapalapa, Tláhuac, Xochimilco and Milpa Alta, where there is a special veneration for El Niño Jesús, the child or infant Jesus, centered on Candelaria.

Most notable of these is el Niño Pa (the Child of This Place) in Xochimilco. He is a small wooden statue of the infant Jesus created in the 16th century, in the early years of the so-called Spiritual Conquest, the lengthy process of conversion of the indigenous by Spanish and other European monks to Christianity. (See our post: Xochimilco | Candelaria and el Niño Pa: Caring for the Infant God.)

El Niño pa,
carried by his majordomo, 
finishing his charge on Feb. 2, 2017

MCA Note: With this post, we are adding Delegación Coyoacán to this list. It has both a Pueblo Candelaria, featured in this post, and a Barrio El Niño Jesús. 

In addition to el Niño Pa, Xochimilco has four other special Niños Jesús, each of whom is kept by householders of a particular pueblo or barrio, not in a church. The householder is the mayordomo (caretaker) who changes annually. These Niños, like el Niño Pa, spend the year visiting homes in the delegación and even travel to other delegaciones. We first encountered el Niño Pa in Pueblo Xoco (HO-ko) in Delegación Benito Juárez, some nine miles north of Xochimilco.

It is on February 2, Candelaria, that the new mayordomos take charge of the image of each of these Niño Dios for one year. This marks the end of the Christmas season. Dr. Medina believes this veneration of el Niño Jesús has a close link with the ancient Mesoamerican agricultural calendar and religion. The celebration of Candelaria coincides with a Mesoamerican tradition of venerating the annual rebirth of the god of corn.

The Mexica god of maize (corn), Centeotl, was born on February 2, which was also the beginning of the Mexica solar year. His birth initiated the annual agricultural cycle of soil preparation, planting, cultivation and harvesting of corn. At harvest time, five ripened maize cobs were picked by elder Aztec women. Each was carefully wrapped, like a mother would wrap up a newborn child and then carried, like a child, in a shawl on the women's backs to their homes. There, they were placed in a special basket and kept until the following year and the beginning of the next agricultural cycle.

Medina also points out that there is a link between the birth of the god of corn and the eating of tamales and atole (a drink made of corn masa [dough], thinned with water and with various flavors added) on February 2. The masa (dough) of cornmeal is the symbolic flesh of the corn god and the atole is his blood. The word tamal or tamalli is Nahuatl and means "carefully wrapped" (as a newborn is wrapped).

Eating tamales and drinking atole on Candelaria is a traditional symbolic act very similar to Communion in Christianity. By consuming these foods, Mexicans eat the body and drink the blood of the newborn god of corn. In the Maya sacred book, the Popol Vuh, human beings were created from corn masa. Human existence in Mesoamerica depended on corn. This has a parallel in Judaism and Christianity, where, in the Book of Genesis, God molds man from soil in his image and likeness.

Furthermore, in the same way that a tamal is carefully wrapped, on Candelaria many families dress a figure of the Child God, which is kept in their home all year, with special garments, most often baptismal gowns. He is then taken to the church to be blessed and to pray for his protection of the family for the coming year.

MCA Note: This analysis of Candelaria by Dr. Medina was provided by Abraham Garcia, a student in anthropology in the National Autonomous University of Mexico and administrator of the Facebook page Fiestas Mágicas de los Pueblos y Barrios Originarios del Valle de Mexico, our indispensible guide.

Niño Jesús on Candelaria,
with ears of corn in a basket.

All of these primal, archetypal parallels between indigenous and Christian beliefs in the symbolism of Candelaria are among the many that helped make possible the syncretism of indigenous and Roman Catholic Christian religions that resulted in Mexican popular Catholicism. (For more on the elements and dynamics of this syncretism see our page, Mexico Traditional Popular Religious Culture.)

Candelaria in Pueblo Candelaria, Coyoacán

We have written about Pueblo Candelaria twice before, when, as part of the visits paid by el Señor de la Misericordia, the Lord of Compassion, each summer from his home in Pueblo Tres Santos Reyes (Three Holy Kings) to other pueblos in Coyoacán. We were present when he arrived for the first of two visits to Candelaria, which is Tres Reyes' neighbor, and again, at the end of his summer tour, when he returns to Tres Reyes from his second visit in Candelaria. Candelaria is the only pueblo he visits twice each summer. The two pueblos are closely bonded. Both entregas (handovers, deliveries) are grand events.

But we had never gone to Candelaria for the fiesta of its patron saint. It is not el Niño Jesús. (The nearby Barrio el Niño Jesus has its fiesta on January 1, the eighth day of Jesus' life and, according to Jewish custom, the day of his circumcision. We attended it last year.) The patron saint of Pueblo Candelaria is the Virgin of Candelaria, that is, the Virgin Mary in her advocación (representation) at the moment of her purification at the Temple forty days after Jesus' birth and, also, as the Queen of Heaven, which she became upon her assumption into heaven at the moment of her earthly death.

So early on the morning of February 2, a Saturday this year, not able to find any schedule of fiesta events on the internet, we go to Candelaria, hoping to witness a procession we have heard happens around 9 AM. However, when we arrive at the atrio (atrium) of the modern church (the original 16th-century one was replaced in the mid-20th century), not much seems to be happening.

A large floral portada of fresh flowers—always amazing in their complex design, vibrant colors and workmanship—covers the arches of the church entrance.

Portada made with fresh mums.
"The Lord stands firm for his pueblo´s (village and its people)
defense and salvation,
for its faithful ones he saves us.

But even more spectacular, taking up most of the large atrio is a huge tapete de aserrín, sawdust carpet, a fiesta tradition. The pueblo is well-known for its tapetes, created for each fiesta by a group of mostly young people, the Alfombristas Pueblo de la Candelaria Coyoacán (link is to its Facebook page; alfombra is another word for carpet, likely from Arabic). 

Tapete or alfombra de aserrín
This one is unusual, not only for its size,
but also for its lack of any specific religious symbolism.

Coming and going from the sanctuary are parishioners carrying their Niños Jesús, to be blessed today.

                                

A large wind band is playing on a stage to one side.

Entering the sanctuary, we find a few people praying. The Virgin is missing from her baldachin, the canopied space reserved, since medieval times, for a royal, or here, sacred Presence.

We find the Virgin, or two of her, on a table in one side aisle.
Patron saints are often kept in duplicate, one always to remain in the sanctuary,
the other for being carried through the pueblo in processions.
Both wear the crown of the Queen of Heaven.

Here, parishioners present their Niños Jesús for her blessing.
The burning of candles is part of the ritual, a symbol that Jesus is the light of the  world;
hence the fiesta's name, Candelaria, Candlemass.

We ask various parishioners when the procession is to occur. None seem sure of the time. Finally, one woman tells us that a schedule of all the fiesta events is posted outside. Such posters are standard for fiestas, and they are essential for us to know when the main events are going to happen. We did not see any on our way into the pueblo or in the atrio, but go in search, hoping to find one. There are none in the atrio and we begin to despair, when, walking back out into the main street, we suddenly spot one on the garage door of a home.

It tells us that the procession isn't today, but tomorrow at noon. At that time, the Virgin will meet saints arriving from other pueblos. The encounter will take place at the intersection of two main avenues that form the northeast boundary of the pueblo, Avenida Candelaria and Avenida Pacífico. We know the intersection well. It is exactly where el Señor de la Misericordia and the Virgin come together and where, the first Sunday in September, they part ways. Many saints from other pueblos had been present both times we were there, so we anticipate that this encounter will be on a similarly grand scale. Clearly, the Virgin of Candelaria is highly venerated beyond her own parish. 

The Virgin of Candelaria Welcomes the Saints of Other Pueblos to Her Fiesta

So, shortly before noon on Sunday, we arrive by taxi at the corner of Candelaria and Pacífico Avenues. Pacífico, south of Candelaria, is blocked to traffic by a cadre of city police. A crowd is gathered in the closed street. Having seen this scenario before, we know what is happening and hurry to wend our way through the crowd.

A Gathering of the Saints of Coyoacán

A short distance down the block we see the Virgin (in her pink version) standing on a flower-covered anda (platform) for being carried in the procession to the church.  

The Virgin of Candelaria,
Hostess of Her Day

Standing in front of her, on both sides of the southbound lanes of Pacifíco, a large number of saints are lined up on their andas. Having been, by now, to many fiestas in Coyoacán, including two others at this same spot, we recognize quite a few and know which pueblos they represent.

 

El Señor de la Misericordia, the Lord of Compassion
and los Tres Santos Reyes, Three Holy Kings
from Pueblo Tres Santos Reyes.

Niño Jesús, Child or Infant Jesus,
from Barrio Niño Jesús.

         

San Pablo, St. Paul,
from Pueblo San Pablo Tepetlapa;

San Sebastián
from Pueblo San Sebastián Xoco

Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles
from Barrio San Diego Churubusco;

San Domingo and San Francisco
from Colonia de Santo Domingo

San Luis Rey, Saint Louis, King of France
from the church dedicated to him
in Colonia Ajusco;

San Isidro, saint of farmer,
from Pueblo San Isidro, Michocán

Both saints were brought from the municipality of Nahuatzen, Michoacán
when large numbers of its Purépecha residents moved to Colonia Ajusco in the 1960s and 70s.

The Procession Gets Underway

There are several more saints waiting to join the procession, but we´ll have to wait to take their photos, as parishioners from Candelaria are picking up her anda and starting the procession into the pueblo. We have to hurry to get ahead of them before they enter the narrow barrio street, as we have learned that being at the front of a procession is the best position for finding good angles for shots.

The procession begins.

Three Virgins of Candelaria

Santiagueros,
Warriors for St. James who battle the "pagan" Moors.
We have seen them at several fiestas.

Chinelos, also frequent participants in processions of saints

Procession of the Saints of Coyoacán

The Virgin of Candelaria
then leads the procession of saints

Other saints that we weren't able to photograph while they were waiting, now pass by:

Virgin of Guadalupe

Santa Úrsula
of Barrio Santa Úrsula Coapa

El Señor de los Milagros
The Lord of Miracles,
from the church dedicated to Him
in Colonia Ajusco

San Lucas, St. Luke
of Barrio San Lucas

                             

San Domingo and San Francisco,
followed by San Luis Rey,
proceed through the callejas, narrow streets,
of Pueblo Candelaria.

The Virgen of Guadalupe,
Santa Úrsula and
San Sebastián

                                                                                                                                                          

The Virgin arrives in the atrio of her church.

Welcoming the Saints to the Church of Our Lady of Candelaria

Awaiting the Virgin, in her honor, is a tapete or alfombra de aserrín of Saint Teresa of Jesus
that, overnight, has replaced the circular one of the day before.
We thank an anonymous reader for telling us the correct name of the saint and 
that it was created by the group Arte y Diseño Villagrán Hermanos. (Villagrán Brothers Art and Design).

                      

The church bells, in the belfry,
which is the only remaining part of the original 16th-century church,
begin to be rung by an athletic joven (youth).

The Virgin
is carefully carried around the tapete,
towards the church.

She is placed to receive all of the visiting saints.

One by one, the saints are carried into the sanctuary.
The Virgin enters last.

The congregation waits while the visiting saints are placed near the altar.

Some carry their Ninos Jesús

In the choir loft, a group, mostly young people,
sing folk-style songs
with much ánimo, spirit.

All is ready for the Mass in veneration of the Virgin of Candelaria.

The Virgin (the one in pink) has been returned to the table in the side aisle,
where yesterday she was accompanied by one in blue.

The small version in blue, next to her, is known as a "demandita", "little petition",
a very portable form of a saint, used by individuals and families 
to represent some particular advocación, manifestation of the Virgin as an advocate
on behalf of the faithful to Her Son, Jesus the Christ, and God the Father.

Three Eminent Saints of Coyoacán

The Virgin, in blue, has been returned to her baldachín
behind the altar.

Placed in positions of special honor in front of her are
El Señor de la Misericordia
and
El Niño Jesús,

The Tres Santos Reyes stand below them.

They are the saints of Candelaria's neighboring pueblos.

The placement of El Señor de la Misericordia and El Niño Jesús immediately in front of la Virgen de Candelaria is, we think, a symbolic expression of their special importance for all the original pueblos of Coyoacán. El Señor de la Misericordia, the Lord of Compassion, holds a special status in all the pueblos, demonstrated by his elaborately enacted series of visits to them each summer. The feast day of Candelaria is a celebration both of the Virgin Mother and her holy child, el Niño Jesus. Here, today, in the Church of Our Lady of Candelaria, they are brought together.

The importance of the Virgin of Candelaria among the original pueblos of Coyoacán is also demonstrated by the participation of virtually all those pueblos' saints in the procession and the culminating Mass. This extensive participation does not occur at the patron saint fiestas of the other pueblos. Here, in Coyoacán, as throughout all of Mexico, the Virgin holds a place of unique eminence. She is the Mother of the Son of God incarnate, as manifested in the feast of Candelaria. She is the mother of the Son who is crucified to save from their sins and death all who accept him as Savior, as embodied here by the Lord of Compassion. And in her advocación as the Virgin of Guadalupe, also present today, she is the Mother of Mexico. 

Delegaciones of Mexico City
Coyoacán is the purple delegación in the center.

Pueblos, barrios and colonias of Delegción Coyoacán

Pueblo Candelaria is the starred, yellow pueblo.
Pueblo los Tres Santos Reyes, home of el Señor de la Misericordia,
is green pueblo just west of Candelaria.
Barrio El Niño Jesús is blue area just west of Tres Reyes.

Coyoacán: Indigenous Purépecha Traditions of Michoacán Live On in Colonia Ajusco

Meeting Old Traditions in New Neighborhoods

During our ambles to the original indigenous villages in Mexico City that existed before the Spanish Conquest, we have encountered—and written about—barrios populares, working class neighborhoods, that are virtually indistinguishable in their architecture, daily life and communal religious fiestas from those with indigenous origins. Indistinguishable, that is, with one notable exception: they lack churches dating back to the 16th century. In fact, these neighborhoods are 20th century creations and their church buildings are modern. The story of how they came to be, but maintain traditional identities is fascinating.

We first encountered these neighborhoods in the summer of 2017, at a fiesta in Colonia Pedregal de Santo Domingo and then later that fall at a fiesta in neighboring Colonia Ajusco, both in Delegación Coyoacán. Both fiestas were large in scope, with all the traditional elements: an abundance of visiting saints on their flower-bedecked andas (platforms), multiple bandas and comparsas (dance groups), and of course, cohetes (rocket-style firecrackers) announcing the fiesta for miles around.

The modern church of  Los Dos Fundadores, The Two Founders
(St. Francis and St. Domingo,
founders of the first two religious orders that came to Nueva España  in the 16th century
to convert the indigenous to Spanish Catholic Christianity.)
Colonia Pedregal Santo Domingo, Coyoacán.

Fiesta de San Francisco (front) and Santo Domingo (rear, to left of Virgin Mary)
Colonia Pedregal de Santo Domingo, Coyocan;
preparing to receive El Señor de la Misericordia, the Lord of Compassion,
from neighboring Colonia Ajusco.
He will be placed under the golden canopy when He is received from Colonia Ajusco.

Fiesta del Señor de los Milagros,
The Lord of Miracles, patron saint of a church of that name in
Colonia Ajusco, Coyocán

We doubted that either Colonias Santo Domingo or Ajusco were original indigenous pueblos. From our research, we learned that both had been created by squatters coming mostly from rural Mexico as a result of population pressures in the 1960s and 70s. Our page, How Mexico City Grew From an Island to a Metropolis, describes this internal migration more fully.

The short version is that the land was available because it was pedregal, stony ground, lava rock from a volcanic eruption of a small cinder cone volcano called Xitle in the first century CE. Consequently, the area remained barren and unoccupied until the late 20th century, when rural migrants, utterly without resources, established squatter settlements on the pedregal.

Over the years, with Mexican ingenuity, these squatters developed their settlements into working-class neighborhoods that became part of the urban landscape. Eventually, the Federal District/Mexico City government accepted them as de facto neighborhoods needing formalization of property rights and urban services. So, today, as we said, they are virtually indistinguishable from the ancient Pueblos Los Tres Santos Reyes, (Three Holy Kings) and Candelaria immediately north of them.

Rural, Indigenous Mexicans, Moving to the City, Bring Their Traditional Faith With Them

As for the continuity of traditional communal religious customs, a good article on Colonia Ajusco in Wikipedia en español referenced an academic paper specifically on the religious institutions and life of Ajusco: El Pluralismo Religioso en la Colonia Ajusco (México, D.F.) ("Religious Pluralism in Colonia Ajusco, [Coyoacán], Federal District").

Its author is Dr. Hugo José Suárez, a professor of sociology at UNAM, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, whose University City campus, not coincidentally, is located on the Pedregal of Coyoacán, immediately west of Santo Domingo and Ajusco.

The paper has also been published as a freely downloadable book, full of illustrative photos, Ver y Creer: Ensayo de sociología visual en la Colonia Ajusco (Seeing and Believing: Essay of Visual Sociology in Colonia Ajusco). Dr. Suárez uses his own photos to illustrate his observations about Ajusco. Depicting the everyday life of the community, they are worth looking at.

Dr. Suárez documents the origins of Ajusco (and its neighbor, Pedregal de Santo Domingo), beginning with the occupation of some of the barren pedregal by people from the neighboring, originally indigenous Pueblo Candelaria in the 1950s. Then, a second wave took place in the 1960s as a result of the country's population explosion when people flooded in from rural Mexico.

They, of course, brought their traditional religious practices with them, what Dr. Suárez and other students of Latin American Catholicism call religión popular, religion of the people. It is not organized and managed by priests. It is organized and maintained over the years by mayordomía (chief caretakers), a committee of lay persons who, in reality, run the everyday life of the congregation and lead its activities in the community. As a result of our increasing experience and understanding of this religión popular, we have written a group of posts under the heading Mexican Traditional Popular Religion, to look at and share its essential elements and how it is maintained via rituals such as patron saint fiestas.

(For more on Mexican, and Latino, popular (i.e. of the people) Catholicism see the work of Latino Catholic theologians Roberto Goizueta, "The Symbolic Realism of U.S. Latino/a Popular Catholicism" (online PDF) and Orlando Espín, "The Faith of the People: Reflections on Popular Catholicism" available at Amazon.com)

Indigenous Purépecha of Michoacán in Colonia Ajusco, Coyoacán, Mexico City

Dr. Suárez then gave us a complete and wonderful surprise. He tells us that one sizable group that moved into Colonia Ajusco was from the indigenous Purépecha pueblo of Nahuatzen, in the area known as la Meseta Purépecha, the Purépecha Highlands, just west of Lake Pátzcuaro, in the southwestern state of Michoacán.

Michoacán is the magenta colored state on the southwest coast of Mexico, 
just south of Jalisco (yellow).
Lake Pátzcuaro, the Puerpecha Meseta and the state capital of Morelia 
all lie near its north-central border.

Mexico City is the small red area to the east of Michoacán.
The State of Mexico is the light blue area between Michoacán and Mexico City.

Pátzcuaro, at the southern end of Lake Pátzcuaro (left center),
was originally a Purépecha village founded in the 1320s.
In 1553, the King of Spain declared it an official Spanish City.

Nahuatzen sits to the northwest, among the hills of the Meseta Purépecha. 


Morelia, in the far northeast corner, was established in the 16th century by the Spanish
as the city of Valladolid. After Independence was gained in 1821, its name was changed
 to honor native son and hero of Independence, José María Morelos,
and is the capital of the state of Michoacán. 

To us, Dr. Suárez's revelation was an immeasurable gift.  As we have commented in various posts, before moving to Mexico City in 2011, we lived in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, for three years. We know and love la Meseta. 

It is a beautiful region of pine-forested mountains and verdant valleys, with cows and horses, sheep and goats grazing in green fields, and small villages. Their churches from the 16th and 17th centuries feature ceilings completely covered with scenes of Heaven. The women dress in incredibly elaborately pleated skirts, embroidered blouses and dark blue rebozos (wool shawls). The men are vaqueros, cowboys. 

A goodly number of times, we visited the pueblos of the Meseta, including Nahuatzen, as well as many around Lake Pátzcuaro, attending many of their fiestas, reading about their history, and seeking to gain as much understanding as we could of this indigenous people. 

The Purépecha are literally a unique ethnic group, as their language is an isolate—that is, it is not related to any other indigenous language in the Americas or in the world, thus indicating that their ancestors arrived in their own, unique migration from Asia. By around 1300 CE, they had developed urban centers such as Pátzcuaro, and begun to expand control over much of what is now southwestern Mexico. Their expansion took place in virtually the same period that the Mexica/Aztec were coming to power in the Valley of Anahuac, now the Valley of Mexico.

La Meseta Purépecha,
Michoacán

Ceiling of Church of Santiago, St. James the Apostle,
in Nuria, Meseta Purépecha Highlands,
Michoacán, dating from 1639.
A number of churches on the Meseta have painted ceilings that are treasures of art
and of the history of the Spiritual Conquest.

Purépecha señoras outside Church of Santiago, St. James,
Pueblo Nuria, Meseta Purépecha, Michoacán 

We attended many Purépecha fiestas and purchased many pieces of their artesanía (handicrafts), which continue to colorfully enliven our apartment in Mexico City and remind us daily of a dramatically different Mexico.

Fiesta of Santa Cruz, Holy Cross
May 3, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán

Some of these artisans became friends and invited us to their fiestas and into their homes. One of our spouse's Spanish teachers was Purépecha. Through another Spanish teacher, we made friends with two adolescent Purépecha brothers, one in university, the other in high school, who sought help practicing their English, and we then met their father, who was a traditional curandero, healer, and botanist researching the native plants of the region.

They invited us to their home in Pueblo Ucazanastacua, Ucaz for short, on the lake shore, to participate in their annual fiesta. There we met and were served a meal by mother and older sister, a recent teacher's college graduate. As the pueblo's patron saint is el Espírito Santo, the Holy Spirit, the fiesta is held on the weekend of Pentecost Sunday. Coming seven weeks after Easter, it marks the day when the Holy Spirit, symbolized by a dove, descended as flames upon the heads of the disciples of Jesus the Christ, after He had Ascended to Heaven, inciting them to carry on His preaching of the Gospel, the Good News, that the Kingdom of God was present among those who repented their sins and accepted Christ as their Savior from Sin and Death.

Purépecha señora,
during Mass,
Fiesta del Espírito Santo
Pueblo Ucazanastacua, Michoacán

La Mayordormía of the fiesta of Ucazanaztacua
Our friend and host, Jorge Cira, far left, was mayordomo, head of the organizing committee

Dragon alebrije, swallowing three devilish angels,
 molded from clay,
 from Ocumicho, Meseta Purépecha.
in our Mexico City apartment

The Purépecha and the Catholic Spiritual Conquest: the Unique Bishop Don Vasco de Quiroga

The Purépecha remain very traditional Catholics. They were evangelized by Don Vasco de Quiroga, a Spanish church lawyer who was sent to Nueva España by King Charles as a member of the Second Audiencia, governing council.

Sympathetic to the plight of los indios at the murderous hands of the conquistadores, Quiroga specifically became a bishop to implement a plan of establishing 'hospitales', i.e., refuge towns, modeled on the vision in Sir and St. Thomas Moore's Utopia. The first 'hospital' he established was in the mountains west of Mexico City (now Pueblo Santa Fe, Holy Faith, in Delegación Álvaro Obregón).

Quiroga then became the first bishop of Michoacán, which had been ravaged by Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán. Sent to Nueva España by King Charles as head of the first Audiencia to counter the de facto power of conquístador Hernán Cortés with an authority directly appointed by the Crown, Guzmán instead turned himself into another conquístador, attacking indigenous peoples in the west, including the Purépecha, who had actually surrendered to Cortés when they learned he had defeated the Mexica/Azteca (even though the Mexica/Azteca had never been able to conquer them, a fact of which they are still very proud).

Statue of Bishop Don Vasco de Quiroga,
in the Plaza Grande, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.
Person in left foreground is a viejito, "little old person" 
a traditional Purépecha dancer.

Bishop Quiroga established hospital pueblos around Lake Pátzcuaro, the first being another Santa Fe, Santa Fe del Lago, Holy Faith of the Lake, where the indigenous were gathered to be protected from the conquistadores, evangelized and taught trades to maintain themselves. To this day, Don Vasco is revered by the Purépecha people, who affectionately, respectfully, call him "Tata Vasco" (Father Vasco). His remains are buried in a crypt in Pátzcuaro's Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Salud, Our Lady of Health, which he had built.

The Purépecha gave significant support to the Cristeros, fervent Catholics in western Mexico who rebelled against the government in what is known as the Cristero War (1926-29). The Faithful were provoked by President Plutarco Elías Calles when he sought to enforce the anti-Catholic articles of the 1917 Constitution, which had not previously been seriously implemented. Calles had laws passed severely limiting the number of Catholic priests allowed in the country and prohibiting worship (hence fiestas) outside of churches.

We recall being told by a resident of Ucazanaztacua how the pueblo protected the local priest by hiding him in a cave (now a small chapel). Masses were celebrated at night, with worshipers arriving via canoe from other pueblos around the lake.

It is the children of that generation who moved to the pedregal of Ajusco in the 1960s. Over the next two decades, other Purépecha from Nahuatzen migrated to Ajusco — and they brought their intense faith with them.

Purépecha Fiesta from Nahuatzen, Michoacán in Colonia Ajusco, Coyoacán, Mexico City

Serendipitously for us, Dr. Suárez's article informed us that each August, the Purépecha community in Ajusco, now consisting of grandparents, parents and grandchildren, celebrate the fiesta of San Luis Rey, King St. Louis (of France) who is the patron saint of the pueblo of Nahuatzen. (The community has a Facebook page, Fiestas y Tradiciones de Nahuatzen, which features photos of San Luis Rey and His fiesta, centered on His feast day, August 25.) The celebration in Ajusco is deliberately held a week ahead of the one in Nahuatzen, so those from either pueblo who desire can attend both.

When we learned of this, we became determined, ¡Ojalá! (the Force be willing), to attend this Purépecha fiesta in August 2018.

We had no further information about the Fiesta beyond Dr. Suárez's statement that it takes place a week ahead of August 25. That meant that in 2018, the fiesta would be held the weekend of August 18 and 19. He also tells us that it is held at the Chapel of the Annunciation, a subsidiary of the Rectory of the Resurrection, a large church in Ajusco organized by Jesuits in the early 1970s.

As the weekend of August 18-19 approaches, having only two pieces of information — the likely date and the location of the Chapel of the Annunciation, which we confirm via Google Maps — we decide to head there by taxi on Saturday morning, the 18th. The most significant events of a patron saint fiesta, usually the procession of the saint through the community, are most often scheduled around midday, sometimes on Saturday, more often on Sunday, followed by a Mass.

We hope that, by arriving a bit before noon on Saturday, we will at least be able to find out the schedule of events, always posted on announcements around the entrance to the church. If the main events are on Saturday, we will be there; if they are to be held on Sunday, we will know when to return. Ajusco is only fifteen minutes from our apartment, so returning would be no problem.

Seeking the Fiesta

We have our taxi driver take us down Avenida Aztecas to Calle Rey Ixtlixóchitl (King Ixtlilxóchitl was lord of the altepetl, city-state, of Texcoco in the early 15th century; interestingly, all street names in modern Colonia Ajusco are of indigneous tribes or rulers). We know the street because we have been to Mercado La Bola, a circular "ball-shaped", indoor market located there. It leads to the Chapel of the Annunciation.

As we turn into the street, we are not surprised — and actually pleased — to see that a couple of blocks ahead, the way is blocked with juegos mecánicos (fair rides) and puestos (street stalls) selling meals. They are a sure sign that a fiesta is underway. It just means that we have to get out and walk the remaining four blocks to the church which is on Calle Otomies (an indigenous people of central Mexico).

Wending our way past rides and puestos, when we arrive at the corner of Otomies, we find a bit of a challenge. The street goes up a small but steep hill; the sidewalk is actually a stairway. Climbing the stairs, we find ourselves out of breath, but nonetheless standing in front of the entrance to the Chapel of the Annunciation. It is now about noon.

A portada of fresh mums announces "King St. Louis, your people venerate you."

So to our great pleasure, we now know that there actually is a fiesta honoring San Luis Rey this weekend, here in Colonia Ajusco, in Coyoacán. But to our consternation, the gates to the church are locked and there is no one in sight. For a moment or two, we are stymied. However, thankfully, there is the inevitable announcement of the fiesta schedule posted on the gate.

The announcement tells us that today, sábado, at noon, there is a Mass,
but it is obviously not at the church; it is being held on Calle Chichimeca.
(Chichimeca was the derogatory, generic name that settled, agrarian, hence "civilized" indigenous residents
 of the Valley of Anahuac used for any nomadic, hunter-gatherer tribe, like the Roman meaning of "barbarians").

At 4:00, a procession will be formed at the church, scheduled to leave at 4:30,
to meet saints and faithful from other churches and return to the church for a Mass.
Sunday will consists only of Masses, community meals and a band concert.
So, obviously, if we want to experience the Purépecha community, today is the day.

We had crossed Chichimeca two blocks back, so we head back down hill and walk there, hoping to find the Mass. We ask various people standing along the street if they know where a Mass is being held. They all shrug their shoulders and say "No, there is no church on this street." Perhaps it is being held in a private home or outside on some empty lot, but we can't find it.

We wonder what to do. From the announcement on the church gate, we know that the next event is scheduled for 4:00 pm, about three-and-a-half hour from now. That's a long time to wait. But we are hungry, so we find a street puesto selling tacos de puerco (roasted, shredded pork wrapped in soft tortillas baked on a portable gas-heated comal, griddle). We order two and sit down on a plastic stool provided for diners. As we eat, we wonder whether we should get a taxi back home, and return at four, or just hang around for three or more hours.  

As fortune would have it, just as we are finishing our tacos, we hear the explosion of cohetes — the rockets that, literally, are a sure-fire announcement that some part of a fiesta is going on somewhere nearby. We look up into the sky and spot the smoke. It´s not far way, back toward the church, but on the opposite side of Calle Rey Ixtlixóchitl from the church, so we head that way. 

A Purépecha Fiesta Underway

As we near the corner of the next street, we hear more cohetes coming from the side street, and then we hear the second sure sign of a fiesta, a banda is playing. Turning the corner, we see a small procession that was not listed on the announcement. Perhaps it is coming from the Mass we couldn't find. Just now, it has stopped in front of a house.

Cohetero igniting a cohete rocket.
His bolsa, bag, says he is part of
The Friends of King Saint Louis
of France.

.

La Banda
We note from the side of the drum that they are from the state of Guanajuato,
just north of Michoacán.

 A floral-covered anda, portable platform, dedicated to San Luis
but without his statue, is accompanied by a large canvas
sign honoring Señor Oscar Rodriguez Montoya,
"a great warrior",
evidently a Purépecha community leader
who died this year, at age 60.
Apparently, this is a stop made in his respect, in front of his house.

      

Our first glimpse of the traditional Purépecha dress,
distinguished by the elaborately pleated skirts and multi-colored ribbons
interwoven in the girls' braids.
Just what we were hoping to see!

The procession then moves on to Calle Otomies and climbs the hill to the church,
with us puffing alongside.

Just past the church, a tarpaulin covers the entire street. (In August, the weather can switch from hot sun to heavy rain at any moment, so tarpaulins are essential, to cover both options.) Underneath, people are being served a comida, meal, a traditional gift given to the community by members of the mayordomía during a fiesta.

While the adults eat, girls help one another put ribbons in their braids.

Las doncellas, the maidens,
girls on the cusp of puberty.

San Luis Rey, King St. Louis,
two of them, are brought from the church and placed on the anda.
The procession is about to get under way.

The Friends of King St. Louis,
the cofradía, brotherhood, that carries out the duties of the fiesta,
including bearing San Luis Rey through the streets of Ajusco.

The procession is going to an intersection in the colonia
where it will greet saints and faithful from other churches
and return with them to the Chapel of Annunciation for a Mass.

La Doña
The older woman is a familiar figure from fiestas we attended in Purépecha pueblos in Michoacán.
She is the caretaker of Purépecha tradition, organizing the youth, teaching them,
thus assuring that the customs that identify them as a distinct people
are passed to the next generation, even here in modern Mexico City.

San Luis Rey

King St. Louis

The procession begins.

The procession heads down hill and turns into Calle Rey Ixtlixóchitl, full of puestos, making the passage of San Luis Rey on His anda a challenge. Hence, the anda is lowered to make its way safely through.

We notice the youth,
fully involved in maintaining the tradition of a pueblo fiesta,
transported from far away Pueblo Nahautzen, Michoacán,
to the center of Mexico City.

The procession stops several times, for the bearers of the anda to rest and, sometimes, we just seem to be waiting, apparently for the arrival of the saints from other churches. It gives us time to take retratos, portraits of some of the women and men participating.

Purépecha  Señoras y Señoritas

The men do not dress traditionally, except a few older ones in cowboy-style sombreros,
like those in Michoacán.
The older ones tells us that, yes, they are oriundos, natives of Nahuatzen. 

Suddenly, we hear the sound of another banda coming from above the next intersection.
The procession hurries to the corner.

Behind the banda is a fairly large group of people,
several of the women in traditional Purépecha dress.
Behind them is another anda bearing another San Luis Rey, surrounded by white banners.

An anda with a Dove of the Holy Spirit,
and a small Virgin Mary as Our Lady, Queen of Heaven follows.

Then comes San Isídrio, St. Isidor, with His Two Oxen.
He is a saint of farmers, popular in rural pueblos.
We remember seeing an actual ox team used in a procession in Pátzcuaro.
The saint and some men wear cowboy-style sombreros, typical in Michoacán

Real oxen in the Fiesta de Santa Cruz,
Pátzcuaro, Michoacán

Finally, there is a third San Luis Rey!

At this point, the procession is moving very fast, perhaps in order to arrive at the Chapel of the Annunciation for the scheduled Mass. That means another climb up the hill. It is now near 6 PM. We are exhausted and need to call it a day. We do manage to stop one woman in the procession to ask where the other San Luis Reyes come from. We expected only the Chapel of the Annunciation would have this representation of the Purépecha Pueblo Nahuatzen. 

She replies that these others, with their bearers and followers, are from other parts of Colonia Ajusco. She tells us that there are streets throughout the colonia totally occupied by residents from Nahuatzen. They come from those streets. The Chapel of the Annunciation is simply their shared religious center. 

It reminds me somewhat of ethnic groups in New York City, where we lived for many years. Second and third generation members sometimes have moved to other neighborhoods, even to other boroughs, but they return to the neighborhood of their immigrant forebears to celebrate the traditional fiestas and holidays of their people. 

The meeting of the three San Luis Reyes and other saints has occurred at a major intersection, so we easily hail a taxi and head back home via Avenida Azteca to Colonia Parque San Andrés. As we do, we think of how we came to discover this fiesta, transplanted from our beloved Purépecha Meseta of Michoacán to Colonia Ajusco, fifteeen minutes by cab from our apartment. 

It was via that serendipitous, if not miraculous coincidence, when, one Sunday morning, more than two years ago, we heard the sound and saw the smoke of cohetes from our balcony in San Andrés, and, on the spur of the moment, decided to follow them to their source. They led us to Pueblo Tres Santos Reyes and the Lord of Compassion. Then, following the trail of His visits to the pueblos of Coyoacán across two summers, we came to Colonia Santo Domingo, where the Lord of Compassion was begin delivered from neighboring Colonia Ajusco. That path, and a professor of sociology at nearby UNAM, led us here today and — in our spirit and heart — back to la Meseta Purépecha. 

Delegación Coyoacán (purple)
sits in the middle of Mexico City.

Pueblos and Colonias of Delegación Coyoacán

Colonia Ajusco is light red area just southwest of center (blue Star).

Two originally indigenous pueblos lie just north of Colonia Ajusco:
 Pueblo Tres Santos Reyes is large green area immediately to the north.
Pueblo Candelaria is yellow area northeast of Ajusco and east of Tres Reyes.

The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) University City campus
is just west of  neighboring Colonia Santo Domingo (large yellow).