Showing posts with label Niño Pa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Niño Pa. Show all posts

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Original Villages | Xochimilco, Candelaria and el Niño Pa: Caring for the Infant God

El Niño pa


This past spring, shortly after Easter, while visiting the Pueblo Xoco (SHO-koh), in Delegación Benito Juárez, just north of our home base in Delegación Coyoacán, we met el Niño pa, who was visiting Xoco from his home in Xochimilco, some miles to the south.

El Niño pa
during his visit to Pueblo Xoco

El Niño pa (we learn later from Wikipedia en español) is an image of the Child Jesus venerated since Colonial days in Xochimilco. It is a wooden sculpture carved in the sixteenth century from the wood of a native Mexican tree. Scientifically verified to be over 400 years old, it is considered one of the oldest images of Catholic worship in the Americas. 

Spanish missionaries evidently created the image to represent the baby Jesus during Posadas, the "Inns"—celebrations held outdoors in the streets of a different barrio each of the nine nights before Christmas, in nightly reenactments of Joseph's and Mary's search for room in an inn (posada) in Bethlehem. El Niño was originally placed in the custody of the indigenous chiefs of Xochimilco and then. for some reason we haven't yet uncovered, given to Spanish hacendados, owners of large estates. El Niño pa does not have a church of his own. Now he is under the rotating custody of the families in the original barrios of Xochimilco

Currently, El Niño pa is cared for by a committee of representatives from these barrios, under the leadership of a mayordomo, the traditional head of pueblo fiestas. Each February 2, on the feast of Candelaria, there is a major fiesta at which a new mayordomo takes responsibility for El Niño for the coming yearCandelaria (Candlemas in English) is the day of el Niño Jesús, the Child Jesus, as it commemorates his presentation by his parents, Mary and Joseph, forty days after his birth, at the Temple in Jerusalem when he is recognized by an old man, Simeon, as the promised Messiah:
"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel."
Gospel of Luke 2:29-32
Because Jesus the Christ is recognized as "a light to lighten the Gentiles", lit candles are a symbol for the day, hence the Mass of Candles, Candlemas. It is also known as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus.

The mayordomo has major responsibilties. He has to provide many changes of baptismal style dress for the statue, and he has to oversee El Niño's visits to various private homes during the year—a task performed by following a list on which hopeful hosts have inscribed their names. The list is very long, such that it takes many years—even decades—before El Niño arrives in a particular home. Hence, adults usually inscribe the name of one of their children, or even a grandchild! It is a kind of eternal posada, a direct, personal encounter between el pueblo, the common people, and their God, literally on el pueblo's home turf.

And the 'pa'? It's a mystery. Asking la gente, the people, we have been given various explantions: that 'pa' is short for padre, father, hence the child who is the father; that it is short for pan, bread, for the child who becomes "the bread of the world"; and that it is a Nahuatl word for place, hence "child of this place."

We continue to search for an explanation, but, in the meantime, our hunch is that this last interpretation is the correct one, since it would represent the tie of the Catholic Christian el Niño and his people, his pueblo, to their indigenous past (This was confimed. See our Post Script below). The name, like the dual Spanish and indigenous names of many Mexican towns, would be another vestige of the Spiritual Conquest via which the two cultures were merged.

Candelaria in Xochimilco


So with this initial understanding of the history and significance of el Niño pa de Xochimilco, on the morning of February 2, we set out by taxi for Xochimilco. We know there will be a procession bringing the revered statue from the home of his last host to the Church of San Bernadino de Siena, in the center of what is now the delegación, but which, five hundred years ago, was the center of the altepetl, city-state. We don't know the time the procession is to begin, but we guess it will lead to a Mass at noon or one o'clock, so we arrive at about 11:30.

The traffic on Avenida Guadalupe I. Ramírez, the main entry to the center, is dense and slow-moving. The avenue follows what was originally a causeway across Lake Xochimilco to the city. As we approach a major intersection, we tell the driver that we'll get out there and walk the rest of the way, so he can escape the traffic jam and we can move on.

The Procession


Getting out near the corner, we immediately become aware that the street ahead is closed to traffic, which is causing the jam. We can hear a brass banda playing and realize that the procession we were hoping to catch is passing right in front of us!

Above the heads of the crowd, we see a canopy moving slowly forward, protecting a special personaje, personage, from the Mexican sun. It must be el Niño! We ask a bystander, who confirms this. We move along the street as fast as we can to catch up.

El Niño pa,
carried by his majordomo

As the procession moves slowly, we are able to get ahead of the canopy and what it is protecting. It is el Niño pa, this time dressed in a white baptismal gown. Ahead of him are two small andas, platforms, bearing representations of his Holy Mother and his padrino, godfather, Joseph.

Mary
Joseph

In front of the Holy Family, la banda, sets the rhythm.


Farther ahead are several groups of our favorite participants in Mexico City barrio fiestas, chinelos, female and male dancers "disguised" in Moorish-like costumes, who "jump" and twirl as they move steadily along.


The banner reads:
"Comparsa de Chinelos
Ampliación San Marcos"

(Dance Group of the Disguised Ones
Barrio of St. Mark, Extension)

             
Each barrio is led by its committee member and his family
Here, Jaime Anzurez Morones and family,
representing Barrio San Marcos Ampliación

Slowly, but with much energy, joy and pride, the procession makes its way toward the Church of San Bernadino de Siena.

Portal,  entrance,
to San Bernadino.
A huge tent covers the usually open space
of
 the atrio, atrium, inside

In the atrio, hundreds of los fieles, the faithful,
await the arrival of el Niño.

Norberto Rivera Carrera
Archbishop of City of Mexico

The Archbishop of Mexico, Norberto Rivera Carrera, and other bishops are present to receive el Niño and celebrate Mass. This is a big deal!

Mass begins, in front of the church.

Candles of Candelaria
                       




Everyone's Niño


Many of los fieles, the faithful, carry their own Niño Jesús, brought from their homes, as El Niño pa is brought from his stay in the homes of the barrios of Xochimilco, to be blessed by the bishop and attending priests. Some are dressed in simple baby clothes, but most wear the elaborate attire of a royal prince at his baptism. Obviously, they are objects de mucho cuidado y cariño, much care and affection. Most of the caretakers are older women, but men and young people, as well, are there to present their niño.




We wonder, once again, as a cultural and religious fuereño, outsider, what this ritual means to its participants, los fieles. Our hunch is that its power lies in a kind of role reversal. Humble, vulnerable human beings, dependent on the good will of their God and at the mercy of the forces of the Universe, get to become, in these moments, with these small figures of the Christ Child, the caretakers of God at the moment He made Himself vulnerable like them, incarnated as a human child, placed in the care, not of the rich and powerful, but of a very ordinary, workingclass couple from a small pueblo in las provincias.

Post Script


A couple of weeks after Candelaria, in mid-February, we return to Xochimilco to experience another fiesta, for Our Virgin of Sorrows of Xaltocán. While walking down Avenida 16 de Septiembre from the center of town, looking for signs of the fiesta in the barrio that lies on the east side of the street, we notice obvious signs of some kind of celebration at the entrance to a street on the west side, which is the Barrio San Pedro, St. Peter. 

"Welcome, Niño Pa,
Xochimilco venerates you."

The colorful portada and blue and white papel picada (the Virgin's colors) tell us  something is up with el Niño in San Pedro, another of the original barrios of Xochimilco. So setting aside our search for the church of Xaltocán, we turn down this side street. In all our past experiences in Mexico we have learned that such detours always lead somewhere well worth discovering. 

About two short blocks ahead, we spot a small stone chapel.

Chapel of St. Peter

Arriving at the door, we see that inside the simple space a kind of Sunday school lesson is being taught by a lay woman to a small group. Outside, a handful of people are hanging out in a small courtyard to one side. So we ask them the reason for the portada and papel celebrating el Niño

They happily explain that he is now residing in a house just up the street. A young man offers to lead us there. We quickly arrive at the wide, courtyard entrance to a modest but modern house. Thanking el joven, youth, for his amable, kind, considerate help, we cross the street to enter the open courtyard.

Meeting El Niño once again

"Pretty child, beautiful child,
Fine-looking boy, loving boy.
I come to ask of you, as (you are) generous,
that this sorrow that I carry
you may turn into joy,
as you are my father
and my kind-hearted God."

The finely done calligraphy on the outside wall communicates both the meaning of the Child as the incarnation of the Father God that we had previously sensed, and His role in ameliorating life's troubles. By demonstrating loving care for him, devotion and respect, the faithful can hope that, in return, he will provide a blessing in their everyday lives.

The courtyard, itself, is a most pleasant, tranquil space, with a small garden of well landscaped plants and stones and a working fountain on one side and, hanging on the opposite wall, several large bouquets of flowers.

To the usual white lilies are added
Phalaenopsis, "butterfly" orchids!

To the rear of the courtyard is the wide-open entrance to a room in the modest but contemporary home. As we approach, we think that whoever is in charge of this presentation certainly has a fine aesthetic sense. As we walk toward the room, a few people come and go.  

Inside we see a number of people quietly sitting in rows of folding chairs, facing the rear of the space. It reminds us of a wake at a funeral home, with people silently paying their respects, but here the object of that respect isn't a deceased, but a centuries-old image of a child who has and can bestow eternal life.

El Niño Pa
His peach gown matches his cheeks.
The solar disc behind
announces the Presence of the Divine Power.

A matronly woman, dresssed in her Sunday best, is standing at the entrance and welcomes us, advising us not to use flash for any photos. We assure her that we never use flash and share that we first met el Niño nearly a year ago in Barrio Xoco, in Benito Juárez, and were at His Candelaria celebration here just two weeks ago. She is very pleased that we are so acquainted with Him.

We then ask our question about the meaning of "Pa": is it short for padre, father, or pan, bread? She tells us, with a tone of sureness, that it is Nauhuatl and means "of this place". He is the Child of this place, Xochimilco's own. Our assumption is confirmed!

La señora then offers to introduce us to a casually but neatly dressed middle-aged man who is standing on the other side of the doorway, talking to people as they arrive and leave. He holds an appointment book in his hands and sometimes writes as he talks. He is evidently the host of el Niño's visit. This is his home. He is, la señora tells me, el mayordomo!

As we are introduced, we can hardly contain our excitment and speak coherent Spanish! Mayordomos are the persons in charge of planning and overseeing a barrio or pueblo's fiestas. The mayordomo of el Níño Pa has an even greater responsibility. He must care for El Niño for an entire year, from one Candelaria to the next. He must provide clothing and a pleasant room, always full of fresh flowers, and he must arrange the visits that the Child takes to other homes, even in other boroughs of the city, such as Xoco. All of this while assuring the safety of this nearly five hundred-year old, truly priceless and irreplaceable infant. 

The mayordomo of el Niño Pa, who is just beginning his year of care, is Sr. Enrique Hernández. He is an architect, which is reflected in the aesthetics of the calligraphy on the outer wall and the courtyard decor. In his date book he is signing up people to host El Niño for a day and provide a merienda, a late afternoon, light meal to anyone who comes that day. We are a bit surprised by this, as we had read that the list of visits was made far in advance, even years ahead. 

El señor is muy amable, and happy to explain to us what is happening, but he constantly has to interrupt our chat to attend to the visitors who greet him and often sign up for a merienda. So we express our deep sense of being honored to meet him, thank him for this marvelous opportunity and depart to continue our search for the fiesta in Xaltocán.

Sr. Enrique Hernández Troncoso
and his mother, 
 la Sra. Esperanza Troncoso Aguirre 
Mayordomos of Niño Pa, Feb. 2017-18.
From Facebook page of
Guardianes del Patrimonio de Xochimilco
After we have left, we realize we didn't ask to take his photo. Oh, well, we got to see El Niño Pa in the kind of family space he will inhabit for this year, witness the quiet devotion he is paid, confirm the meaning of 'Pa' and, best of all, meet an actual mayordomo!

Yes, Niño Pa, Xochimilco venerates you. May you turn its sorrows into joy. 


Delegación Xochimilco
is large pink area in southeast Mexico City
Barrios, Pueblos and Colonias of Delegación Xochimilco
Barrios of original altepetl of Xochimilco marked by yellow star.
Ecological Park of chinampas and canals is gray-green area in northeast
Southern side of delegación is mostly mountainous forest preserve.
See also:
Xochimilco: Field of Flowers Still Blooms
Xoco, the Little Barrio That Survives

Monday, October 24, 2016

Mexico City's Original Villages | Delegación Benito Juárez: Xoco, the Little Barrio That Survives

Overshadowed by Modernity

San Sebastián Xoco (HO-ko), at the southern border of Delegación Benito Juárez, is a pueblo originario, original indigenous pueblo, that, until a hundred years ago, sat in the countryside on the north bank of a small river the Spanish named Río Mixcoac, flowing from the mountains to the west, where it joined the Río Magdelena, coming from the southto form Río Churubusco, which flowed east to Huitzilopocho (Churubusco).

It is now a tiny barrio walled in by the modern world, at the intersection of main avenues and three Delegaciones: Benito Juárez to the north, Coyoacán to the southeast and Álvaro Obregón to the southwest (the two are on opposite sides of Ave. Universidad, formerly the path of Río Magdelena).

To its north is the modern complex of San Ángel Inn Hospital, as well as modern apartment buildings typical of the predominantly middle and upper-middle class delegación, borough, that was developed as Benito Juárez after World War II.

Modern hospital rises above a mural of San Sebastián Mártir,
on the inner wall of the atrio (atrium)
of the Church of 
San Sebastián Mártir.

To its east, along the broad Avenida México-Coyoacán, is the barrio's former traditional cemetery. Since the Reforms of President Benito Juárez, which took much property from the Catholic Church, it has been a public, but still traditional, Mexican one. In striking contrast, across narrow Calle Real Mayorazgo from the cemetery is the post-modern Cineteca Nacional, whose multi-plex screens show international films. 

Cineteca Nacional
Originally built in 1984,
completely reconstructed in 2011.

To Xoco's west, on Avenida Universidad, is one of the City's most upscale shopping malls, Centro Coyoacán, as well as a major international supermarket and the back-offices of an international bank. To the south is the elevated Río Churubusco expressway, which covers the "entubed" Río Churubusco. On the other side of the highway is Delegación Coyoacán. 

Hence, Xoco is hemmed in and has been nearly obliterated by a wall composed of virtually all the components of the modern, global world.

Centro Coyoacán Mall
Sanborns is a kind of specialty store and restaurant chain,
owned by Carlos Slim, one of the world's wealthiest men.

But there are breaches in this wall. On each side of this intimidating monolith, there is an entrance, a narrow calleja, side-street. Real Mayorazgo (Inheritance of the Eldest Prince) crosses the barrio from east to west and San Felipe (St. Philip) from north to south. Entering either one of these, once we are behind the backs of the modern behemoths, we recognize that we are in a traditional barrio, with its modest houses and family-run shops open to the street. Arriving at the intersection of Real Mayorazgo and San Felipe, we come upon the small but still-living heart of Xoco.

Aerial map of the area around Xoxo, looking south, likely taken in the early 1950s.
Pueblo Xoco is out of the photo to the left of the fields.

Pueblo Axotla is out of the photo to the right
Pueblo Mixcoac is out of the photo below the bottom.

Just below the center is the intersection of the Río Mixoac (from bottom center/northwest)
with the Río Magdalena (coming from the right/southwest),
to form the Río Churubusco (running to the left/east, in a trench).
 All, except a part of La Magdalena running through the Viveros, an arboretum, 

are now covered with roadways.

Ave. Universidad appears to be under construction,
as the University City campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico,

aka UNAM, was built in the early 1950s. 

Fiesta for a Visiting Child Saint

On a couple of initial visits to Xoco, we had found few people in the streets and the church closed. However, on the second visit, we noticed a banner hanging above the door of one house.

"The families Gutiérrez Chávez, Luna Gutiérrez and Juárez Chavéz
invite you next Monday, April 18, to the reception of the image of the
Holy Child Pa of Xochimilco.
At 9:00 am in San Felipe St. at Axis 8 South,
and all day in 91 Mayorazgo, Pueblo of Xoco.
Mass at 4:00 pm in the church of San Sebastián Mártir.
We hope to count on your presence!"
The repeated apellidos, family names of 
Gutiérrez and Chávez
indicate a parentesco, family kinship via paternal and maternal lines.

The announcement triggered several questions in our mind. We had heard of the visits of saints from one pueblo to another on the feast day of the receiving pueblo's patron saint. But San Sebastián's day is January 20. So we were intrigued that a saint was visiting at another time, in this case, shortly after Easter.

We were also intrigued that it was evidently another representation of the Niño Jesús, the Child Jesus, usually the center of Candelaria rituals on February 2. We also didn't know what the word 'pa' meant, as it isn't standard Spanish.

Thirdly, Xochimilco is not a nearby pueblo, but a large delegación some nine miles south. What, we wondered, was this visit all about?

So in the early afternoon of Monday, April 18, with great curiosity, we returned to Calle Real Mayorazgo. In the narrow street, we found a small fiesta in full swing.


The all-important banda

Chinelos, dancers "disguised" in Moorish-style costumes.

Kids having fun.

And a "birthday cake"
"Happy Day of the Child Pa"

A child saint honored with a birthday cake? (Later, we check and find that in Mexico, Day of the Child is celebrated on April 30. So it is close.)

We see a line of people entering and leaving a house whose modest door is decorated with an arch of fresh flowers. They are obviously paying some kind of a formal visit. So we follow them in.


El Niño Pa de Xochimilco

Inside a small, low-ceilinged room of cinderblock walls painted white, on a simple table, surrounded by more fresh flowers, sits El Niño Pa de Xochimilco. He is a simple wooden figure, dressed in an elaborate lime-green dress. People bow their heads in reverence and santiguarse, cross themselves. Some leave simple gifts of candy or flowers. We are even more puzzled and intrigued than before.

Shortly after we leave the house, El Niño is brought out into the street.

The sign says "Be careful with me.
You cannot touch me."

The Child God


El Niño pa (we learn later from Wikipedia en español) is an image of the Child Jesus venerated since Colonial days in Xochimilco. It is a wooden sculpture carved in the sixteenth century from the wood of a native Mexican tree. Scientifically verified to be over 400 years old, it is considered one of the oldest images of Catholic worship in the Americas. 

Spanish missionaries evidently created the image to represent the baby Jesus during Posadas. the "Inns", celebrations held in various streets of a barrio each of the nine nights before Christmas, reenacting Joseph's and Mary's search for a room in an inn in Bethlehem. He was placed in the custody of the indigenous chiefs of Xochimilco and then Spanish landowners. El Niño pa does not have a church dedicated to him but is under the rotating custody of the families in the pueblos of Xochimilco

Currently, El Niño pa is overseen by a committee of representatives of various original pueblos of Xochimilco. Each Candelaria, on February 2, there is a major fiesta at which a new mayordomo takes responsibility for El Niño. He has to oversee El Niño's visits to various private homes during the year, for which he follows a list on which hopeful hosts have inscribed their names. As the list is long, it can take years before El Niño arrives in a particular home. So adults usually inscribe the name of one of their children or even grandchildren!

Clearly, that El Niño comes to visit to Xoco, far from his home in Xochimilco, is quite a special occasion. And a concrete expression of the links binding together the surviving original pueblos of Mexico City.

And the 'pa'? It's a mystery. Asking la gente, the people, we have been given various explanations: that 'pa' is short for padre, father, hence the child who is the father; that it is short for pan, bread, for the child who becomes "the bread of the world", and that it is a Nahuatl word for place, hence "child of this place." (Some time later, in Xochimilco, we confirm that this last interpretation is the correct one. It represents the tie of the Catholic Christian el Niño and his people, his pueblo of Xochimilco to their indigenous past. The name, like the dual Spanish and indigenous names of many Mexican towns, is another vestige of the Spiritual Conquest via which the two cultures were merged. 

Church of San Sebastian the Martyr


El Niño, la banda and los chinelos, followed by los feligreses, faithful parishioners, start down the street in a small but clearly solemn procession. 

Church of St. Sebastian the Martyr
Constructed in 1663

It is a very short walk to la Iglesia de San Sebastián Mártir, St. Sebastian the Martyr. We have encountered San Sebastián before, in the original Spanish parcialidad, sector or quarter, of San Sebastián Atzacoalco, in Centro. Killed by Roman Emperor Diocletian in 288 CE, he is a popular saint in Mexico. We have come across several other churches dedicated to him. We will seek to visit some others next January 20, ójala, God willing.

Los feligreses welcome El Niño
and the Mass begins.

San Sebastián Mártir de Xoco

Communal Memories and Communal Identity

Leaving the church, we begin our walk out of Xoco. At the intersection of Real Mayorazgo and San Felipe everyday life has returned.

Secundaria, middle school, girlfriends hang out after school,
While a street vendor arranges his "rich" mangos.

Across the street from the church, our eyes are captured by a series of street murals such as we have seen in other original barrios and pueblos. 

Indigenous Roots


"Raíz," "Root"
In an Aztec-style iconography 

Tonatiuh, God of the Fifth Sun,
of the Aztec World

"Struggle" "Strength" "Liberty"
All embraced by "Love"

Lucha, struggle, against whatever oppresses,
is a core Mexican value.

"Don't stop believing!"
Exactly what belief is a bit unclear.
Certainly neither traditional indigenous
nor Spanish-Mexican Roman Catholic

We walk east on Real Mayorazgo to return to Avenida México-Coyoacán, where we will hail a taxi back to Coyoacán. Passing the wall enclosing the cemetery, we realize where we need to end our amble in Xoco.

Communal Memory


Xoco Cemetery

Entering the cemetery, with its wide center path and large, old trees, one has the feeling of entering a sanctuary, a primal sacred space. 

The tree is a Peruvian pepper tree,
a reminder that the Spanish ruled
to the end of South America.

Olivera Perales Family


Although the cemetery is now City property, rather than that of Pueblo Xoco, it is still a place of family and shared community, a place of old memories that are still alive. 

And there are flowers everywhere.

Surviving Memories, Surviving Pueblo


So, in el Pueblo San Sebastian Xoco, tradition survives: in lively fiestas in its few remaining narrow streets, in a church bien cuidada, well-cared for, and in a panteón where los antepasados, those who have passed before, ancestors, are also bien cuidados, con respeto, dignidad y honor. And with muchas flores!

El Pueblo Xoco, the village and its people, despite being surrounded and powerfully impinged upon by new "gods"—the forces of the modern, global world—nonetheless, maintain their will for their communal identity to survive through their active cuidado of las tradiciones of old gods, both indigenous ones, and those of the Spiritual Conquest.

Footnote and Foundations

In 2018, in the process of excavations for another major residential tower and commercial complex in Xoco, on the site of the former bank offices, archeologists discovered human remains, pottery and remnants of structures that are some 1,700 years old. They demonstrate that the settlement was an extension of the power and culture of Teotihuacan, the major city in the northern end of the Valley of Mexico.

They also found artifacts from the later period of 600 to 1200 CE, when Tula, a city built by the Nahuatl-speaking Tolteca west of Teotihuacan, ruled the Valley. Artifacts from the time of Azcapotzalco domination (a city ruled by the Tepaneca on the west shore of Lake Texcoco) and then the Mexica (Azteca) (1200-1521) were also found, demonstrating that Xoco is a village that has been in virtually continuous occupation since 300 CE.

Modern world, viewed from el panteón de Xoco.

Delegación Benito Juárez
is bright yellow in north-center of Mexico City,
just south of Centro Histórico
in Delegación Cuauhtémoc (taupe)
and north of Coyoacán (purple)

Delegación Benito Juárez
Colonia Xoco is starred at bottom center

Immediately south are the neighborhoods of colonial Coyoacán.


Colonia Xoco

Boundaries are
North: Avenida Popocatépetl aka 
Eje (Axis Road) 8-South
East: Eje  1-West (Avenida México-Coyoacán)
South: Río Churubusco expressway
West: Avenida Universidad, Eje 2-West

Calle Real Mayorazgo runs from its east side, past the cemetery and Cineteca,
through the center of the barrio, to its west side, next to Centro Coyoacán.

Mayorazo
 means first-born son and, hence his inheritance,
so Real Mayorazgo speaks of the property of the eldest Spanish prince.


San Felipe runs north to south, intersecting with Mayorazgo in the center,
the location of the Church of San Sebastián Xoco (blue marker)
  

Puente Xoco, Xoco Bridge, runs diagonally from the northeast down to Real Mayorazgo.

The official area of Colonia Xoco extends north of Puente
to Avenida Popocatépetl
but that part consists of modern apartment buildings and businesses.