Thursday, December 16, 2010

CELEBRATION OF THE VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE/MOTHER OF MEXICO



This past Sunday, December 12th, Mexico celebrated the Virgen de Guadalupe, the most revered sacred image in the country.  She is the Mother of Mexico.  In many of the neighborhoods, a home is designated to have a nightly novena from December 3rd to December 11th for the Virgen de Guadalupe.  Normally the mothers and children meet at 6:00 p.m.  They pray and then have punch and snacks.  To the right is a picture of a home in our neighborhood that hosted this celebration.



On Sunday, we went to the main parish in San Miguel de Allende, La Parroquia. 


Outside of the church was a display of the Virgen de Guadalupe. 


The inside of the church was beautifully decorated.





We also visited Templo del Oratorio.  This church was packed.  The only standing room was outside the church.  People were kneeling and praying outside the church doors on the cement.  A true dedication to their faith.

An hour or so later, we were walking back home.  We walked down Ancha trying to find a store that sold vitamins.  Bob hasn't been feeling 100% (this started before we left home); he has had a cough and some congestion.  We didn't find the store, so we decided to walk up Callejon de San Antonio and head for home.  As we turned on the Callejon, we noticed a lot of grass burner excrement.  We mean a lot!  Then we came upon a horse.  Too bad we didn't have our camera immediately available.  A large horse and three guys were jamming a liter bottle of beer down the horses mouth.  The guys had their hands between the horses lips and were trying to pry open the horse's mouth.  We guess the horses don't even drink the water in Mexico.  We hope you can mentally picture this scene.

As we ventured further up the street, we saw over 100 horses.  All of the cowboys and horses from the countryside along with the residents of Colonia San Antonio were at the San Antonio Church for an outdoor mass celebrating the Virgen de Guadalupe.  It was a moving experience to witness this celebration.










We haven't been back down Callejon de San Antonio this week, but we are ass-u-ming that someone has cleaned up the manure.

Last December, we were in Oaxaca for this celebration.  There, they celebrated the Virgen de Guadalupe for several days.  Please see our posting of Friday, December 11, 2009.

1 comment:

  1. This was a wonderful post. Kelli had great devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. We have a picture of her here at the house, and she is called upon often for help and guidance. I would have loved to be there to witness and participate in all the devotions and celebrations. I hope Bobby feels better.

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