Peregrinación al entrar a la delegación de Nextipac. Foto: Laguna.
Redacción.- El Barrio del Puente, en Jocotepec y fieles de la religión católica, salieron a las calles de Nextipac y Jocotepec para venerar a María Rosa Mística, durante su día, el 13 de julio.
María Rosa Mística peregrinó con la banda, misma que con música de viento, interpretó melodías religiosas; mientras al frente, dos personas arrojaban “cuetes” al cielo para anunciar el paso de la imagen por las vialidades de Nextipac y Jocotepec, mientras que detrás de ellos iba un grupo de danzantes.
La imagen iba sobre un vehículo adornado, contando con un arco de flores que rodeaba a la Rosa Mística, luciendo también un adorno floral en la parte baja; detrás de ella, iban los peregrinos rezando.
El templo principal se encuentra en Montichiari, Italia y es llamado Templo de María Rosa Mística, pero se conoce como Fontanelle, debido a que hay una fuente pequeña. La veneración es el 13 de julio, ya que según Pierina Gilli, mujer que presenció su aparición, esa fue la fecha en que le pidió ser conmemorada.
Daily pilgrimages are usually accompanied by dances. Photo: Courtesy.
Alma Serrano (San Juan Cosalá).- For the second consecutive year after the pandemic, residents of San Juan Cosalá celebrated the Patron Saint Festivities in honor of San Juan Bautista, which will last from June 15 to 25.
According to the religious program, every day of the novena there will be an aurora rosary at 6:00 in the morning; while in the evening, the mass after the pilgrimages will be at 7:00. Finally, at 8:00 in the evening there will be serenades.
On June 16 and 18 were Confirmations and First Communions officiated by the Episcopal Vicar.
On June 23rd there will be the «Entrada de cera,» the entrance of the artisan wax candles. On the 24th there will be mass at 7:00 in the evening and the fireworks castle will be burned at 9:00 at night.
On Saturday, June 25 there will be the traditional procession with the restored image of the saint from the church to the boardwalk at 7:45 pm, and the thanksgiving mass to end the festivities will be at 8:30 pm.
Translated by Kerry Watson
La Generala visitará Chapala para bendecir el lago el domingo 10 de julio. Foto: Archivo.
Redacción.- Bajo el lema “Custodia nuestra Vida entre tus brazos”, la Virgen de Zapopan visitará Chapala este domingo 10 de julio.
La visita 67 de la Generala al Lago de Chapala dará inicio a las 10:30 de la mañana con la recepción de la imagen en en la entrada del municipio por la carretera a Guadalajara, a la altura de la gasolinera.
De ahí, la Virgen será trasladada en un carro alegórico hasta el malecón, donde a las 11:30 se hará la bendición del lago en la espera de un buen temporal de lluvias, para posteriormente celebrar la Eucaristía en la parroquia de San Francisco de Asís, ceremonia que será presidida por el Cardenal Francisco Robles Ortega.
El lunes 11 de julio a las 09:30 a.m. la Virgen de Zapopan navegará por las aguas del Lago de Chapala para visitar la Isla de los Alacranes.
Luego del recorrido, la Generala regresará a la parroquia alrededor de las 12:00 del mediodía y las 04:00 de la tarde se celebrará la misa de despedida. Finalmente, a las 04:45 se cantará el Salve para iniciar su retorno a la Basílica de Zapopan.
Ceremony in the Sanctuary of the Martyrs of Christ the King.
After 15 years of studies and missions that included Jocotepec, Angel Gabriel Hernandez Beas was ordained as a priest in a ceremony held at the Shrine of the Martyrs of Christ the King in Tlaquepaque on June 5.
Father Hernandez shared his pleasure about his stay in Jocotepec. In 2015 he was in the town along with other companions in the neighborhood of El Carrizal, located in the northern part of town. This was where he gave service with talks and support to the community. The home of the Palmeros Suarez family served as a meeting center.
Father Angel commented that he began his clerical studies at a very young age, and said that it was with time that he discovered that being a priest was his passion. He attended a boarding school in high school, and it was almost at the end of high school when he realized that serving God and the community was his calling.
At the age of 26, Hernandez Beas, a native of Guadalajara, was ordained as a priest. The newly ordained priest commented that on the day of his ordination he felt very nervous, but when he left the subway part of the religious precinct, he noticed that the place was full and that brought down his nervousness, and he was suddenly joyful.
In the 15 years he spent in preparation, Father Angel recalls an experience he says he will never forget. During a mission, he was visiting a marginalized neighborhood in order to distribute food to help the most vulnerable population. This caught the attention of a woman who began to record this good deed with her phone. After a few days, one of the people who gave assistance received the video, showing it with astonishment to Angel. On the video screams and moans were heard, which did not occur at the time of the incident. This caused his good deed to be turned into a complaint against the volunteers although the sounds may have been edited in later.
Father Angel was assigned to the parish Jesus Christ King of the Universe, located in the Miramar neighborhood in Zapopan, and in less than a month he will be officiating religious ceremonies.
«Never stop having hope and trust in priests. Come closer, get to know us, so that we realize that you are not extra-normal, bitter or distant people, but that you can find a good friend,» concluded the priest during the interview.
Translated by Christalle Dalsted
The symbolic cross fell after a strong storm, now only the base can be seen. Photo: Gilberto Padilla.
Jazmín Stengel (Chapala).- A strong storm on June 9 knocked down the legendary Cross of San Miguel Hill in Chapala. Legend says if this happens, there will be no protection to keep the dragon asleep.
For hundreds of years, the locals considered San Miguel hill, across from the municipal capital’s main plaza, a place where evil hides. Rubén Pulido Hernández, author of the book “Chapala entre las Fábulas y Leyendas” (Chapala’s Fables and Legends), says that’s why there are traces of ancient civilization only at the foot of the hill itself, not at the top.
According to Pulido, the ancient natives and the first Franciscan missionaries who arrived in the Chapala area around 1524, sometimes saw flames on the hill. That prompted numerous legends.
Hundreds of years later, Pulido said, a geologist discovered minerals and gasses on the hill that are flammable when in contact with oxygen. That’s what caused the fires to be visible at night.
According to the legend, the greatest friar of the Franciscan order decided to go up the hill and fight this fire-breathing demon. Upon reaching the top of the hill, which is not very high, the missionary built a hermitage just above where gasses or minerals came out. This somehow managed to prevent the fire from “appearing” out of nowhere. To honor this father who “defeated the devil” and lived to tell the tale, the first cross was placed on the hill of San Miguel, probably made of wood.
The date of its construction has not yet been determined. Local inhabitants estimate that it was between 1920 and 1930, made of stone and cement. It fell before it was a hundred years old.
Over time that belief became the legend of the sleeping dragon. Some believe that the hill is hollow, and a river of thermal water flows at the bottom of its entrails. Others think it is a volcano that never erupted. But what they all share is that the cross symbolizes protection.
The shape of the Dragon
Sailors on Lake Chapala used the hills as a reference and began to say that it has the shape of a dragon. The tip of San Miguel Hill is the head and the body continues between what is now the area of Riberas del Pilar and the Ajijic Highway.
The cross symbolized a sword stuck in the head of the beast, which kept it still so that it could not harm the people. “The interesting thing is to know what is going to happen now,” asked Rubén Pulido.
Translated by Mike Rogers
The image of San Antonio de Padua that a mysterious woman left more than a hundred years ago in the hands of Feliciana Carrillo. Photo: María del Refugio Reynozo.
By María del Refugio Reynozo Medina
They say that Saint Anthony of Padua helps you find what was lost and remember what was forgotten. Benita Lomelí Hernández grew up wrapped in the fervor of a 15-centimeter tall sharp-faced figure, which has belonged to her family since before she was born.
The origin of this small sculpture dates back more than a hundred years. In the town of El Sauz in the municipality of Jocotepec, Benita’s grandmother, Doña Feliciana Carrillo was in the courtyard taking the afternoon’s last sun, with a view of the road that crossed the town. In the distance, she could see the silhouette of a woman approaching.
The woman, after greeting Doña Feliciana, asked her if she would hold the package she was carrying. The woman told Doña Feliciana that she was on her way to San Luis Soyatlán, but that she would soon return for the package. Doña Feliciana could not see the woman’s face clearly as she wore a shawl covering her head and walked slowly. When Doña Feliciana’s daughter came out, she told her daughter what had happened. No one else could see the mysterious lady.
The small package fit in both hands and was wrapped in worn, time-stained scraps of cloth. “Take it up to the roof,» she asked her daughter, with a tone of respect for other people’s things. A few months passed, the woman did not return, and everyone forgot about the package.
Doña Feliciana’s house was the meeting point for personalities who sporadically passed through the village. It was a very remarkable house because it no longer had a dirt floor inside: it had cobblestones, tiles and a fireplace. On one occasion when a priest arrived to do evangelization work, Doña Feliciana remembered the package that the woman had given her to keep and that she had never dared to open. With the priest as a witness, they took the package down from the attic.
The parish priest was removing the layers of battered cloth one by one until a fine figure was revealed. “It is St. Anthony of Padua,» he told them. “What was lost and forgotten will return when they implore him to do so.”
Doña Feliciana was impressed, for her the image was alien. “Take care of it, it is yours,» the father told her. He also asked Doña Feliciana to celebrate it every June 13. “That woman will not come back,» he told them with certainty.
Some said that the person who gave the precious image to Doña Feliciana was not from this world. She never appeared again, and no one else besides Feliciana could ever see her. Her presence was a mirage, but the fine figure of St. Anthony of Padua was real. From the moment he was discovered among the cloth rags, Benita’s grandmother entrusted the image to her youngest son, who was then three years old.
When that three-year-old boy came of age and got married, his brothers came to give him the oxen, goats and corn cribs after the three days of the wedding. “You will know if you take care of your capital,» they said. Along with this, they also gave Benita’s father the sculpture of San Antonio, as was his mother’s wish.
That is how Benita grew up, with the veneration of the saint professed by her parents who guarded the image that came from who knows where. That faith spread to the neighbors who began to visit Benita’s house to pray for their lost causes and then to carry candles in gratitude for all that was found.
Benita remembers a prayer said by her mother:
Antonio, Antonio, in Padua you were born, in Padua you were raised, you went to school, your prayer book was thrown away, your father found it for you. Antonio, Antonio, the lost is found and the past is remembered. Antonio, Antonio forever. AMEN.
The image of Saint Anthony that Benita now keeps is made of a single piece of wood, carved by unknown hands. The statue’s facial features are fine, at the waist of his Franciscan habit he wears a tight cord, and in his arms he carries a child of barely four centimeters in length.
This particular little boy was bought by Benita’s mother, who has lost count of the number of children replaced because the original was stolen. “They stole my child again,» she would say to the sales clerks at the religious articles store when she went to replace the small statue. “They think he will bring them a boyfriend, but St. Anthony does not give boyfriends,» she said. “[For] good husbands one must ask St. Joseph.”
Every June 13, in Benita’s house, candles are lit and fresh flowers are placed in honor of the little image full of history that brings back what was lost and reminds us of what was forgotten. And Benita along with those of the faithful neighbors invoke the Saint of Padua:
Antonio, Antonio, Antonio…
Translated by MaryAnne Marble
Chapala moms had fun dancing in the atrium of the San Francisco de Asís parish during the contest. Photo: Jazmín Stengel.
Jazmín Stengel (Chapala).- With an attendance of just over 300 people, the Adolfo Rayo Festival was held in the atrium of the parish of San Francisco de Asís in Chapala. The festival was held to celebrate mothers on their day, with prizes such as kitchen utensils given away, and entertainment provided by the Mariachi Águila de Chapala.
During the celebration, dance contests were held for the mothers, where everyone won a prize. Numbered tickets were also given out for the awarding of prizes such as frying pans, express pots, blenders, and buckets, among many other household items.
Translated by Rebecca Zittle
The crime for which they were captured occurred last week and according to the investigations these people entered the church of San Francisco de Asis
Laguna Staff (Chapala,Jal.).- Two men were arrested after being accused of stealing more than 6 thousand pesos from a church in Chapala. Personnel from the Regional Prosecutor’s Office placed them at the disposal of the judges who served them with an arrest warrant for the crime of aggravated robbery.
They are Yahir Alejandro G. and Víctor Alfonso C., who were arrested on Isla del Presidio street at the intersection with De los Maestros, in the Gastronómica neighborhood, in the municipality of Chapala.
The crime for which they were captured occurred last week and according to the investigations these people entered the church of San Francisco de Asis, forced open a box of coins that was at the foot of a catholic image and extracted the amount of 6 thousand pesos, the cause of their arrest warrant.
Both were placed at the disposal of the Judge of Control and Oral Trial of the Fifth Judicial District, who will decide their legal situation. The arrested persons will be treated as innocent until a sentence is issued against them.
Translated by Patrick O’Heffernan
The parked cars hindered the transit of the thousands of people who accompanied the Lord of the Huaje in his procession through Jocotepec. Photo: Héctor Ruiz.
Hector Ruiz Mejia (Jocotepec).- Parked cars obstructing the procession of the Lord of Huaje generated dissatisfaction among both the faithful and organizers.
The person in charge of the attendants, Carlos Mendo, said that in spite of having requested the support of the Highway Department, dozens of vehicles remained parked along the procession route on May 1 that celebrated the Christ.
In the stretch of Juárez Street between Hidalgo and Matamoros, and up to Morelos Street, cars hindered the passage of the faithful, who had to squeeze together in order to pass.
«There were a lot of people participating in the procession, and with all the cars parked there it made it very difficult to proceed. I don’t know what happened or why they were not removed, I just know that they should not have been there. They only served to hinder progress,» commented one of the procession attendees.
In response to complaints, Jocotepec municipal president José Miguel Gómez López relayed to the City Council that no request for support regarding parked vehicles had been made.
However, Carlos Mendo was able to show Laguna the documents he received that had been reviewed by the Public Safety Department, where the request for assistance from the Highway Department had been made.
Mendo said that it was probably a «miscommunication between me and the Highway Department, but it is important to record that support was in fact requested,» he concluded.
Translated by Rebecca Zittle
The Christ buried among the dust of the years carried in the cendal with a paper in which was inscribed «El Señor de la Esperanza» (The Lord of Hope).
The bloody arm and half of the face was the only thing that could be seen of the crucified figure. He was buried in the middle of the old floorless cellar in the temple of San Cristobal Zapotitlán. A mound of ant dirt and dust accumulated over the years covered the figure.
A yellowed piece of paper that fell when the cloth was removed said «Señor de la Esperanza» (Lord of Hope). The cloth was also stained and when touched it broke into pieces. The rickety cross was a pale green color; the Christ figure was complete.
Ruben Solano Gonzalez had dreamed of that Christ without knowing him. He pointed to him precisely, when he went to the temple in search of that crucified one who in his dreams was asking to be taken out of there. Ruben was sick, but his insistent words said that behind the altar was the one who asked him to come out into the light. He had looked for the sisters of the Magdalena Sofia house, he had told his father; it was the sacristan Genaro Reyes Gallardo who took him to him.
-That’s him,» he told him.
A few months later, Ruben died.
-If you want to leave, no one will say anything,» said Genaro to the Christ who was waiting under that sheet of dust, while with the help of a couple of children he undertook the rescue.
Then he placed him in the baptistery; when the nuns saw him, they only asked where the Christ had come from. The priest also gave his approval. That was about 40 years ago.
Genaro became very fond of him, and received miracles from the Christ. Even when he retired for a while from his work in the church, he thought of him with religious fervor.
Upon his return to the village, Genaro found that the priest on duty had baptized him as «Dulce nombre de Jesús» (Sweet name of Jesus). And having performed a miracle on him, the parish priest organized a triduum, 3-days of prayer to honor him. Over the years, the triduum became a novena (a 9-day prayer celebration), and every second Sunday of May the bells tolled in his honor and a mass was celebrated.
In 2022, almost four decades after that discovery, the Señor de la Esperanza receives the honors and fervor of the parishioners, although with a different name.
At 5:00am the first rocket in his honor goes off. The faithful, mostly women, make their way through the cobblestone streets, some carrying a candle. The musicians of the town begin to arrive at the meeting point, today it is to the east.
One of the women in charge of the day walks in front of the procession carrying a one meter high Christ. There are only 25 of us walking towards the temple accompanied by the music.
When they arrive at the church, they are greeted by the ringing of bells and another barrage of rockets.
The Señor de la Esperanza is now dressed in a brown cloth with the chalice and the Holy Shroud in the center, in the middle of a light blue; two days of hard work took the Jocotepec worker, Don Pedro Mendoza Navarro, to weave each thread of wool to give the crucified the premiere on his day.
The voice of a woman stands out and others second her in the final chant, which with difficulty reaches the end because several can be heard coughing; the last minutes are a concert of coughs, which are compensated by the hot cinnamon and the pieces of bread offered at the end by those in charge of the day.
For the procession, the Señor de la Esperanza is adorned with a blaze of golden rays and placed on the platform of a pickup truck. At his side is again Genaro Reyes, who has decorated the mobile altar with white and yellow chrysanthemums for its travels through the main streets of the town, leaving faces dazzled with fervor.
Today he is accompanied by the faithful armed with their flowered and multicolored parasols, as well as with mariachi, the band, and the dancers who honor him.
Upon arrival, the eyes of the faithful are absorbed in the battered face of Christ, the countenance of a woman who is in front seems to be transfigured and the crucified seems not to want to enter when a group of about five men with difficulty enter the temple with the statue on their backs.
-Long live the sweet name of Jesus! shouts a woman’s voice.
-Long live the Lord of Hope! shouts another.
-I think he wanted to get out, because I was able to do it with the help of two children. And now they can’t,» says Genaro.
It is said that many priests who have visited the parish have been very struck by his face, by its realistic deathly appearance; by the deep pain in its half-open eyes and the drama of its fainting body.
They say that according to a restorer who came to see it, the figure was carved by hand in hollow wood, that its fleshy side is covered by a fine paint and the teeth that can be seen through its half-open lips are made of ivory.
Now it is before the eyes of all that Christ who waited for who knows how many years in oblivion, carrying his name girded on the cloth, waiting perhaps for the voices invoking his name.
“Long live the Lord of Hope!”
Translated by Kerry Watson
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