religión

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. 

Programa de la visita 67 de la Virgen de Zapopan a Chapala. Foto: Facebook.

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.

Benita Lomelí Hernández talks about how the image of San Antonio de Padua, now venerated by her entire family, came to her. Photo: María del Refugio Reynozo.

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.

The faithful accompanied the procession with prayers and chants, accompanied by a mariachi.

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.

One of the streets decorated with colored sawdust.

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

The traditional Las Mañanitas are sung by the mariachi in the festival of the Lord of Huaje.

By: María del Refugio Reynozo Medina

NOTE. Just as Mexican Catholics recognize many representations of “la Virgen,” they also recognize many representations of Jesus Christ. Usually these are depicted with a sculpted figure, sometimes of great antiquity and value, often dating back to the 1500s or 1600s when Spain was establishing the church here. These representations have their own names and their own celebration days, and are often credited with performing miracles on behalf of the faithful. This article refers to the celebration for “el Señor del Huaje,” a large figure of the crucified Christ made of the wood of the “huaje” or tamarind tree, which is celebrated with a festival and procession on the first Sunday in May each year.  

The streets of Jocotepec are still in darkness. It is about 5:30 in the morning and the orange flowers and green foliage of the flame-red tabachine trees at the entrance of the temple look grayish.

About a hundred people are already gathered inside and outside the temple, under the leafy trees. Dances are being prepared and the brass band is playing. Steaming pots rest in their stands. Chocolate, cinnamon and tamarind atole (a hot cornflour drink) awaits the faithful who gather at the temple of the Señor del Huaje, for his feast.

Father Eduardo Garcia Orta with the new cendal or loincloth that was presented for the festival of the Lord of the Huaje. In the words of Father Lalo, the fiery red symbolizes the spilled blood embroidered with golden threads as a symbol of royalty.

The band is playing a popular dancing song, El Mono de Alambre (The Wire Monkey). The men of the band sing. The bells ring the second call for the six o’clock mass and Father Mario Fernando Sandoval Varela comes out of the temple to welcome the cargueros (the men who will be carrying the figure of the Señor del Huaje in the procession). 

“How about the music,» he says. And El Mono de Alambre is interrupted by the chants of a procession.

“Long live my Christ, long live my King,” some women sing, and the band stops.

Soon the San Cristobal Band arrives and intones the traditional Las Mañanitas, followed by waltzes and pasodobles dances, which permeate the Eucharistic celebration.

Carlos Mendo has been responsible for the honor guard of the Lord of Huaje for ten years.

At the end of the mass, a man reads a list of the various expenses of the festival: the music, the dawn ceremony, decorated candles, dances, dinner for the musicians and the castillo or fireworks tower. He names the families who will assume the expenses. Many of them are from the Nextipac neighborhood

At the exit of mass, they begin to distribute the drinks and the dancers execute their movements to the sound of the drum and the caracol, a prehispanic musical instrument like a trumpet made of shell or ceramic.

Today is expected the visit of Father Eduardo Garcia Orta who spent three years in the community of Jocotepec and still retains the affection for these lands and the veneration for the Lord of the Huaje.

Father «Lalo» as the community calls him, is on his way with a very valuable cendal, a beautifully decorated loincloth that will be wrapped around the image of Christ to be premiered by the Señor del Huaje in his feast. Some representatives of the honor guard gather and wait eagerly for its arrival. «They say that this loincloth has golden threads» a discreet and festive voice is heard. There is much excitement to see it and to welcome the priest.

Upon his arrival, Father Lalo is received with signs of affection. They congregate at the altar and everyone approaches to see the loincloth, which is bright red with gold embroidery.

To carry out the change of the loincloth, putting the new one in place of the current one, the men remain in the enclosure and the women wait outside. A woman who accompanies me in the wait says, “These are men’s duties; women have no business being there.”

The members of the guard of honor wear bright red shirts to guard the Lord of the Huaje.

Carlos Mendo is the main person in charge. For ten years, he has overseen the honor guard. It is made up of about a hundred people, mostly men and a few recently integrated women. He was questioned by some parishioners for having allowed access to women.

“God doesn’t say you don’t or you do,» he responded confidently.

Mr. Roberto Mendo, Carlos’s father, was the last person in charge and left the position to his son.

It is a great responsibility, says Carlos, because it means taking care not only of the image of a beloved Christ, but also of a piece of historical artistic value. The last restoration cost 140,000 pesos (about US$7,000), which were raised with donations from the community.

The dances are present in the procession in which children and adults participate.

It is a difficult responsibility, but it is also a blessing. «Now I only ask for work and health,” he said. 

Víctor, a member of the honor guard, shares a testimony. His wife was sick for a couple of months, having inexplicably lost the mobility of her body, during which time she remained in bed in a lot of pain. They went to several doctors and his wife’s health did not improve. One morning, she told him, “I dreamed of the Lord of the Huaje.”

In the dream, the Lord of the Huaje told her to «drink from that water,» pointing to a small puddle next to him. The woman asked to be taken to the temple with the figure of the crucified Christ. When she was in front of the altar there was some water on the floor, so she brought her lips close and implored for her health.

That day she walked out of the temple, healthy. From then on, both asked to be part of the honor guard.

On the first Sunday of May, the day denoted for this celebration, the procession is almost the last ceremony of the day. Before that, mariachi musicians coincide with the band with their blue shirts and at least five groups of dancers. Colorful plumage abounds to the beat of the drum.

Many parishioners go to meet the icon on their knees.

There are lines of people kneeling to approach the crucified figure to fulfill a request or ask for a favor.

The route of a couple of hours is a mosaic of dancers with multicolored feathers and costumes, musicians with their polished costumes and the honor guard with their bright red shirts.

The sound of the drums announces the approach of the procession. As it passes, the figure of the crucified Christ, almost three meters high, draws sighs and tears.

In a loudspeaker, the voice of a woman prays and sings, “There are eyes that, if they look at me, make my soul tremble with love, they are such beautiful eyes…”

The Lord of the Huaje is carried on a special platform driven by a man. He advances, standing out among the crowd with his gaze towards the sky, towards the mountains, towards the faithful who sometimes look into his eyes. “Because He lives,” says a woman next to me, ecstatic with fervor.

Translated by Sandy Britton

Pilgrims pray as they walk, a rosary in one hand. Photo: Hector Ruiz.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía (Jocotepec).- About 500 people, fewer than in past years, attended the traditional pilgrimage to the cross on the hill of the municipal seat of Jocotepec, on May 3.

The difficult trail ascends for more than 1.7 kilometers (about a mile) and takes an average time of one hour and 40 minutes.

Enjoying the view from the top of the Jocotepec hill. Photo: Hector Ruiz.

Authorities from the Jocotepec Civil Protection and Fire Department, who were providing assistance for the walkers, said they counted approximately 500 people. 

“In past years, we had groups of up to 100 people in a row,» one said, suggesting that the traditional event may be in decline.

As a result, the firefighters and paramedics in attendance had little to do.

A woman climbs the hill at a rapid pace. Photo: Hector Ruiz.

Among the faithful who did take part was Gustavo, who said he had made the pilgrimage «his whole life” — asking Christ for help and thanking Him for what he has already.

“Every year I come here to pray . . .  and to remember the importance of this tradition for our people,” he said.

The municipal seat viewed rom the top of Jocotepec hill. Photo: Hector Ruiz. 

Father and son admire the view of Lake Chapala. Photo: Hector Ruiz. 

Beginning the difficult journey back, with another 1.7 kilometres to go. Photo: Hector Ruiz.

Translated by Alan Ferguson