Category: Religion

The Heart of Mexico: Our Lady of Guadalupe

Originally published on December 8, 2007, this story of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadlupe) has been one of the most-read articles on Mexico Cooks!.

The new Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe), built between 1974 and 1976, is one of the most-visited religious sites in the world.

My head was whirling with excitement at 7 AM last New Year's Day. I was
in a taxi going to the Guadalajara airport, ready to catch a flight to
Mexico City. Although I had lived in the Distrito Federal
(Mexico's capitol city) in the early 1980s, it had been too many years
since I'd been back. Now I was going to spend five days with my friends
Clara and Fabiola in their apartment in the southern section of the city.
We had drafted a long agenda of things we wanted to do and places we
wanted to visit together.

The old Basílica was finished in 1709. It's slowly sinking into the ground. You can easily see that it is not level.

First on our list, first on every list of everyone going to Mexico
City, is the Basílica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the heart of the heart
of Mexico. When I chatted with my neighbors in Ajijic about my upcoming
trip, every single person's first question was, "Van a la Villa?" ("Are you going to the Basílica)"

To each inquirer I grinned and answered, "Of course! Vamos primero a echarle una visita a la virgencita." (The first thing we'll do is pay a visit to the little virgin!)

The interior of the new Basílica holds 50,000 people.

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is Mexico's patron saint, and her
image adorns churches and altars, house fronts and interiors, taxis and
buses, bull rings and gambling dens, restaurants and houses of ill
repute. The shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Villa, is a
place of extraordinary vitality and celebration. On major festival days
such as the anniversary of the apparition on December 12th, the
atmosphere of devotion created by the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims
is truly electrifying.

Click here to see: List of Pilgrimages, December 2006.
There are often 30 Masses offered during the course of a single day,
each Mass for a different group of pilgrims as well as the general
public.

The enormous Basílica of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in
Mexico City is the most visited pilgrimage site in the Western
Hemisphere. Its location, on the hill of Tepeyac, was a place of great
sanctity long before the arrival of Christianity in the New World. In
pre-Hispanic times, Tepeyac had been crowned with a temple dedicated to
an earth and fertility goddess called Tonantzin, the Mother of the
Gods. Tonantzin was a virgin goddess associated with the moon, like Our
Lady of Guadalupe who usurped her shrine.

The Tepeyac hill and shrine were important pilgrimage places
for the nearby Mexica (later Aztec) capital city of Tenochtitlán. Following the
conquest of Tenochtitlán by Hernan Cortez in 1521, the shrine was
demolished, and the native people were forbidden to continue their
pilgrimages to the sacred hill. The pagan practices had been considered
to be devil worship for more than a thousand years in Christian Europe.

Some of you may not know the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. For all
of us of whatever faith who love Mexico, it's
important to understand the origins of the one who is the Queen, the
Mother, the beloved guardian of the Republic and of all the Americas.
She is the key to understanding the character of Mexico. Without
knowing her story, it's simply not possible to know Mexico. Indulge me
while I tell you.

On Saturday, December 9, 1531, a baptized Aztec Indian named
Juan Diego set out for church in a nearby town. Passing the pagan
sacred hill of Tepeyac, he heard a voice calling to him. Climbing the
hill, he saw on the summit a young woman who seemed to be no more than
fourteen years old, standing in a golden mist.

Revealing herself as the "ever-virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God" (so the
Christian telling of the story goes), she told Juan Diego not to be
afraid. Her words? "Am I not here, who is your mother?" She
instructed him to go to the
local bishop and tell him that she wished a church for her son to be
built on the
hill. Juan did as he was instructed, but the bishop did not believe
him.

On his way home, Juan climbed the sacred hill and again saw the
apparition, who told him to return to the bishop the next day. This
time the bishop listened more attentively to Juan's message from Mary.
He was still skeptical, however, and so asked for a sign from Mary.

Two days later Juan went again to Tepeyac and, when he again
met Mary, she told him to climb the hill and pick the roses that were
growing there. Juan climbed the hill with misgivings. It was the dead
of winter, and flowers could not possibly be growing on the cold and
frosty mountain. At the summit, Juan found a profusion of roses, an
armful of which he gathered and wrapped in his tilma (a garment similar to a poncho). Arranging the roses, Mary instructed Juan to take the tilma-encased bundle to the bishop, for this would be her sign.

When the bishop unrolled the tilma, he was astounded by the presence of
the flowers. They were roses that grew only in Spain. But more truly miraculous was the image that had mysteriously
appeared on Juan Diego's tilma.
The image showed the young woman, her head lowered demurely. Wearing a
crown and flowing gown, she stood upon a half moon. The bishop was
convinced that Mary had indeed appeared to Juan Diego and soon
thereafter the bishop began construction of the original church devoted to her honor.

News of the miraculous apparition of the Virgin's image on a peasant's tilma spread
rapidly throughout Mexico. Indians by the thousands came from hundreds
of miles away to see the image, now hanging above the altar in the new
church. They learned that the mother of the Christian God had
appeared to one of their own kind and spoken to him in his native
language. The miraculous image was to have a powerful influence on the
advancement of the Church's mission in Mexico. In only seven years,
from 1532 to 1538, more than eight million Indians were converted to
Christianity.

The shrine, rebuilt several times over the centuries, is today a great Basílica with a capacity for 50,000 pilgrims.

Juan Diego's tilma is preserved behind bulletproof
glass and hangs twenty-five feet above the main altar in the basilica.
For more than 475 years the colors of the image have remained as bright
as if they were painted yesterday, despite being exposed for more than
100 years following the apparition to humidity, smoke from church
candles, and airborne salts.

The coarsely-woven cactus cloth of the tilma, a cloth considered to have a life expectancy of about 40 years, still
shows no evidence of decay. The 46 stars on her gown coincide with the
position of the constellations in the heavens at the time of the winter
solstice in 1531. Scientists have investigated the nature of the image
and have been left with nothing more than evidence of the mystery of a
miracle. The dyes forming her portrait have no base in the elements
known to science.

The origin of the name Guadalupe has always been a matter of
controversy. It is believed that the name came about because of the
translation from Nahuatl to Spanish of the words used by the Virgin
during the apparition. It is believed that she used the Nahuatl word coatlaxopeuh which is pronounced "koh-ah-tlah-SUH-peh" and sounds remarkably like the Spanish word Guadalupe.
'Coa' means serpent, 'tla' can be interpreted as "the", while 'xopeuh'
means to crush or stamp out. This version of the origin would indicate
that Mary must have called herself "she who crushes the serpent," a
Christian New Testament reference as well as a
a reference to the Aztec's mythical god, The Plumed Serpent.

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe statues of all sizes are for sale at the Basílica.

Clara, Fabiola, and I took the Metro and a microbus to La Villa, a
journey of about an hour from their apartment in the south to the far northern part
of the city. We left the bus at the two-block-long bridge that leads to
the Basílica and decided to take a shopping tour before entering the
shrine. The street and the bridge are filled chock-a-block with booths
selling souvenirs of La Villa. Everything that you can think of (and
plenty you would never think of) is available: piles of t-shirts with
the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and that of Juan Diego, CDs of
songs devoted to her, bandanna-like scarves with her portrait, eerie
green glow-in-the-dark figurines of her, key chains shaped like the
Basílica, statues of her in every size and quality, holy water
containers that look like her in pink, blue, silver, and pearly white
plastic, religious-theme jewelry and rosaries that smell of rose
petals, snow globes with tiny statues of La Guadalupana and the kneeling Juan Diego that are dusted with stars when the globes are shaken.

You can have your picture taken as a memento of your visit to the Virgin.

There are booths selling freshly arranged flowers for pilgrims to carry
to the shrine. There are booths selling soft drinks, tacos, and candy.
Ice cream vendors hawk paletas (popsicles). Hordes of children offer chicles (chewing gum) for sale. We were jostled and pushed as the crowd grew denser near the Basílica.

The virgin's image is everywhere.

Is it tacky? Yes, without a doubt. Is it wonderful? Yes, without a
doubt. It's the very juxtaposition of the tourist tchotchkes with the
sublime message of the heavens that explains so much about Mexico. I
wanted to buy several recuerdos
(mementos) for my neighbors in Ajijic and I was hard-pressed to decide
what to choose. Some pilgrims buy before going into the Basílica so
that their recuerdos can be blessed by a priest, but we decided to wait until after visiting the Virgin to do my shopping.

Pope
John Paul II loved Mexico, loved Our Lady of Guadalupe, and visited the
country five times during his tenure as pope. Here he celebrates Mass
at the new Basílica.

The present church was constructed on the site of the 16th-century Old
Basílica, the one that was finished in 1709. When the Old Basílica
became dangerous due to the sinking of its foundations, a modern
structure called the new Basílica was built nearby. The original image
of the Virgin of Guadalupe is now housed above the altar in this new
Basílica.

Built between 1974 and 1976, the new Basílica was designed by
architect Pedro Ramírez Vásquez. Its seven front doors are an allusion
to the seven gates of Celestial Jerusalem referred to by Christ. It has
a circular floor plan so that the image of the Virgin can be seen from
any point within the building. An empty crucifix symbolizes Christ's
resurrection. The choir is located between the altar and the
churchgoers to indicate that it, too, is part of the group of the
faithful. To the sides are the chapels of the Santísimo Sacramento (the Blessed Sacrament) and of Saint Joseph.

One of the many processions that constantly arrive from cities and towns all over Mexico and the Americas.

We entered the tall iron gates to the Basílica atrium. It was still
early enough in the day that the crowds weren't crushing, although
people were streaming in. Clara turned to me, asking, "How do you feel,
now that you're back here?"

I thought about it for a moment, reflecting on what I was experiencing.
"The first time I came here, I didn't believe the story about the
Virgin's appearance to Juan Diego. I thought, 'Yeah, right'. But the minute I saw the tilma
that day, I knew—I mean I really knew—that it was all true, that she
really had come here and that really is her portrait." We were walking
closer and closer to the entrance we'd picked to go in and my heart was
beating faster. "I feel the same excitement coming here today that I
have felt every time since that first time I came, the same sense of
awe and wonder." Clara nodded and then lifted her head slightly to
indicate that I look at what she was seeing.

Faith.

I watched briefly while a family moved painfully toward its goal. The
father, on his knees and carrying the baby, was accompanied by his wife
and young son, who walked next to him with his hand on his shoulder.
Their older
son moved ahead of them on his knees toward an entrance of the
Basílica. Their faith was evident in their faces. The purpose of their
pilgrimage was not. Had the wife's pregnancy been difficult and was
their journey one of gratitude for a safe birth? Had the baby been born
ill? Was the father recently given a job to support the family, or did
he desperately need one? Whatever the reason for their pilgrimage, the
united family was going to see their Mother, either to ask for or to
give thanks for her help.

Clara, Fabiola, and I entered the Basílica as one Mass was
ending and another was beginning. Pilgrims were pouring in to place
baskets of flowers on the rail around the altar. The pews were filled
and people were standing 10-deep at the back of the church. There were
lines of people waiting to be heard in the many confessionals.

We stood for a bit and listened to what the priest was saying. "La
misa de once ya se terminó. Decidimos celebrar otra misa ahora a las
doce por tanta gente que ha llegado, por tanta fe que se demuestra"
("The Mass at eleven o'clock is over. We decided to celebrate another
Mass now at 12 o'clock because so many people have arrived, because of
so much faith being demonstrated.")

Indeed, this day was no special feast day on the Catholic calendar.
There was no celebration of a special saint's day. However, many people in
Mexico have time off from their work during the Christmas and New Year
holidays and make a pilgrimage to visit la Virgencita.

The framed tilma hangs above the main altar in the new Basílica.

Making our way through the crowd, we walked down a ramp into the area
below and behind the altar. Three moving sidewalks bore crowds of
pilgrims past the gold-framed tilma.
Tears flowed down the cheeks of some; others made the sign of the cross
as they passed, and one woman held her year-old baby up high toward the
Virgin. Most, including the three of us, moved from one of the moving
sidewalks to another in order to be able to have a longer visit with
the Mother of Mexico.

When I visited several years ago, there were only two moving
sidewalks. Behind them was space for the faithful to stand and reflect
or pray for a few minutes. Today's crush of visitors has required that
the space be devoted to movement rather than reflection and rest.

We walked to the back of the Basílica to look at a large bronze
crucifix exhibited in a glass case. The crucifix, approximately 3 feet
high, is bent backward in a deep arch and lies across a large cushion.
According to the placard and the photos from the era, in 1921 a bouquet
of flowers was placed directly on the altar of the Old Basílica beneath
the framed tilma.
It was later discovered that the floral arrangement was left at the
altar by an anarchist who had placed a powerful dynamite bomb among the
flowers. When the bomb detonated, the altar crucifix was bent nearly
double and large portions of the marble altar were destroyed.
Nevertheless, no harm came to the tilma and legend has it that the crucified Son protected his Mother.

After a while, we reluctantly left the Basílica. With a long backward glance at the tilma,
Clara, Fabiola, and I stepped out into the brilliantly sunny Mexico
City afternoon. The throngs in the Basílica atrium still pressed
forward to visit the shrine.

Jackson and Perkins created the Our Lady of Guadalupe hybrid floribunda rose.

We stopped in some of the enclosed shops at sidewalk level and then
continued over the bridge through the booths of mementos. After I
bought the gifts, we moved away to hail a taxi. My mind was still in
the Basílica, with our Mother.

Today, December 12, the tiny and gloriously beautiful Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Morelia, Michoacán, will be in full fiesta.
Her feast day falls on December 12 each year. Think about her just
for a moment as you go about your day. After all, she's the Queen of
Mexico and the Empress of the Americas.

Glossary of Loving Terms for Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
La Morenita	The Little Dark-Skinned Woman
La Guadalupana	The Guadalupan Woman
La Reina de México	The Queen of Mexico
La Paloma Blanca	The White Dove
La Emperatriz de las Américas	The Empress of the Americas

How to get there once you're in Mexico City:

From
the Centro Histórico (Historic Downtown) take Metro Line 3 at Hidalgo
and transfer to Line 6 at Deportivo 18 de Marzo. Go to the next
station, La Villa Basílica. Then walk north two busy blocks until
reaching the square.
From the Hidalgo Metro station take a microbus to La Villa.
From Zona Rosa take a pesero (microbus) along Reforma Avenue, north to the stop nearest the Basílica.
Or take a taxi from your hotel, wherever it is in the city. Tell the driver, "A La Villa, por favor. Vamos a echarle una visita a la Virgencita." ("To the Basílica, please. We're going to make a visit to the little Virgin.")

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

12 de December de 2009

Día de los Muertos: November 2, 2009 in the Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán Cemetery

Graves decorated for Noche de los Muertos (Night of the Dead) in the Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán panteón (cemetery). These recent graves lie within easy sight of the yácatas (Purhépecha pyramids, mid-center in the photograph) just across the road. The yácatas were formerly both a priestly burial site and the site of ancient Purhépecha religious ceremonies.

The packed-earth paths among the graves at the cemetery in Tzintzuntzan wind through old trees and dappled sunshine.

This little car, decorated with cempasúchil (marigold) flowers, fruits, and pan de muertos (bread of the dead) in the shape of human figures, is the cemetery ofrenda (altar, or offering) for a baby born in October and dead in November 2005. Tiny white baby shoes are on the car's hood, along with a baby bottle. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

The faithful Purhépecha believe that the angelitos, the dead children, are the first of the departed who come to re-visit their loved ones each year during the day of November 1, arriving at noon. Their parents take an ofrenda (offering) of fruit, candies, and wooden toys to the children's graves and invite the little ones to come and eat. Late in the night, the godfather of a dead child goes to the cemetery with an arco (arch) made of cempasúchil (marigolds). At home, the parents have already prepared beautiful altars to honor the memory and spirits of their children.

Cempasúchiles, gladiolas, and candles adorn this grave. The cross is made of red veladoras (candles in holders) in a framework of blue and white.

Each year, late in the night of November 1, the spirits of deceased adults make their way back to this earthly plane to visit their relatives. The living relatives, bearing food, bright golden flowers, strong drink, and other favorites of the dead, file into Purhépecha cemeteries to commune with those who have gone before. The assembled lay out blankets, unfold chairs, bring out plastic cups, cartons of beer, a bottle of tequila, and assorted food for their own consumption as they settle in for the long, cold night of vigil.

A band or two or three often wander the cemetery, hired for a song or two or three to entertain the living and the dead.

Copal incense burns, calling the souls of the dead home. Candles, hundreds and hundreds of candles, flicker on and around the graves, showing the way home to the wandering spirits. Food–especially corn tamales and churipo, a beef soup for festivals–and other personal gifts to the 'visitors' show that the spirits are still valued members of their community. Special pan de muertos (bread of the dead) in the form of human bodies represents the relationship between the living and the dead. Fruits, including bananas, oranges, and limas, are hung on the ofrendas de cempasúchil to represent the relationship between nature and human beings.

This elaborate bóveda de cempasúchil ( marigold arch) hung with an old family photograph and topped by a feather dove (the symbol of the Holy Spirit) decorates a family grave. Under the photograph, an angel stands vigil.

Marigolds are used as symbols for their yellow color, which resembles the gold that was used as decoration for the ancient grand festivals. The flowers were used to adorn the visitor in the form of crowns or necklaces. Today, the belief is that the ofrendas de cempasúchil (marigold arches) aid the visiting spirits to identify their homes. Cempasúchil petals are also strewn over the bare earth mounds of the graves.

These modern coronas (wreaths) are made of ribbons and plastic, much more durable than fresh flowers. The brilliant colors eventually fade over the course of a year, but the wreaths will stay up till next October.

Cempasúchiles, pata de león (lion's paw, as cockscomb is known in this part of Michoacán), freshly cut gladiola, nube (baby's breath) and just-in-season wild orchids from the mountains are the flowers most commonly used on Tzintzuntzan's graves.

My favorite ofrenda of 2009: a terrific full-size bicycle made of cempasúchiles, decorated with fruit–and with pineapple on the seat! The flowers at the base of the grave marker are wild orchids. This style figural ofrenda is very unusual.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

21 de November de 2009
Día y Noche de los Muertos: Day and Night of the Dead, November 2009

Catrinas de papel maché (death-mocking figures made of paper maché). The catrín (male figure) and catrina (female figure) come from the late 19th-early 20th Century drawings by political cartoonist José Guadalupe Posadas. Posadas drew his skeletons dressed in finery of the Porfiriato (the era between 1875-1910 when Porfirio Díaz, a Francophile, ruled Mexico) to demonstrate the pointlessness of vanity in life that, in the end, covers nothing but bones.

Día (y Noche) de los Muertos (Day or Night of the Dead) is celebrated in Mexico each year on November 1 and 2. It's a festival both solemn and humorous, both sacred and profane: it's a wildly and uniquely Mexican fiesta (party), although other Latin American countries–Guatemala, Honduras, and Perú, among others–celebrate the dates in other ways.

Called Día de los Muertos in most of Mexico, in Michoacán the fiesta is known as Noche de los Muertos. The traditional celebrations in Purhépecha pueblos (indigenous towns) near Morelia are among the most famous in Mexico.

Everywhere in Mexico, it's traditional to eat pan de muertos (bread of the dead) before, during, and after the early November Día de los Muertos. Mexico Cooks! photographed this gorgeous pan de muertos at Panadería Hornos Los Ortiz on Av. Vicente Santa María in Morelia.

These catrínes de barro (clay) are tremendously elegant. They are the creations of acclaimed painter and bronze sculptor Juan Torres Calderón and his wife, clay sculptor Velia Torres Canals. The Torres couple work in Capula, Michoacán, where they started the tradition of clay catrines in the early 1960s.

Cohetes (rockets) are another tradition for Día de los Muertos and other fiestas. Coheteros carry bundles of long-stick rockets in local processions, lighting one after another during the duration of the parade. The young boy walking behind the cohetero is carrying a pole to move electrical wires out of the way of the rockets. The intense boom! boom! boom! of the cohetes announces the arrival of the procession.

Calabaza en tacha (squash in syrup) is one of the most traditional foods for a Diá de los Muertos ofrenda (home or cemetery altar to honor the deceased). Learn its very simple preparation right here.

During the Día y Noche de Muertos fiesta, a loved one's grave becomes a place to pray, party, and reminisce. Candles, a glass of water to quench the deceased person's thirst, a bottle of his or her favorite liquor, and favorite foods such as mole or tamales, pan de muertos, calabaza en tacha, and seasonal fresh fruits are always placed on the grave.

During this very Mexican, very special festival, the dead–at least in spirit–pay a visit to their loved ones here on earth. It's a mutual nostalgia: the living remember the dead, and the dead remember the taste of home.

An acquaintance in Pátzcuaro dedicated this very large ofrenda (offering, or altar) to his deceased parents and other family members. The colors, the candles, the foods, the photos, and the flowers are all part of the old traditional altar decoration.

Next week, Mexico Cooks! will take you to one of the most important cemeteries in Mexico for a last look at the special Michoacán traditional commemoration of Noche de los Muertos 2009.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

14 de November de 2009
Day of the Dead 2009 in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán

This quirky calavera (skull, in this case about six inches high) is made of white chocolate with applied chocolate decorations dyed in various colors.

Every year, Mexico Cooks! heads for Pátzcuaro to see what's new and eye-catching in the world of alfeñiques (molded sugar trinkets for the Día de los Muertos–Day of the Dead). Skulls, caskets, skeletons, and miniature food are found almost everywhere in Mexico during this season. Some other sugar figures, made of azúcar glass (confectioner's sugar) as well as granulated sugar, are traditional just in Michoacán. This year, white chocolate was the new kid on the block.

More traditional sugar skulls are made in wooden molds, dried, and then hand-decorated. The eyes of these calaveras are sequins; the rest of the decor is stiff colored icing.

The artisan has applied white icing teeth, orange icing eyebrows and nose outline, green sequin eyes, and a blue-and-green patterned topknot.

Each of these one-inch calaveras has a name tag. Pick the skull that matches your best friend, your romantic interest, or a relative. Click on the photo to enlarge it for a better view–then see if you can find your own name!

These six-inch high molded sugar hearts bear sweet sentiments: Para Mi Corazón (For My Sweetheart) and Con Amor (With Love).

You can find more Mexico Cooks! photos and other information related to the Day of the Dead here, here, and here.

Tiny sugar representations of your dearly departed's favorite foods: pan dulce (sweet bread), enchiladas, tacos, and tostadas. These little plates measure about three inches in diameter.

Six-inch-high sugary crosses.

In the open casket, the calaca (skeleton) partakes of his favorite drink. Click on the photo to read the placard on the grave: "De tontos y panzones están llenos los panteones." ('Cemeteries are full of fools and gluttons.')

Laid out on an old painted wood table, this sheet of papel picado (cut tissue paper) depicts a skull and an ofrenda (Day of the Dead personal altar in honor of the deceased).

Former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari in the form of a murcielago (bat). Sin comentario (no comment), but this little candy made Mexico Cooks! laugh out loud.

Traditional sweet sugar gallinas (hens).

Coronas (funeral wreaths) with their motto Descansa en paz (rest in peace).

Sra. Gallina Roja (Mrs. Red Hen), made of azúcar glass (confectioner's sugar) rather than granulated sugar, sits on her nest with her huevos y polluelos (eggs and chicks).

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe)–this time in white chocolate, dyed in multi-colors–watches over all of us, the living and the dead.

Mexico Cooks! will have more Día de los Muertos traditions for you in the weeks to come. The annual holiday is just too big and colorful for just one week's article.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

7 de November de 2009
Rigoberta Menchú y La Ceremonia por La Paz, Morelia, September 15, 2009

Actúa por la Paz: Take Action for Peace, on the back of a T-shirt, Morelia, September 15, 2009.

On the night of September 15, 2008–just a bit over a year ago–all of Mexico celebrated its annual re-enactment of the Grito de Dolores (1810 call for independence from Spain). Many of Morelia's citizens, filled with the joy of Fiestas Patrias (Independence Day) festivities, gathered in the two downtown plazas facing the balconies of the Palacio del Gobierno (state capitol building) to await the appearance of Michoacán's governor. Traditionally, the governor waves the Mexican flag, rings a bell, and calls out a string of VIVAs: Viva México! Viva Hidalgo! Viva Morelos! Viva la Corregidora! Viva los Niños Héroes! Viva México!

In Morelia, those historic VIVAs are always followed by glorious patriotic fireworks in front of the Cathedral. At the 2008 celebration, the governor's actions were aborted by a loud explosion: instead of fireworks, the sound was from two live grenades thrown into crowded Plaza Melchor Ocampo. The balance: hundreds injured, eight killed, and scores of lives changed forever. Recovery of confidence has been slow in Morelia; we who live in Morelia lost our innocence that night.

Rigoberta Menchú Tum from Guatemala, 1992 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, moved hearts and minds with her Ceremonia por la Paz (Peace Ceremony) speech on September 15, 2009, in Morelia.

The event didn't look much like a ceremony for peace, but rather resembled a locked-down security risk. Morelia's Centro Histórico, an area that encompasses most of our colonial-era buildings, was cordoned off by Federal, State, and local police. No private vehicles, taxis, or buses were allowed to circulate within a several-square-block area of the Cathedral. Pedestrians who wanted to enter the area passed first through metal detector security arches. Federal police checked all handbags, camera bags, and backpacks for suspicious objects.

Just across the street from Plaza Melchor Ocampo, sharpshooters and special security forces lined the roof of Hotel Los Juaninos. In order to enter the plaza, we had to pass under yet another security arch. Friends who work for the government called out to us to sit with them for the event.

Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, mayor of Morelia, greets supporters at the Ceremonia por la Paz.

Once settled, we looked around at the crowd. Government officials of all ranks, university officials, relatives of the 2008 victims, and a few selected schools were present, but no ordinary Morelia citizens were in the chairs. The press was amply represented. It became apparent that this Ceremonia por la Paz was more a photo opportunity and sound bite for government promotion than it was an event for the common person.

Dra. Silvia Figueroa Zamudio, distinguished rector of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo. Dra. Figueroa, whose term began in 2007 and will end in 2011, is the first woman rector since the university was founded in 1540.

Leonel Godoy Rangel, governor of Michoacán, chats with Rigoberta Menchú prior to her Morelia speech.

In spite of the militaristic aspects of the event, Sra. Menchú exhorted Morelia, "Don't be afraid. Fear turns us into accomplices and prisoners of violence. Today I stand before you to plead for your courage."

Some survivors and relatives of those dead and injured in the September 15, 2008, grenade blasts attended the 2009 commemoration in Plaza Melchor Ocampo.

She begged the relatives of last year's injured and deceased, "Hold out your dead like a flag of struggle for the well-being of all. Forgive the attackers, involve yourselves in the search for liberty."

Children from a few specially selected schools attended the commemorati
ve event.

At the end of the ceremony–where seating was limited to 1000 people
and standing room was at the very edge of the plaza, behind a security
barricade–Rigoberta Menchú called out once again for peace. "From
Morelia, we celebrate peace, life, and dignity. In the struggle for
peace, we all have something to give. The amount of material things we
can offer isn't important. What is important is our struggle for the
common good."

A strong military presence at the event seemed to contradict Rigoberta Menchú's plea for peace.

Morelia's Municipal Tourism Secretary Roberto Monroy noted that the government invited Rigoberta Menchú so that her presence in Morelia could be seen as a message of peace, of cordiality, and a sign that the capital and the state of Michoacán are still standing, working for the development of peace.

Several of Mexico's Federal police helicopters circled and circled the Centro Histórico after the event.

Despite the contradictions between Sra. Menchú's compelling speech and the military actions of the government, the event left Mexico Cooks! with the joy of seeing and hearing a woman struggling tirelessly on behalf of peace. There are so few like her in today's world: committed, valiant, single-minded in the search for peace. Qué viva Rigoberta! Qué viva!

Picasso's Dove of Peace is still a sign hope for the future of Mexico and the world.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

24 de October de 2009
Los Cantantes del Lago on Tour with Mexico Cooks! (Part Two: Guanajuato)

La Parroquia (Church of St. Michael the Archangel), San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. This church is one of the most-photographed in Mexico. Originally built in the late 1600s, the church facade was rebuilt close to the turn of the 20th Century. The architect, Zeferino Gutiérrez, had no formal training and patterned the church facade and towers after picture postcards of European cathedrals.

Entrance to Hotel Posada La Aldea, San Miguel de Allende. Los Cantantes del Lago stayed here during their time in town.

Exploring some of Mexico's historic sites was one of Los Cantantes' primary purposes in visiting the region around San Miguel de Allende. Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato–just half an hour from San Miguel–is known as la Cuna de Independencia, the cradle of independence. Standing on the steps of the historic church, Mexico Cooks! gave Los Cantantes a short history of Mexico's struggle for freedom from Spain.

Templo de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Church of Our Lady of Sorrows), Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato. Padre Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla gave the Grito de Dolores (Cry from Dolores)–the call for independence from Spanish colonization–to his followers during the night of September 15, 1810.

Mexico is preparing for its 2010 Bicentennial. This digital counter, positioned on the steps of the church where Hidalgo first gave the call for Mexico's freedom from Spanish rule, marks 428 days, eight hours, fifty minutes, and eleven seconds and counting, until the start of the bicentennial.

It wouldn't have been a trip to Dolores Hidalgo without stopping to shop for talavera, the colorful local pottery specialty. Los Cantantes surprised the fine workshop Arte San Gabriel with the large amount of talavera they bought and loaded onto the bus to take home.

The Santuario de Jesús el Nazareno (Sanctuary of Jesus the Nazarene), Atotonilco, Guanajuato, was built in the 18th Century.

Los Cantantes del Lago scheduled two concerts in Guanajuato. Mexico Cooks! arranged for the first of the two, to be sung outdoors at the Santuario de Jesús el Nazareno to celebrate the beginning of the church's fiestas patronales, scheduled for the third weekend in July. As Padre Fernando Manríquez, the pastor of the Santuario, told me, "This concert is the perfect botana (appetizer) for the fiestas!"

Los Cantantes sang in the atrium of the Santuario de Jesús el Nazareno.

The crowd attending the concert in Atotonilco was composed for the most part of people making a spiritual retreat at the church.

These women were completely enthralled by the singing. One elderly woman (not pictured) listened to parts of the concert with happy tears running down her cheeks.

The members of Los Cantantes del Lago were as profoundly touched as the audience was by the concert at the Santuario. It was impossible not to draw the comparison between the formal, elegantly dressed audiences that usually attend Los Cantantes concerts and this audience, many of whom had undoubtedly never heard a live concert of this type. One of the Cantantes said to me, "Here we are, out in the middle of nowhere, dressed in
our tuxedos and fancy gowns, singing for people who appear to be so poor. What must they think?" We agreed that it honored the audience that this marvelous chorus, dressed to the nines, came to sing for them.

As an encore, Los Cantantes sang the Mexican standard, Cielito Lindo. The entire audience sang along in Spanish to the song's chorus–you already know it:

                            Ay, ay, ay, ay, canta y no llores!
                            Porque cantando se alegran, cielito lindo, los corazones.
                            Oh, oh, oh, oh, sing and don't cry!
                            Because, little heaven, singing makes our hearts joyful.

How true the words are, and never brought closer to home than in this intensely emotional concert. In Atotonilco, glorious music made all of our hearts overflow with joy.

No one wanted the concert to end. As soon as the last encore was sung, the crowd surged forward to thank Maestro Timothy Welch and Los Cantantes del Lago for their visit to Atotonilco.

Los Cantantes del Lago sang the final concert of the Central Mexico Tour at the Teatro Ángela Peralta in San Miguel de Allende. A benefit for the Centro Infantil San Pablo, a program for needy Mexican children, the concert was a tremendous success.

Final concert at the Teatro Ángela Peralta, San Miguel de Allende.

As the surprise finale to the evening, Maestro Tim auctioned off the only copy he had left of Los Cantantes del Lago's newest recording of Christmas music. The audience held its breath while the bidding went higher–and higher–and higher! Hammered down at over 2500 pesos, all the proceeds from the auction of that one CD went to the Centro Infantil San Pablo. Later in the evening, another audience member matched that bid as his personal donation to the school.

Filled with the memories of its warm reception wherever it sang during eleven days' travel through two states and countless towns, all done in two huge buses filled with singers, equipment, baggage, and new artisan purchases, Los Cantantes del Lago took to the road from San Miguel de Allende for the return home to Ajijic, Jalisco.

All photos courtesy of Robert Kelly. Robert, the designated photographer for Los Cantantes del Lago, has
posted many additional photos of the 2009 Central Mexico Tour in these files:

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

5 de September de 2009
Los Cantantes del Lago on Tour with Mexico Cooks! (Part One: Michoacán)

Los Cantantes del Lago, invited to perform at the 9° Festival de Coros de La Inmaculada (9th Annual Choral Festival sponsored by the Church of the Immaculate Conception) in Morelia, combined their singing tour with a tour of churches and artisan villages in the states of Michoacán and Guanajuato.

Late last winter, Los Cantantes del Lago, a marvelous chorus based in Ajijic, Jalisco, (on the shore of Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake) contracted with Mexico Cooks! to plan, organize, and guide them during their Central Mexico Tour 2009. The members of the chorus, nearly all of whom live in the Jalisco municipality of Chapala, range in age from 18 to over 80. They are natives of countries as diverse as England, France, Canada, and the United States, as well as Mexico.

Los Cantantes del Lago, directed by Maestro
Timothy Welch, sang at the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe) in Zamora, Michoacán.

The chorus director, Timothy Welch, is a native of Wisconsin who has lived in the city of Guadalajara for the last 10 years. Under his direction, Los Cantantes del Lago have sung throughout Mexico, they have toured in Greece, Turkey, and Ecuador, and they have produced two recordings of multilingual Christmas music.

The Calzada de Fray Antonio de San Miguel is one of the most beautiful streets in Morelia. The tree-lined street runs from Morelia's Las Tarascas fountain to one of the city's 18th Century gems, the Santuario de Guadalupe.

For the last nine years, Morelia's Templo de la Inmaculada Concepción (Church of the Immaculate Conception) has hosted a choral festival. From its inception as a recital event for that church's chorus, the festival has grown into a vibrant and important showcase for choruses from all over Mexico. Hernán Cortés, director of the festival, invited Los Cantantes del Lago to participate in the 2009 Festival del Coro. The idea for Los Cantantes' Central Mexico Tour 2009 sprang from that invitation.

Bell tower, Templo de La Inmaculada Concepción, Morelia. La Inmaculada is the seat of Morelia's annual choral festival.

Los Cantantes del Lago enjoyed a marvelous welcome dinner at Morelia's Fonda Marceva. The magnificent Trio Los Caracuaros de Serafín Ibarra provided live music from Michoacán's Tierra Caliente (the hot inland lowlands). After the meal and in spite of being stuffed to the gills, Los Cantantes stood up and sang Pilgrim's Hymn from the opera The Three Hermits for the musicians who had been singing to them. Tim Welch directs in this casual setting.

Within the framework of the chorus's five concerts in Morelia and the surrounding region, Mexico Cooks! set up day trips to artisan villages and culturally important historical sites for Los Cantantes del Lago.

Morelia's Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe). Although Los Cantantes did not sing at the Santuario, its beauty made
it a favorite destination during the week the chorus spent in Morelia. (Photo: Mexico Cooks!)

Los Cantantes visited various locations in Morelia, Pátzcuaro, and Cuitzeo, Michoacán. They were inspired by the restoration of the Ex-Convento de San Francisco de Ásis and shopped at the artisans' market in Tzintzuntzan. They were awed by the 16th Century Templo de Santiago Apóstol in Tupátaro.

After an afternoon touring Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Los Cantantes sang at the Templo del Sagrario (Church of the Tabernacle), built in Pátzcuaro during the 17th Century.

Santiago Apóstol (St. James the Apostle), the patron saint of the church at Tupátaro, Michoacán. (Photo: Mexico Cooks!)

Los Cantantes del Lago stayed in Morelia at the Hotel de la Soledad. Public areas as well as guest rooms at the hotel are magnificently decorated and filled with flowers.

After their morning trip to Tupátaro, Los Cantantes sang in Cuitzeo, Michoacán, at the 16th Century Augustinian monastery dedicated to Santa María Magdalena.

Despite ongoing restoration at the monastery in Cuitzeo, Los Cantantes del Lago squeezed in among the scaffolding and sang a beautiful concert.

A hand-and-foot-powered bellows makes the fire leap high in the copper
workshop at Casa Felícitas in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán.

Visiting the copper smiths of Santa Clara del Cobre was one of the highlights of Los Cantantes' week in Michoacán. Several of the singers took sledgehammer in hand to join the smiths in hammering a red-hot copper ingot at internationally known Casa Felícitas.

The real joy for Los Cantantes was meeting festival choruses from all over Mexico. All of the singing was marvelous! Beginning with the very first performance in Zamora, Michoacán, loud cheers and standing ovations followed every Los Cantantes' concert. It was the first time a chorus composed primarily of retired foreigners sang in the Festival del Coro, but it's not likely to be the last time.

Joyous young chorus members from the Yucatán who also sang at the choral festival in Morelia.

The twelve invited choruses were so ecstatic with performing that even after their full week of performances in many different venues, after the long and beautiful closing Mass at La Inmaculada Concepción, they met one last time to sing a few more songs, just for one another.

Next week, travel with us as Los Cantantes del Lago leave Michoacán and head for San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. Please join Mexico Cooks! for the second leg of their 2009 Central Mexico Tour.

Except as noted, all photos are courtesy of Robert Kelly. Robert, the designated photographer for Los Cantantes del Lago, has posted many additional photos of the 2009 Central Mexico Tour in these files:

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

29 de August de 2009
Algunas Imágines de la Virgen María en México::Images of the Virgin Mary in Mexico

Patron of the Americas and Empress of Mexico: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe). There is no apparition of the Virgin Mary that is more highly venerated than this one. She's known by many loving nicknames: La Morenita (the little brown woman), Paloma Blanca (white dove), and La Guadalupana (the woman from Guadalupe) are just a few.

Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows). This apparition of the Virgin Mary is usually seen standing at the foot of the cross where Jesus is crucified. Dressed in black and frequently depicted with arrows piercing her heart, she is the image of pain.

La Virgen en Tránsito (The Virgin in Transition). According to Roman Catholic doctrine, when the Virgin Mary died, she was taken up to heaven, body and soul. This 17th Century statue, from the Templo de la Companía in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, shows the Virgin after death but prior to her assumption into heaven.

La Santísima Virgen en Camino a Belén (the Blessed Virgin on the Way to Bethlehem), Cuitzeo, Michoacán. She wears her straw traveling hat as Joseph takes her to Bethlehem, where Jesus will be born.

Nuestra Señora de Zapopan, Basílica de Zapopan, Zapopan, Jalisco. This 16th Century image of the Virgin Mary, made of pasta de caña: cornstalk and orchid-bulb juice paste, molded to the shape of the Virgin, covered with gesso, and polychromed. She measures a mere 14" high. One of her nicknames is 'La Generala' (the general) after helping troops to victory in battle in 1852. She is the santa patrona (patron Virgin) of Guadalajara.

Nuestra Señora de la Salud, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. This tiny 16th Century figure, revered as the patrona of Pátzcuaro, is also made of pasta de caña.

La Inmaculada Concepción (the Immaculate Conception). This statue of the Virgin represents the Roman Catholic doctrine of her conception without the taint of original sin. Mexico Cooks! photographed this modern image in the Templo de la Inmaculada Concepción, Concepción de Buenos Aires, Jalisco.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

15 de August de 2009
Mexico in All Its Glory: Sights Along the Way

Mojiganga (10-foot high papel maché dance figure), San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, March 2009.

Rueda de la fortuna (ferris wheel), Cuanajo, Michoacán, September 2008.

Templo Santo Domingo, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, October 2006.

Guajolotes callejeros (turkeys in the street), San José de las Torres, Michoacán, October 2008.

Burrita y su dueño cargados (loaded donkey and its owner) with corn stalks, Ajijic, Jalisco, September 2005.

Trajineras (traditional boats), Xochimilco, December 2008.

Casa particular (private home) with bougainvillea, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, February 2008.

Tourist police at Parque Alameda Central, Mexico City, December 2008.

Pájaro de la suerte (fortune telling canary), Morelia, Michoacán, October 2008.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

1 de August de 2009
Santuario de Jesús el Nazareno, Atotonilco, Guanajuato

The facade of the mid-18th Century Jesuit church in Atotonilco is simple. The interior of the church is astonishing. Built between 1740 and 1776, the Santuario is still visited and revered by religious pilgrims.

Several weeks ago, while Mexico Cooks! visited San Miguel de Allende, we took advantage of some free time to go to Atotonilco to visit the Santuario de Jesús el Nazareno (Sanctuary of Jesus the Nazarene), one of the best-kept secrets of central Mexico. In 1996, the church was added to the World Monuments Fund, and in July of 2008, UNESCO named the Santuario to its list of World Heritage sites.

The main altar in the Calvary Chapel, the largest in the church. Sculptural figures important to Christ's Passion give visual impact to the meditations of the faithful. A relicuary rests on the red cloth.

The Santuario is a mixture of European Baroque and New World Mexican decoration. It consists of a large church, and several smaller chapels, all
decorated with oil paintings by Rodríguez Juárez and mural paintings by
Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre. Inspired by the doctrine of St. Ignacio de Loyola, the founder of the Companía de Jesús (the Company of Jesus, otherwise known as the Jesuits), the glowing paintings and murals in the church served in the evangelization of Nueva España, where the indigenous spoke their own languages but could neither read nor write, and where the Spanish conquistadores knew little if any of the languages they heard in the new land.

St. John the Baptist pours baptismal waters over Jesus as a dove, symbol of the Holy Spirt, hovers above them. In the 18th Century, the Santuario also served as a retreat house for the Jesuits. Pilgrims still make week-long retreats at this church, praying in a chapel reserved just for their needs.

Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus with a kiss. Note the demon monkey on Judas's back. Every inch of the Santuario walls is covered with paintings of the many details, Biblical and apocryphal, of Jesus's life. Nearly all (or perhaps all–stories vary) of the murals were painted by Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre, a native of the area. He worked for thirty years painting the murals.

St. Cristopher carries the infant Jesus on his shoulder. Captain Ignacio Allende, for whom San Miguel de Allende is named, married María de la Luz Agustina y Fuentes in this church. It was here, on September 16, 1810, that Miguel Hidalgo took up the standard of Our Lady of Guadalupe and bore it into battle during the Mexican Revolution.

This side chapel, one of several at Atotonilco, is dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary). The mirrors that surround the figure of Our Lady are painted with oils, probably by Rodríguez Juárez.

Detail of the chapel window.

Detail of the Marian litany in the Lady Chapel.

The Santuario has been in the process of restoration since 1997. Scaffolding still fills the church but detracts very little from the amazing paintings.

Mexico Cooks! will return to the Santuario de Jesús el Nazareno in mid-July and will bring you updates on the restoration plus information about el Señor de la Columna (the Lord of the Column), the Santuario's santo patrón (patron saint).

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

20 de June de 2009