Virgin of Guadalupe Week

This week marks the last fiesta in town before we depart. The Fiesta of the Virgin of Guadalupe is an important celebration in Mexico. She is the Mexican version of the Virgin Mary, and serves as a conduit for bringing Catholicism to the Mexican people, as the story is a blend of Aztec imagery and Christian miracles. (You can read the story here.)

Even though December 12 is the "official" day, the celebration extends throughout the week. The mercado in the center of town has a big shrine dedicated to Her, and some houses in town also have murals of the Virgin. A couple days this week, fireworks started going off at 6 AM, and they also had some nighttime shows as well.


Virgin of Guadalupe shrine at the mercado


A monument on a house

I asked Antonio why the celebration occurred on different days in different towns. It turns out there aren't enough priests to properly emcee the festivities everywhere at once, so they travel to various towns throughout the week. We've seen sporadic celebrations for the past six days, with the finale tonight.

Unfortunately we missed the last big fireworks show. And though we've seen plenty of others, I'm a little sad to have missed it. I'll probably have to wait until July 4 to see fireworks again.