There’s nothing like the serendipity of being in the right place at the right time, especially when I find myself in the midst of an unexpected Mexican celebration, and face to face with a 468-year-old virgin.
About 5 p.m. I was heading home from the grocery store after a full day of blog writing, volunteering in the Mexico Collection section of the 27,000-volume Neill James Library at the Lake Chapala Society, and a dynamic meeting of my writer’s group.
The familiar distant booms of cojetes (skyrockets) and puffs of white smoke over Ajijic, signaled a fiesta. I assumed the neighbors in Barrio Sebastian were getting an early start on tomorrow’s feast day for their patron saint.
When I spotted sky blue and white balloons and tissue paper decorations, a pair of dueling brass bands and residents gathered around the car occasionally called “the Virginmobile,” I realized I’d stumbled onto the arrival of the most revered religious icon in Jalisco, the Virgin of Zapopan.
In a driving maneuver I’ve learned living in Mexico, I whipped around a corner at the edge of Ajijic, screeched to a stop somewhere near the curb and grabbed my always-present camera from my purse. It was 15 minutes later that I realized I’d left my keys and my purse in the unlocked car.
I hurried across the cobblestones just in time to watch one of the Franciscans, charged since 1819 with the virgin’s care and safekeeping, fasten the protective case onto the car’s roof in the midst of a shower of confetti.
For nearly five centuries this 12” representation of Mary has been answering the prayers of the faithful. Fray Antonio Segovia is believed to have introduced the little figure to Guadalajara soon after the founding of the city. Then she was moved in 1553 to a simple lean-to shelter in the Guadalajara suburb of Zapopan to protect the Indians.
Over the years as she answered the prayers, she became venerated as Jalisco’s protectress against devastating diseases (including plague), storms and natural disasters. She even helped the Jaliscans win pivotal battles which earned her the nickname La Generala and the golden saber she carries at her side.
In recent years, the little virgin has made annual excursions to Chapala, and to each of Lakeside’s villages, echoing the famous visit to Chapala 60 years ago when the lake was at its lowest level in history. Not only did the lake recover after that first visit in the 1950s, a prolonged period of abundant rainfall followed.
The prayers she has answered on behalf of Lake Chapala have earned her most recent title of honor, Reina del Lago (Queen of the Lake).
The elaborate gown the tiny figure wore today is richly embellished with multiple symbols of Lake Chapala. The lower portion of the white satin dress is overlaid with scalloped golden fishnets in which are entrapped small embroidered golden fish. Spaced around the skirt are finely embroidered Coats of Arms of the villages around the lake. Her title of Reina del Lago is featured at the center front. There was no ordinary rebozo for this beloved lady; over her shoulders is a silver fishnet shawl.
With a ruffle and flourish from the snare drums and trumpets and shouts of “Viva la Virgin,” the procession started down Constitucion. The final destination, nearly an hour later was the Templo de San Andres in Ajijic.
There Ajijic’s Parish Priest, Father Alfredo, and the virgin’s Franciscan chaperone would remove the case from the roof of the car and carry the precious icon into the church for a special mass of celebration honoring the village’s special guest.
My friend Grace’s most frequent refrain is, “We’re just so lucky to be here.” That was my thought, too, when I saw the procession off and climbed back into the car, refreshed and renewed. I was just so lucky to be there.
Subscribe