What is all this? Beaded rosaries swinging from the rearview mirror of a taxi; a youth dressed for work making the sign of the cross followed by a kiss to his thumb as he briskly passes a church; florally adorned Our Lady of Guadalupe shrines with her miraculous picture or statue flanked by candles of various melted shapes positioned in local markets, schools, and places of business; families wearing sacramentals such as brown woolen scapulars trailing down their backs or metal crucifixes dangling on their chests; a loud late night fiesta complete with bells clanging relentlessly at a parque on the feast day of the church’s patron saint?
These are most likely customs lovingly passed down from a pious abuela. They are beautiful practices that can help us remember the Presence of Christ throughout the day if we take them seriously and direct our spirits into them.
We expats and visitors to the land of a people of a blend of indigenous American-Spanish ancestry might be missing a piece of who the people of the Yucatán are. From the towering church belfries, sonorous bells echo through the calles, alerting the faithful and those with ears of a Mass about to be celebrated. For us devoted Catholic expats, it all is touching and refreshing. How invigorating living in a historically and vibrantly alive Catholic country! To enter into the culture and soul of Mexico, I believe the prerequisite is an open mind and heart to the faith, the 2,000-year-old Faith of the Catholic Church.
Here in the Yucatán, after the Great and Mighty Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is about the Jewish Mother of God, the pregnant Our Lady of Guadalupe, who, fresh from Heaven, placed herself on the soil of Mexico. A prodigy of prodigies! The Blessed Virgin Mary, she-who-transformed-a-nation, appeared as a mestiza in 1531 to a baptized Aztec Indian, Juan Diego. Lovingly sent by God, she transfigured a culture of death, where thousands of innocent Indigenous people were being preyed upon in order to be sacrificed to pagan gods into a culture of life. So began the conversion of mestizos, Aztecs, and Mayas in Latin America. In a brief 15 years, nine million people converted to Catholicism in a non-bloody way. Our Lady could have graced any spot on earth, but she chose America in its time of need, specifically the country that would become Mexico.
The traditions
Without the Church, there would hardly be a Mexican culture! Holidays are mainly holy days of Catholic observance or festivals. Examples are Lent, Easter, All Departed Souls Day, Advent and the Posada novena, Christmas, Epiphany, Our Lady of Guadalupe feast day (Dec. 12), with plenty of other Marian feast days, including patron saints’ feast days, which are numerous due to churches, hence neighborhoods, usually being named after holy saints like Sta. Lucia. Think of all the flamboyant Mexican decorations and symbols such as a golden rosary bedecking the traditional huipil of a female jarana dancer or hitting piñatas blindfolded—a catechism and cautionary tale if you know the original meaning.
Strolling past the yawning ancient doors of the main cathedral and the churches centralized in each barrio of Mérida Centro, your ears can catch the chanting of sacred hymns. Yucatecos are fervent in their devotion and exuberant in their worship, taking to the streets (and closing them!) on feast days in vividly colorful processions. Welcome erratic Mérida breezes whip up banners and rosaries raised high, punctuating the grand blue sky of this spacious country, while the marchers raise jubilant songs of praise.
Inside the churches, the poor, the wealthy, the hard-working common man, and the people of means gather together, some daily, to participate in their One, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic religion. For some, besides their children and family, it is the only thing of value that they have.
The celebration of the Mass is a place to spontaneously find yourself a part of intimate and meaningful moments in the Yucatecos’ lives—a benediction of a couple on their 60th wedding anniversary, a quinceañera, a full-fledged wedding, a child’s birthday blessing, a baby’s baptism … the unction of fragrant holy oil doused on the head of a small girl in white being baptized wafting toward the pews.
Masses are open to the public, who show respect by not receiving Holy Communion unless they are Catholics in good standing with the Church.
Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent as preparation for Easter, is an invitation for anyone and everyone to participate. As the priest inscribes a cross of ashes on each person’s forehead, he reminds us, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” …a sobering universal reality.
Adoration, usually weekly, also welcomes all to enter … and bend their knees. It is the worship of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, God Himself in the Most Holy Eucharist. The Catholic Church is the only religion founded by Jesus, which dares to claim that it alone adores the Eucharist, the true Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, God. The Catholic Church is like a spiritual hospital, inviting sinners of which no one is excluded … another universal reality.
This is where I unite with all my spiritual brothers and sisters to lift our longing souls to God. The Faith is everywhere in the Yucatán for those with eyes to see; the Faith is so heartfelt, exposed to the world. The Yucatecos joyfully wear it on their sleeve, expressing and sharing it, something we might be missing that we can receive from them. Awaken, my soul.
For those Anglos interested in the Catholic Faith, there is a seasonal English Mass at Sta. Ana Church and a few English-speaking priests in Mérida. Call or text Diane Spinelli at 703-505-3599.
