#1 Rated San Miguel Tour Guide & Author
While I was still in diapers my then teen aged sisters rushed to the drive-in theater to see Hayley Mills’ latest comedy about two girls in an all-girls Catholic school run by nuns called The Trouble with Angels. Oddly, the cast included actresses that went on …
As a foreigner rapidly zooming by the mid-life years I’ve had a handful of surgeries here in town and here are the three main differences I’ve noticed between Mexico and US healthcare. (Sorry, Canadians, but I’ve managed to bop around visiting your shrines to k.d. …
The Virgin of Guadalupe is the tale of humble farmer, Juan Diego, who stumbles upon the Virgin Mary in 1531, shortly after the arrival of the Spanish, near present day Mexico City. Juan Diego informs the local bishop who does not believe him. The following day …
The nine nights of the posadas—which means “inn”—represent the nine day journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem from December 16th until Christmas Eve. Throughout town, each night, a boy dressed as Joseph a young girl dressed as Mary (usually riding donkey) and an …
Saint John of God (Juan de Dios) was a Portuguese-born soldier turned health-care worker at 42 following a nervous breakdown. The order he formed in Spain, the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God, continues today dedicated to the care of the poor sick and those suffering from mental …
Beginning at midnight in a procession of thousands of people, this life-sized figure of the beaten and bloody Christ is carried from Atotonilco to San Miguel on the shoulders of the faithful. The statue is very old and molded from traditional Chichimeca materials—corn stalks, corn starch and …
On Good Friday, there are two major Catholic rituals celebrated in two different churches at different hours. One is the encounter of Jesus with the Virgin Mother on the road to Mount Calvary during the Stations of the Cross that takes place in several streets surrounding the jardin. …
Saint Isidore the Farmer (San Isidro Labrador) was a day laborer known for his piety toward the poor and animals. He is the patron saint of farmers and the harvest. The story of St. Isidore is a reminder of the dignity of work, and that ordinary life can …
Saint Pascal Baylon was a 1500’s Spanish friar and the patron saint of the Eucharist. Pascal (Pacual in Spanish) was born on the Feast of Pentecost, hence the name Pascal, a variation of the Spanish word for Pentecost. (The Pentecost is when, after being crucified, Jesus returns to give the …
The still popular image of the Virgin of the Light began in 1722 Sicily. The painting depicts the Virgin holding a man avoiding his falling into the jaws of Leviathan (an evil sea monster from the Old Testament who swallows men’s souls into the Sea of Chaos) …