Yesterday (February 2) was the Christian holy day, Día de la Candelaria (aka, Candlemas, Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, and Feast of the Purification of the Virgin). In Mexico, tradition calls for families to bring their figurines of niño Dios (baby Jesus) to the church to be blessed.
Niño Dios comes in all sizes — the ones brought to the Church of Guadalupe (north end of Llano Park in Oaxaca) last night, ranged from four inches up to a foot and a half. All were dressed with care, creativity, and attention to detail. They were carried and displayed with obvious pride by both young and old and men and women — though, in truth, mostly women. Several angelic young girls led the procession into the church, while the priest stood in the doorway sprinkling each niño Dios with holy water.
As mentioned in my Of kings and babies… post, the other (very yummy) aspect of Candelaria in Mexico is the tamale party that follows — tamales courtesy of the person who found a tiny baby Jesus figurine in their slice of Rosca de Reyes. To protect all those who partied hardy after the mass, photos will not be posted of the fiesta I attended. All I will say is the tamales were delicious and wine, mezcal, and hot chocolate flowed freely. Muchisimas gracias to all who made it happen!
Mexican Peso Converter
Shannon did you know that Santo Nino is dressed according to a petition that the family wants help them with. I know that white means often that they want to have a child. There’s an outfit for prosperity too. There was a show in DF a few years back where they explained the outfits significance. There are fairs the week before where you can go and buy these outfits and new chairs for el nino and also have them repainted or repaired by specialists who set up there too. I saw this Malinalco, Edo. Mexico.
Absolutely lovely! The special Mass at Guadalupe church looks charming.
My involvement with the Niños & their celebrations has been sporadic. Last year I attended a huge tamale party after the Candelaria Mass, so all the Niños were in attendance as well. I eavesdropped on a conversation about how many Niños a family should have. One lady pointed out that there was only one baby Jesus, so having more than one Niño Dios was just silly. Logical though this was, perhaps it wasn’t the best thing to say at a table where some people proudly carried more than one Niño.
If you’d like to see my report, started in 2009 & continued just recently, it’s here: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=mexico&action=display&thread=3502&page=1 — two pages of Niño Dios extravaganza.
[…] Day in the USA, is Candelaria in Mexico. And so, late Monday morning, I went in search of Niño Díos. None were to be found in the vicinity of the Cathedral. Only the traditional red huipiles of […]