Posted in Churches, Flora, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged Barrio de Jalatlaco, flowering trees, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, Pseudobombax ellipticum, Shaving Brush Tree, Templo de San Matías Jalatlaco, trees on January 17, 2022| 2 Comments »
The 361 year old decidious Coquito de la Iglesia de Jalatlaco trees in the atrium of Templo de San Matías Jalatlaco are beginning to bloom.
El Coquito (aka, Pseudobombax ellipticum, Amapola, Xiloxochitl, Sospó, Clavellina, Shaving brush tree, Cabellos de Ángel, Angel hair) is one of my favorite trees in Oaxaca.
Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Creativity, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged churches, Domingo de Ramos, La catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Mexico, Oaxaca, palm fronds, Palm Sunday, papel picado, photos, popular travel destinations, San Antonino Castillo Velasco, San Salvador image, Templo de San Matías Jalatlaco, Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán on April 5, 2020| 2 Comments »
It’s Domingo de Ramos and in pre-COVID-19 times, from my terrace I would hear an outdoor morning mass being said in the atrium of the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad. And then, for the past eight years, blogger buddy Chris and I would drive to San Antonino Castillo Velasco for one of the most magical days of the year. However, all was silent this Palm Sunday. So, donning my mask, I went for early Sunday morning walk with my neighbor K. Lonely and poignant scenes met us everywhere our wanderings took us.
Lonely palm fronds in window of Hospital Ángel Vasconcelos on Av. José María Morelos
Doors of Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción were shuttered.
The doors of Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán were open, but nary a soul was in sight.
A mass was being said at Templo de San Matías Jalatlaco, but the doors were shut tight.
However, no sight we saw this morning was as moving as this one posted to the San Antonino Castillo Velasco Facebook page.
San Salvador bereft of his usual bounty stands alone in the atrium of the church in San Antonino Castillo Velasco.
To see San Salvador in his usual Domingo de Ramos splendor and the village procession that takes him, laden with donated fruits, vegetables, herbs, and bread, from the panteón to the church, click HERE.
Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged apples, Catedral Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Cathedral of Oaxaca, Feast of the Assumption, harvest celebrations, La Asunción de la Virgen María, La Virgen María, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Templo de San Matías Jalatlaco, Virgin Mary on August 15, 2018| 11 Comments »
Late yesterday afternoon a neighbor and I taxied across town to the sweet little Templo de San Matías Jalatlaco for an organ concert presented by the Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca in honor of La Asunción de la Virgen María (Feast of the Assumption). Once there, we ran into a couple of friends. The combined length of time the four of us had lived in Oaxaca totaled over 80 years (with me being the most recent, at nine years). I point this out because none of us knew why apples accompanied the image of Mary. Hmmm… Could it possibly have something to do with Eve in the Garden of Eden, we wondered?
Of course, the librarian in me couldn’t resist doing a little research. So, first stop on this morning’s grocery shopping trip to Mercado Benito Juárez, was a stop at Oaxaca’s Cathedral to see if the Virgin there also had apples to send her on her way. After all, the full name is Catedral Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption). Sure enough, Mary stood among bushels of apples.
The origin of the connection between Mary’s Assumption and apples is rather ambiguous. In sifting through the various explanations that Google found for me, la Virgen is considered the “New Eve” or “new Mother of men.” Wow, our speculation wasn’t too far from the mark. It is also said that when Mary drifted off to her final sleep, the cenacle (room the Last Supper was held) began to give off the scent of flowers and apples and, thus the tradition reminds believers of the moment of La Asunción.
Then there is the pragmatic explanation — this is the time of the summer harvest and “In many Catholic countries Assumption Day marks the period for invoking blessings on vineyards, herbs and plants… [and] In the East, where the Assumption Feast originated, the day is commemorated with elaborate ceremonies for blessing fruit trees and grain.” European colonists brought apples to the New World and they are abundant this time of year — thus Mary asleep among apples.
No matter the story behind this tradition, the aroma of apples was divine!
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 