Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Throughout Mexico, today as in colonial times, the Christmas season comes to a climax on January 6th, the Day of the Three Kings or Los Santos Reyes. Presents are exchanged amid communal festivities and traditional religious observances. Among these seasonal events are the popular pastorelas, or re-enactments of the Nativity story, instituted in early colonial times and still performed today in towns and villages across Mexico.
One of the earliest recorded pastorelas was witnessed in 1586 by the visiting Franciscan prelate Fray Alonso Ponce in the churchyard of the village of Tlajomulco, south of Guadalajara, in what is now Jalisco. This scripted Nativity drama, performed by a native cast under the direction of the resident Franciscan missionary, was described by Antonio de Ciudad Real, a Franciscan chronicler who accompanied Father Ponce on his arduous journey around New Spain.
In the 16th century, Tlajomulco was the principal Franciscan mission town for the Lake Cajitítlan region. Following destruction of the main church there, a new mission town was established at Los Reyes Cajititlan in the 18th century, which then became, as it remains today, the locus of this important regional festival.
The former colonial hospital chapel of La Purísima at Tlajomulco still stands, however (above), and has been recently restored for use by the residents, with its own Christmas festivities.
Here are some excerpts from Ciudad Real's vivid account of the miracle play:
"... (The Indians) had erected a "portal of Bethlehem" in front of the church door, containing the figures of the Christ Child, Mary and Joseph. The portal reached almost to the belfry and was constructed of thin poles and sticks covered with a Spanish moss, known as paxtle. To one side, Herod was enthroned in a ramada. From a nearby hill... the Three Kings descended slowly on horseback... accompanied by an Indian on foot and followed by an ancient guide who carried the gifts for the Christ Child. As they approached, natives dressed as angels sang and danced before El Niño, followed by troupes of shepherds who chanted praises and laid gifts of bread, sheep and a goat before him...
When the shepherds were altogether in the middle of the courtyard, there appeared an angel in a little tower made of wood, singing the Gloria in Excelsis Deo. At the sound of the voice, the shepherds fell as if senseless to the ground. The angel exhorted them, telling them the news about the birth of the Child. They came to themselves again, rose up, went together to the ramparts, and with great happiness and rejoicing offered what they were bearing to the Child: one giving a little lamb, another a kid, some bread, another a cap, and other things, but all with such reverence that it provoked devotion in the onlooker.
Then again they commenced dancing about and singing in the same Mexican language (Nahuatl) in praise of the Child, some asking questions of others and recounting what they had seen and heard. They reacted with great happiness, repeating what the angel had said and chanting, 'gloria, gloria, gloria.' They gave great leaps and bounds using their shepherd's crooks, as of the greatest joy and pleasure... They wove intricate patterns with steps and with acrobatic antics, some leaping over the shepherd's crooks of the others, and all together forming circles and squares in a most commendable fashion...
"And finally, when they saw that the Kings were approaching, they made a circle or corral by joining their hands as in a wheel, leaving two of their number inside with their crooks; these ran after those of the circle as if they were bulls. Either of them brought to the ground with their crooks anyone whom he could catch. Thus they went about circling around from one place to another terminating their celebration, which was certainly something to see.
The Kings, having been guided by a star which the Indians had made of shiny tinsel (or brass), arrived at the gate of the patio. They moved the star along by two cords which reached from the mountain to the tower of the church. They had placed little wooden towers at intervals, and made the star move along on its cord from these. As the Kings arrived at the gate of the patio, they hid the star by putting it in one of these little towers; they then sent their messengers in to see Herod...
Herod appeared and in response to their questions summoned his advisers, who consulted their books of prophecy, confirming the birth of a king. Furiously, Herod cast the books to the ground and demanded that the seers repeat the news, which they did. Pounding the table in a rage, Herod ordered an immediate search for the child. The star emerged from its hiding place and was moved to the Portal of Bethlehem at the foot of the church tower. The Three Kings then prostrated themselves before the figure of the Christ Child and offered up their gifts, including silver, with speeches in the Mexican language... Then the angel in the tower addressed the Kings, urging them to return to their lands by another route...
More than five thousand Indians attended this fiesta, with ten or a dozen friars and many Spaniards... "
".. de una fiesta que los indios de Tlaxomulco hicieron el día de los Reyes" from Antonio de Ciudad Real, Viajes de fray Alonso Ponce al occidente de Mexico. Guadalajara (1968)
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