Article: Patron Saints

Bully pulpit: Fiesta creates intriguing mix of rodeo and religion

When the big fiesta comes to small mountain towns, cowboys and religious brotherhoods celebrate together.

By Celeste Mackenzie. The Miami Herald

San Martin Jilotepeque, Guatemala - It is just minutes before the rodeo is to start, and some of the young cowboys are drinking beer while practicing their lassoing, adjusting shin pads and spurs and trying in general to raise their levels of bravado. First, though, they kneel in the dusty corral; hats in hand; heads bowed during a prayer for their well-being. They are about to get tossed around by huge bulls, with nothing in sight but a first-aid kit that contained some cotton and rubbing alcohol.

The rodeo is part of the patron saint day fair in honor of Saint Martin, in San Martín Jilotepeque, a small town in the mountains about an hour's drive north of Guatemala City. People from outlying villages have flocked here, adding to the fair's lively atmosphere.

Similar celebrations take place every month in different towns across the country, as almost all towns have a patron saint. Unlike other bigger and more famous ones, the townsfolks here are celebrating for themselves according to their traditions, not for tourists. Many of these fiestas are notorious for heavy celebrating with the saint: partaking of food and alcohol with the image in a member's home, or its own building apart from church. Besides the bullfights, other events include dances, soccer games, fair rides and cockfights.

The cowboys are largely of European descent -- reflecting who owns the ranches and cattle in these parts. The Maya are in charge, though, of the oldest and perhaps most important part of the days-long celebration: the procession of the image of Saint Martin de Tours through town by the saint's brotherhood. Brotherhoods were introduced by the Spaniards during the colonial period as a way to win over indigenous people to Catholicism, and collect tributes for the church. Over the centuries, the brotherhoods came to incorporate Maya beliefs, creating a syncretism of Catholicism and Maya cosmovision often spurned by the clergy.

Officers in brotherhoods are nominated by other Maya men. While it means great expenses vis-a-vis both taking care of the image during the year and financing celebrations for the saint's day, members enjoy certain prestige in the community.

On the big day, brotherhoods accompany the statue as it's paraded through the town. There is solemn singing while traditional musicians play drums, a flute and maybe a marimba.

Following custom, only men make religious music. The tunes are repetitive, but the brotherhood is not here to entertain: its role is to appease the gods and express their fear of them. The procession is also a display of hope and faith.

Eusebio Cal Díaz, whose father was once a member of the Saint Martin brotherhood, says the institution is an important part of the community's faith.

''They maintain the traditions, and only the brotherhoods take part in the processions and pray that people maintain the faith. This is why they go out in the streets,'' he says from the steps in front of the white-washed church.

Women play an auxiliary role, often keeping churches clean and decorated for festivities. In San Martín they sing in the parade holding candles. The statue of Saint Martin passes by on a flower-laden platform on the shoulders of eight men. Incense swirls everywhere; townspeople watch quietly from their doorways, and the occasional firecracker goes off. A couple of hours after it began, the centuries-old tradition ended with a special Mass marking the investiture of new brotherhood members.

Guatemala is famous for the Easter week parades in the beautiful colonial town of Antigua -- also about an hour away. There, processions take place almost every day involving sometimes dozens of men carrying just one image.

Antigua's cobblestone streets are decorated with beautiful ''carpets'' made of dyed sawdust and dried flowers that the processions walk over, sending swirls of color into the air. Thousands come to watch, and hotels are booked months in advance.

But if you are looking for something more low-key, without the hype and crowds, catching a patron saint day procession is a wonderful alternative.

Posted by elcanche at October 11, 2004 11:03 PM