What a party! Feast of Santiago

Sleep just wasn't going to happen. That was our conclusion at 4:30 am when the sky opened up with a tremendous and thrilling fireworks display over the Church plaza.

The Feast of Santiago (St. James the Apostle) began!

After the barrage, the church bells began to peal, summoning the faithful to the plaza. Mark and I went to our rooftop view and were amazed to see whole families hurrying to the Church in the predawn hours. Soon, a band struck up and by following the sound and the moving fireworks, we knew that a procession through the town had begun.

We hurried down to the corner to see the procession approaching. Women, all wearing the Tzutujil traditional "traje" led the parade, carrying a banner for the Accion Catolica group. They were soon followed by candle carrying members of the parish. As the musicians passed we could see several men carrying the scarve and ribbon bedecked statue of Santiago, on horseback and carrying a sword. (I believe this is the image of St. James as Matamoros from Spain).

One of the statues of Santiago on display in the plaza.

As the procession made its way through town, it eventually made its way back to the Church for the first of four Masses. This one began about 6:30am, to a packed church, all the people dressed in their best, mostly traditional, dress. It was thrilling and the whole town buzzed. Mark and I wondered what the evangelicals do on such a Catholic feast day.

A packed church for Mass.

After briefly following the procession, Mark and I returned to the office for an egg breakfast, and a wait for the Archbishop's group from Oklahoma City to arrive.

The group from OKC arrived about 10am, after taking the ferry from Panajachel where they were staying. The group consisted of mostly elderly people, relatives of Fr. Rother, priests from the OKC diocese, and Archbishop Eusibius Beltran. The only Tulsan in the group was Robert LaFortune, former mayor of Tulsa. A fine man! We were greeted very cordially by the group and stayed with them while we waited for Mass to begin.

We arrived at the church to find it packed, but space had been reserved for the group, for which I was very thankful.

The Mass was presided by Archbishop Beltran, assisted by a local deacon and Fr. Anthony Taylor from OKC. The other American priests present and the local pastor, Padre Pedro Gabriel Mus, concelebrated with the Archbishop.

Archbishop Beltran celebrating Mass

The archbishop gave his homily in Spanish (later translated into Tzutujil) and spoke about the ties between Oklahoma and SA and the legacy of Fr. Rother. It was simple, but I thought very appropriate.

At the end of the Mass, strangely after the procession had left the church, one of the local seminarians spoke in English to the visitors. He very passionately welcomed us and greeted us as brothers of the Tzutujil. I was quite impressed, especially since he was so nervous.

After Mass, all the Oklahomans present, including Tracy, met at the Amigos office for a catered lunch from La Posada. Tracy's friend, Dr. Leah, from the Hospitalito was invited as well. It was a nice lunch, very cordial. I was lucky enough to sit near the Archbishop and to talk with him a bit. He seemed more interested in Tracy and her family, but I am from the "other diocese."

A thunderstorm set in later that afternoon, so we ultimately sat around the office and chatted with Tracy and Leah for quite awhile.

Meanwhile ... the festival continued. More scream and yells from the ferris wheels, trampolining, video games, soccer games, live music on stage in the town plaza, fried chicken vendors, street tacos, and many many merchants selling all sorts of goods. It was glorious, in a strange Tzutujil way.

I should mention more about the soccer games. They use a strange set of rules since it is played on a basketball court. The most obvious rule change is that the goalie cannot throw the ball directly to any player, but must bounce pass it. I guess this is to avoid the temptation for him to throw it into the opposing goal, which seems quite possible.

Even watching soccer, the spectators are very quiet and watchful. Only once did I see anyone cheer for a good play.

Approaching the church, we noticed that the Cofradia had moved all the various, and variously decorated, statues of Santiago out of the church and down to the bottom of the steps. As they stood guard, they smoked heavily and took shots of whiskey. I can only imagine that it is part of the "Maximon" cult of the Cofradia.

As a band played, the Cofradia proceeded to get very drunk. Some of the men danced together. Some of them fell down and passed out. Most of the others were rather oblivious in their rather reserved way. It was a marvel to see, even if I don't quite understand the Tzutujil way.

Drunken Cofradia dancing in the church plaza.

We eventually returned to our rooftop vantage point and called it a night. A long but fascinating day.