San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico. A beautiful town that we visited last year. This time we arrived the day before the February 3rd celebration of San Blas...in honor of the monk, Blas de Mendoza, for whom the city was named and who, we were told, was a physician. His "specialty" (we were told) was the throat, and a blessing of candles (placed across the throat and at the side of each supplicant's face) was offered by the local priests in the cathedral.
Celebrations are a mix of history, tradition, music, color, costumes and fun. We asked what it all meant...most people had no idea, other than "It's what we've always done. It's traditional." So we stopped asking and simply enjoyed the day: there was a balloon-festooned panga flotilla that left from the town wharf and, cheered on by hundreds of people on the water's bank, roared out of the estuary to circle La Piedra Blanca de la Tierra just out to sea from the harbor entrance and return. A life size figure of San Blas was carried from the church to the wharf to see the flotilla off.
When the boats returned, the saint was escorted back to the cathedral in a parade of dancers, drummers, and singers. Great care was taken to put the saint back in his correct position on the altar and the vela blessing conducted to songs and chants.
No comments:
Post a Comment