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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



of the Descent from the Cross, one San Isidro, 

 one picture of Las Animas, one Saint John the 

 Baptist, the pictures of the Fourteen Stations, 

 one harmonium, and one organ." Greatest of 

 all losses was the destruction of the painting 

 of The Descent from the Cross, a picture com- 

 monly, but probably erroneously, attributed to 

 Titian. It was the principal attraction for 

 tourists, many of whom stopped on their way 

 to Patzcuaro to see the painting. 



After the destruction, Tzintzuntzan was for- 

 tunate in having the large Soledad chapel, which 

 was offered by the townspeople, in their own 

 interests, of course, to the priest to serve for all 

 services until the reconstruction of La Parroquia 

 could be completed. This has meant a doubling 

 up of the ceremonial and religious activities 

 formerly spread between the two buildings, with 

 consequent confusion at times to the ethnologist 

 in trying to determine which activities more 

 properly belong to the community, and which 

 fall within the realm of the Church itself. La 

 Soledad has ceased to be merely a big chapel, 

 a larger edition of San Francisco, reserved for 

 specific functions and fiestas during the year, 

 and has assumed the place of the parish church 

 for all major religious activities. It is a build- 

 ing with a single tower, pleasing in appearance 

 though less ornate than the parish church. The 

 floor is wood, and the plaster walls show faded 

 painted stencils. At the front is the high main 

 altar on which is placed the sagrario. the chest- 

 like ciborium in which is kept the santisimo 

 (Holy Sacrament), the consecrated wafers for 

 the Eucharist. Flanking it on both sides are 

 smaller altars which are arranged in different 

 fashions throughout the year for the various 

 fiestas. Just in front of the left altar, hanging 

 precariously to the wall, is the pulpit, and be- 

 neath it, a smail harmonium which serves in the 

 absence of an organ. Two long benches line 

 each wall of the church, and each side likewise 

 has its confessional booth, that on the right for 

 women and that on the left for men. 



Around the walls of the church, about 5 m. 

 from the floor, are small pictures surmounted 

 by a cross, and always hanging askew, of the 

 Fourteen Stations. The roof is a wooden vault, 

 from which hang several long light cords termin- 

 ating in single, unprotected bulbs, a gesture in 

 the direction of progress and the 20th century. 



Fortunately La Soledad has to date escaped hav- 

 ing her facade outlined with electric light bulbs, 

 a fate which sooner or later seems inevitable 

 for all churches with ambitious priests and 

 parishioners. To the right of the altar a door 

 communicates to another room, the sacristy, 

 which is used for small functions such as bap- 

 tisms, and through which the priest enters the 

 church. 



La Soledad, like all Mexican churches and 

 chapels, contains a number of images and pic- 

 tures of saints, the Virgin, and of Christ. Some 

 of these belong especially to La Soledad and 

 represent the accumulation of years, and others 

 are the few that were salvaged from the burned 

 parish church. Each has its appropi-iate place, 

 the pictures hanging permanently but the images 

 free to be moved for special religious observ- 

 ances. Those which figure particularly in relig- 

 ious rites may be pointed out. 



On the right-hand wall near the front of the 

 building is the towering construction known as 

 the Monument to the Holy Sacrament. During 

 Easter Week a small glass case with two 

 images, Los Ninos Cuates, the children Jesus 

 and John, rests on this altar, and at other times 

 it is decorated with flowers and candles. Ex- 

 cept when removed for the Easter celebrations 

 the Santo Entierro lies at the foot of this altar 

 in a glass case known as the "urn." This most 

 revered of all images of Christ is a 2-m. wooden 

 figure, hands and feet pierced so that nails can 

 be driven through to suspend it from the cross, 

 and with blood painted streaming down its face 

 from wounds beneath the crown of thorns. 



According to tradition, just when La Soledad 

 was completed a horse wandered into the atrium 

 bearing the figure, its drivers having become 

 lost. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, 

 the priest placed the image in the newly complet- 

 ed chapel and asked no questions. Subsequently 

 a commission arrived from Patzcuaro to explain 

 that the image had been destined for one of 

 their churches, and credentials having been prop- 

 erly established, permission was granted for the 

 removal. But when the Patzcuarenos tried to 

 lift it it became so heavy that they could not 

 budge it. During subsequent years others tried 

 to move the image, with the same results. But, 

 curiously, the Tzintzuntzeiios were able to carry 

 it about in their processions with the greatest 



