EMPIRES children: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



209 



perhaps 10 minutes there is a display to satisfy the 

 most demanding critic. Shouts of delight mingle with 

 screams of surprise and pain when powder shoots 

 out and burns spectators standing too near. After- 

 ward, most people move over to a small stage in front 

 of the chapel of San Francisco, where a group of 

 amateur actors from Patzcuaro is presenting a co- 

 loquia, a religious playlet depicting Biblical scenes. 

 From early evening the two bands have been engaged 

 in really serious competition. 



Ihuatzio, seeing a chance to make a professional 

 killing, has added five e.xtra musicians to its normal 

 complement of 20, but at the last minute, the Noco- 

 sepu director, fearful for his reputation, has brought 

 15 more musicians to add to his depleted 17, and 

 popular judgment is that this is the finest music the 

 town has ever enjoyed. Music, gaming, and drinking 

 last until well past midnight, and most agree that it 

 has been a fine day. 



Wednesday, February 7. This is supposed to be 

 a day of continued celebration. Actually, the crowd 

 thins very rapidly, and the restaurateurs agree that 

 the visitors have not been muy gastador, good spend- 

 ers. The highway, which makes possible greater at- 

 tendance, is also the greatest enemy of the fiesta. 

 Formerly peo|de walked or came in boats, arriving a 

 day or two early and staying a day or two after the 

 main day. Now they can leave their homes early in 

 the morning, even returning the same night, in busses 

 and trucks, at less cost in time and money. Both 

 bands play until midafternoon, and then give up 

 and go home. The Gran Jaripeo is, of course, not 

 held. Wearied after several days of bingo and other 

 games, the gambling urge for most persons has worn 

 off. Prices are cut in half, and many of the stands 

 are dismantled. For practical purposes the fiesta is 

 over by noon. 



LENT 



(La Cuaresma) 



The period of Lent is, from the standpoint of 

 the Church, the most important time of the year. 

 Formerly there was an elaborate Carnival but 

 in recent years this practice has died out. In a 

 sense its place is taken by the Rescate fiesta, 

 which comes only a week before the Carnival 

 normally would fall. 



ASH WEDNESDAY 



(Miercoles de Ceniza) 



Ash Wednesday is the first day of significance 

 in Lent, although in practice very little happens. 

 Most people go to High Mass to have blessed 

 ashes placed on their heads by the priest. Some- 

 times a bit of an old saint's image, well-worn 

 and no longer serving its function, is burned to 

 secure ashes, and other times palm fronds or 

 live branches are used. 



THE SIX FRIDAYS 



The six Fridays are the most important days 

 of Lent before Holy Week. They are marked by 

 the Via Crucis procession, after which the car- 

 gueros of La Judea offer their pozole (p. 196). 

 On the first Friday El Nazareno, a kneeling 

 image of Christ supporting a wooden cross, is 

 brought out of the sacristy and placed on a lit- 

 ter equipped with carrying poles. The litter is 

 carried to a place just beneath the pulpit, where 

 it is left throughout Lent, except when removed 

 for the processions. Beside Christ, also on a lit- 

 ter, is the image of the Virgen de los Dolores. 

 The same evening the image of Christ is cover- 

 ed with a lavender robe, and about 9 o'clock 

 leaves the church, carried by the cargueros, to 

 make a counter-clockwise circuit of the atrium, 

 followed by the image of His mother. The 

 procession stops in front of the facade of the 

 old temple of the Third Order, in front of 

 the Chapel of San Francisco, and in front of 

 each of the 12 little stone shrines which line the 

 churchyard. Many of the followers carry can- 

 dles, carefully shielding them with their hands 

 against the night breezes. 



The act is a dramatization of Christ's trip to 

 the crucifixion, and each of the stops symbolizes 

 one of the Fourteen Stations on the way to the 

 cross. Thus, 14 times the images stop, the fol- 

 lowers bend and kiss the earth, and a woman 

 member of the Third Order reads the account 

 of Christ's ordeal and exactly what happened at 

 the particular station at which they are kneeling. 

 At intervals the followers make responses, and 

 at the end again kiss the earth before rising to 

 proceed to the next station. In each of the little 

 shrines flowers have been placed and candles 

 lighted. After returning to the church, all ad- 

 journ to the house of the mayordomo for the 

 first pozole. 



The procession is repeated on each succeeding 

 Friday until on the last, Vicrnes de Dolores, 

 the Friday before Palm Sunday, the culminat- 

 ing encounter between Christ and His mother is 

 staged. The centurion, as has been seen (p. 196), 

 dresses a youth in white robes and mounts him 

 on a white horse, and to the tune of the chiri- 

 mia, clarin, and drum he is marched to the 

 church. The mournful notes of the clarin are 

 weird beyond description, and when heard at 



