1892 
Goad*Isjara 
(Jalisco) 
June 24 
to 
June SO 
Souls taken 
from purga¬ 
tory by 
lottery 
Virgin 
of 
Zapopan 
Among the odd signs one encounters here such as bear historical 
names are noticeable and one tells us that the sons of Ponce de 
Leon are professors of dentistry, and Cortes, Alvarado, and llune z 
are following more peaceful occupations than their epoch-making 
namesakes. 
In the State of Jalisco in 1890-91 the State sohools had 58,130 
children of both sexes in 466 schools. Even in out of the way 
- » t 
Indian villages I was often surprised to see a large sign "Eseuela 
Oficial para nines”, showing that the government is actively at 
work trying to raise the standing of the poor, 
« 
The priests among other things have a lottery of souls that they 
l 
practice as follows* A Gregorian mss is supposed to take a soul 
out of purgatory but is expensive, ranging from 60 to 100 dollars. 
so is beyond reach of poor people. In order to get around this, a 
notice is stuck on church doors now and then announcing that on© of 
these masses is to be said and that a certain number of tickets will 
; ' 
be sold for it at $1,00 each, These tickets are sold and before the 
mass begins a drawing is made by the priest and whoever holds tiro 
lucky number has mss said for the soul of his relative. 
The Virgin of Zapopan (a small village near Guadalajara) is a 
favorite local patroness, I saw posted on the church doors in 
Guadalajara handbills announcing that "Our Lady of Zapopan" would 
visit the churches of Guadalajara in the following order, and then 
followed a programme of dates giving the various churches from 2 to 
6 or 8 days each according to their importance. In the churohes 
services are held in her honor and she remains in Guadalajara till 
the end of the rainy season. The small image is then hauled back to 
Zapopan in a carriage and a church service and general celebration 
of the event follows. 
81 
