Fortress Monasteries: San Augustín, Acolman, MX

San Augustín, Acolman,  is one of the "Fortress Monasteries" of Mexico.  These monasteries, largely dating from the 16th century, resemble European-style fortresses, although none of them ever served this purpose.  These buildings were meant to impress the Indian converts, to be a symbol of the might of Christianity the new religion. These buildings had to compete for grandeur with the temples and pyramids that had for centuries been a part of the meso-american landscape. In short, the friars needed to demonstrate the power of the new Christian God and these fortress-churches were a part of that. 

 For an in-depth discussion of the history and architecture of Fortress Monasteries, please read my recent post on the monastery in Actopan, MX. Here is the link:  http://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2014/06/mexicos-fortress-monasteries-san.htm  

The fortress-like crenellations can be seen on the roof-line of the building as well as on the outer-wall.  Acolman is located in the state of Mexico and is a 45 minute drive from Mexico City.

Ex-Convento of San Augustín, Acolman, MX

Ex-Convento of San Augustín, Acolman, MX

Crenellated outer wall, San Augustín, Acolman, MX

This monastery had a double life; in the 1520's it was a small, primitive Franciscan mission and in 1530 it was given over to the Augustinian order.  Their monastery,San Augustín, was built between 1529-60, although the older more primitive structure was left standing and the old cloister and Open Chapel were incorporated into the new, enlarged building.    The old cloister, built of rough stone, can still be seen and the elevated Open Chapel is a part of it.

Patio of Old Cloister with Cross

The open chapels, or Indian Chapels as they came to be called were where religious services for the newly-Christian indigenous peoples were held. The people would stand outside the building in the large atrium (walled-in outer grounds) of the monastery and hear sermons  preached from open chapels.  Indoor worship was unknown to the native meso-american peoples and services within churches were something that came later in the evangelization process. The Acolman open chapel contains a very old wall mural of St. Catherine of Alexandria beheading the king of Egypt.  

Open Chapel (Indian Chapel), San Augustiín, Acolman, MX

Mural of St. Catherine of Alexandria, San Augustín, Acolman, MX 

 

View of atrium from open chapel, San Augustín, Acolman, MX

The newer cloister was built on a much grander scale than the original more primitive one.

Patio of large cloister, San Augustín, Acolman, MX

Patio of large cloister, San Augustín,Acolman, MX

The cloisters were the part of the monastery that housed the monks and their staff and it is possible for contemporary visitors to walk through their halls.  The building contains fabulous murals on many walls and ceilings that are characteristic of Augustinian monasteries of the period.  

Monastery hall with elaborately painted ceiling, St. Augustín, Acolman, MX

Mural of Crucifixion, St. Augustín, Acolman, MX

Mural depicting Heaven and Hell,  St. Augustín, Acolman, MX

The atrial cross at Acolman is a "plumed cross" and contains much iconographic complexity that is not immediately evident.   The crosses in these early monasteries were never of the type displaying the crucified body of Jesus.  That would have been far too provocative to a people whose native religion so heavily involved human sacrifice.  As in the Acolman cross, the early crosses often showed the instruments of the Passion, the  arma christi (please click on photo to enlarge it) and not the whole body of Jesus, but his face alone.  This latter feature was typical of the Augustinian order and resembled the face of Jesus on Veronica's veil.  

Atrial Cross, St. Augustín, Acolman, MX

Crosses were a symbol shared by both the Christian and mesoamerican cosmologies and the cross at Acolman is a subtle mix of pre-Columbian and Christian symbols. It is called a plumed cross because of the feather-like endings of its horizontal arms. Some European crosses have foliate decoration on the arms, but in the hands of the indigenous stone-carvers who made the crosses like the one above, these became feathers.  To the Aztecs and other mesoamerican groups, feathers were a symbol of royalty and divinity and they were being taught that Christ was the new king and ruler of all.  The cross here stands on a small sepulcher with the grieving Virgin Mary seated outside.

  

Please note that at the time of the photos, San Augustín was still decorated for the Christmas season- those are symbolic stars hanging from the ceiling and part of a Nativity Scene can be seen in the second photo.

Church of San Augustín, Acolman, MX

Church Wall Murals, San Augustín, Acolman

The wall murals in the church display various personalities in the Augustinian order ranging from friars to bishops and archbishops.  Towards the top various Old Testament prophets have been included as well as Saints Peter, Paul, and Simon. 

Bishops in wall murals, San Augustín, Acolman, MX

The murals were part of the larger effort by the Christian newcomers to impress their indigenous  converts with their significance.   In the murals the Augustinians are shown along with prophets and saints,  which certainly would have enhanced their prestige in the eyes of the converts.  Recall, that these images were not just  decoration, but were a statement to on-lookers, that proclaimed the scope and power of the Augustinian order.

Remember that the new Christian religion, although it had the power of the Spanish crown behind it, still had to win over the minds of the converts.  Part of the task of the friars was to communicate to the people the idea that the Christian God  was more powerful than the old gods; art and architecture played a central role in this process.

The Historic Organs of Oaxaca with Video of Organ Concert Rehearsal

Organ, Baslilica de La Soledad, Oaxaca 

The Mexican state of Oaxaca has numerous historic pipe organs and a rich musical tradition of organ music.  There are 65 known organs with some dating back to the late 17th century or possibly earlier. They range from those built on a grand scale,  such as the organ above in the Basilical of La Soledad in Oaxaca City to the charming smaller one in the church of San Jeronimo in the town of Tlacochahuaya, located about  thirty minutes outside of Oaxaca City.  

San Jeronimo, Tlacochahuaya

Watch video at:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaQvhFy4-2k 
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To see more of  the beautiful "Folk Baroque" church of San Jeronimo, Tlacochahuaya, please go to this link:  http://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.mx/2013/05/folk-baroque-san-geronimo-tlacochahuaya.html 

For more information about the Historic Organs of Oaxaca here is a link to the website of the organization that is dedicated to the preservation of them: 
http://www.iohio.org/eng/home.htm 

Fortress Monasteries: San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan MX

Along with the physical conquest of the New World came the "spiritual conquest".  The Spanish king had been given permission by the Pope in 1492 to carry-out the conversion of  the newly-conquered peoples to Catholicism and gave this task to friars, Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians and, later, other orders.  The early monasteries built by these friars resembled fortresses, such as the ex-convento of San Nicolas de Tolentino located in Hidalgo state in the town of Actopan and completed in 1560.  Actopan is approximately 60 miles/ 95 km north of Mexico City. 

                                                       

                                                           

                                                                             Actopan, Hidalgo,MX

                                        

                                                          Actopan, Hidalgo, MX

Were these building meant to be fortresses?  The scholarly consensus is no, that there was no on-going warfare in the area these monasteries were built and there would have been no need for fortification.  These buildings were meant to impress the Indian converts, to be a symbol of the might of Christianity, the new religion. These buildings had to compete for grandeur with the temples and pyramids that had for centuries been a part of the meso-american landscape. In short, the friars needed to demonstrate the power of the new Christian God and these fortress-churches were a part of that. 

Atrium:
All of the new world monasteries had a similar structure that was dictated by the needs of converting a huge indigenous population not used to indoor worship.  All had an atrium, an outdoor space surrounded by walls, in which religious services were held in the initial stages of the conversion. The atrium at Actopan is now bricked-in and landscaped as can be seen in the photos below. A cross always stood in the middle of the atrium, the atrial cross, 

Front façade and atrium, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

Atrial Cross, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

Indian Chapel:
Another feature of early monasteries was the open chapel, or Indian Chapel as it was called.  This chapel was the focus of religious activities and friars preached and celebrated the Mass from it.

Indian Chapel, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

The walls of Actopan's open chapel taught, in images, the basic lessons the friars were trying to convey to their Indian converts.  As they and the Catholic Church saw it, the Indians needed to become Christians to save their souls from the horrors of Hell, which were clearly spelled out on the chapel's walls. The walls of this chapel are a visual Bible including images of the Flood, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, with the focus is on the idea of Hell and damnation for souls that are not saved by the Church.

Expulsion from Garden of Eden, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

The Flood and Noah's Ark with sinners drowning, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

"Hellmouth": the Jaws of Hell awaiting sinners, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

Devils and torments awaiting the damned, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

Devils and torments of damned, San Nicolas de Tolention, Actopan, MX

Convent:
The convent, convento in Spanish, was the part of the monastery where the friars lived.
In colonial times these were not totally private spaces, but were also used in instructing the Indian converts.  These basic design of the convent with its central courtyard and colonnades, was based upon Roman architecture.  

View of convent courtyard against side of church, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

Central courtyard of Convento, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

                                           

Corridor, Convento of San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

In the monastery's dining room, there was a pulpit which can be seen on the right side of the room;  there were scriptural readings and sermons during mealtimes. 

Friars' dining room, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

The stairway murals in the Actopan convento are phenomenal and, simply as an art, the black and white murals are striking.  They commemorate the friars of the Augustinian order from the most prominent such as St. Augustine and St. Jerome down to the most humble  and were, in part, meant to establish the authority and power of the Augustinian order in the eyes of the prospective Indian converts.  

Stairway murals, Actopan, MX

Stairway murals, Actopan, MX

Stairway murals, Actopan, MX

Bishop of Augustinian Order, Actopan, MX

The Church:

In earliest colonial times, the church would have been used primarily for the worship of the friars and Spanish settlers in the area, as the outdoor spaces were the ones used with the Indian converts.  Later on and to the present day, the church itself became the primary worship space and San Nicolas de Tolentino is still an active Catholic parish.  

Church Façade of San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

San Nicolas de Tolentino Church and Convent, Actopan, MX

Interior, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

Woman praying before statue of Jesus, San Nicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

Adoration of Holy Sacrament, SanNicolas de Tolentino, Actopan, MX

Holy Week Processions (with video)

It is one thing to read about Antigua Guatemala's incredible Holy Week processions and another to actually see one.  Here is a link to a recent video of mine, which shows a Holy Week procession in a Guatemalan village just outside of Antigua. Being there was a unique experience and because the village procession was less crowded than those in the city, it was easier to get a closer look.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIT5Wg5JNZE   (It's better to read the information in this post before viewing the video).

 In Mexico, Holy Week Processions are, for the most part, found largely on Good Friday.  In Spain, in many locales, there are processions every day of Holy Week beginning with Palm Sunday and even before.  Guatemala, Mexico'a neighbor to the south,  has followed this path and expanded upon it with processions every day during Holy Week and before, throughout the period of Lent.  In fact, this year Antigua Guatemala surpassed Seville, known for having the most elaborate Holy Week processions in Spain, in terms of overall number of processions.

Virgen de Dolores,  start of procession in San Felipe Church, Antigua, Guatemala

Jesus Nazareno, San Francisco Church, Antigua, Guatemala

Virgen de Delores, La Merced procession, Antigua Guatemala

The history of these processions is complex, having both to do with the Catholic Counter-reformation and the Reconquista in Spain, the defeat of the Muslim rulers by the Catholic monarchs in the 15th century.  These public religious processions, in part, were proclamations that the country was once again in the hands of Christian rulers and not the Muslims who had ruled the area for centuries.  The Catholic Counter-reformation, which stemmed from the Council of Trent (1545-63), was motivated by the church's desire to combat the growing power of the Protestant movements.  The Catholic Church needed to keep people interested so that they would not be attracted to the new movements.  The heightened elaboration and emotionalism of the Baroque in the Church- in its art, music and ritual- was motivated by this. The veneration of sacred images was also encouraged and elaborate religious processions were a place where all of this came together.  Initially, these processions and the floats in them were simpler and on a small-scale, but in the 20th century the processions grew into the spectacle that they are now.

Antigua is a very Spanish city with less of the indigenous religious/cultural admixture seen in places like Chiapas and elsewhere in Mexico.   In colonial times, its rulers were very conservative and strove to keep the city's religious proceedings free of local influences. The processions in Antigua are large and elaborate and hugely popular and crowds of people from all over the world come to view these very Spanish-style processions.  

The structure of all processions is the same: incense bearers censing before the floats 
(called andas in Spanish), banner-carriers, a float with Jesus carried by men in purple known as cucuruchos, followed by a funeral band, a second float with a statue of the grieving Mary (Virgen de Dolores) carried by female carriers known as cargadoras followed by another funeral band and then the faithful followers who will walk behind the procession for its hours-long route.  I hope you enjoy the video. 

(An excellent book on Holy Week celebrations in Antigua is "Lent and Holy Week in La Antigua Guatemala" by Elizabeth Bell)

                                         

Jesus in Jail: Holy Thursday in Antigua, Guatemala

Guatemala is Mexico's neighbor to the south.  In colonial times, when boundaries were not so clearly outlined, large parts of present-day Mexico were governed from Antigua which was then Guatemala's capital.   Holy Week in Antigua is a huge event and rivals that  of the Seville, Spain which has the world's largest Holy Week Celebration.  

In Spain and Latin America, Holy Week, the time during which the Passion of Christ unfolds, is observed with the kind of detail that is foreign and exotic to visitors from the U.S. and much of Europe.  Holy Week in Antigua is fascinating and tremendous religious imagination and creativity are at work in its famous Holy Week events.   You can see it in the incredible colored-sawdust carpets  that line its streets before processions and in the incredible processions themselves. The huge floats (andas), the biggest of which are carried by over 100 people, bear holy images from the churches through the streets of the city. There will be much more about all this in future posts.

Yet, there is one very simple tradition I have not seen anywhere but Antigua-  the jailing of Jesus.  On Holy Thursday afternoon, you will find Jesus behind bars on the side of the Cathedral of San Jose.  In terms of the Bible this is inaccurate, since the gospels say that Jesus was arrested by Roman authorities in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Thursday Last Supper which would have been later in the day.  But no one in Antigua is arguing about scriptural accuracy.  

Cathedral of San Jose, Antigua, Guatemala, Jesus Jailed

The Cathedral of San Jose has more than one statue of Jesus and the one that you see in the jail is the figure in the photo below.  Members of one of the Cathedral's hermandades, the specific brotherhood designated to care for this statue, take the statue down from the Cathedral interior, change the clothing, bring him outside and put him in the jail.

Jesus Nazareno, Cathedral of San Jose, Antigua, Guatemala

Cathedral of San Jose, Antigua Guatemala,  Jesus in Jail Cell

Cathedral of San Jose, Antigua Guatemala, Jesus in Jail Cell

You can see the people in the photos reaching through the bars towards Jesus. This image and other religious statues, in the eyes of believers, are more like revered, beloved and spiritually powerful people than statues. The relationships they have with these images are very important and very real and they dedicate much time, energy and money to their upkeep and celebrations that involve them. 

The Resurrection of Jesus on Good Friday Night in Mexico (includes Video)

Processional figure of the tortured Christ,  Merida, MX

The following video shows a very dramatic Good Friday night service that I filmed in Merida, Mexico.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMzCIxbLHWA  (this is a clickable link).  It is best to watch it after reading the information in this post.                                                       ------------------------------------
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day, according to the New Testament, that Jesus made his entry into Jerusalem.  It is the beginning of Holy Week, a time that is celebrated with much ritual and many processions throughout the Latin American world.
Holy Week, there, is very different from the observance in mainstream U.S. religion, in which Easter Day itself is the main event.  In Mexico, Easter Day is just another Sunday, with church services; the drama is what comes before.

Although the parades and processions that are at the heart of Holy Week in Mexico are fascinating to view, a unique celebration is the one held on the night of Good Friday which symbolizes the Resurrection of Jesus.  During this celebration the crucified Jesus is transformed into the resurrected, victorious Christ.  There is a special figure of this Christ,  Cristo Resucitado,  that appears in all churches after Good Friday and remains during the church season of Easter. 

Cristo Resucitado, Merida, MX

Cristo Resucitado

The religious service in which Jesus is symbolically resurrected occurs on the night of Good Friday, about 9:30 pm.  Different churches perform this service differently, but the resurrection of Jesus is always accompanied by light of some sort, as can be seen in the video.