Yesterday crowds of people moved through the streets and into the Catholic churches with their arms full of manzanilla, chamomile. Inside the churches, altars were full of flowers and candles and graphic exhibits related to Christ's crucifixion. The tradition is for people to visit seven churches on the one day. In Guanajuato, this can be accomplished within a 15-minute walking radius of el Centro. Lines extended from the church doors into the streets.
Today, a peregrinación, a pilgrimage, proceeded from near el Centro to a church up the hill near an old mine, la Mina de Cata. The procession followed a large wooden platform bearing an icon of Christ carrying the cross; it was carried by about 20 men. More than a hundred men followed the procession in two lines; they all wore dark purple burlap gowns and full face masks. Heavy ropes hung around their necks. They were barefoot. It felt medieval. One man had a large color tattoo of the Virgin of Guadalupe on his back. Another wore a black ribbon around each ankle with the name "Che" printed in bold white letters around each ribbon. I wondered what motivated each man to do the pilgrimage, and if it was something he did once in his lifetime, or every year. And why it was only men. They did not speak as they walked.
Crowds of people grouped around and behind the men in purple robes, chatting and pushing steadily forward. The procession grew to many hundreds of people as it advanced, slowly over more than two hours, toward the church. Periodically, the procession would stop, and a portion of the crucifixion story was related over a loudspeaker. Many people in the crowds wore purple; some carried candles; some carried coca-cola and picnics.
There are so many ways for people to demonstrate devotion.
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