Day of The Black Christ of Esquipulas
January 15
For many people in Central and South America, the pilgrimage to the Black Christ of Esquipulas begins well in advance of the January 15 festival. Quite a number of Indians make the journey to Esquipulas—located in southeastern Guatemala along the borders with El Salvador and Honduras—entirely on foot, and look down upon those pilgrims who travel by horseback or in cars. Many don wide-brimmed straw hats, to which they attach gray Spanish moss and chiches (breasts), a yellow fruit that resembles a gourd. Indians making the journey from Quezaltenango blacken their hands with the juice from a special fruit. Folk belief teaches that this act aids Christ in enduring his pain.
Prior to the Spanish Conquest, Indians came to site of modern-day Esquipulas for religious rituals and trade. Once the Spaniards arrived the chief of the local tribes, whose name was Esquipulas, comprehended that it would be useless to resist the Europeans and decided instead to cooperate with them. The Spaniards honored him by founding a town which bore his name. They also built a Roman Catholic church and hired a well-known artist to sculpt a statue of Jesus. Since the local Indians thought that all Europeans were wicked, the priests requested that the artist carve the statue from balsam wood, a wood whose color was close to that of the natives' skin. Over the 400 years that have elapsed since then, the statue has darkened to black due to constant exposure to candle smoke and incense. Many legends involving answered prayers and miraculous cures have enhanced the Black Christ's reputation.
January 15
For many people in Central and South America, the pilgrimage to the Black Christ of Esquipulas begins well in advance of the January 15 festival. Quite a number of Indians make the journey to Esquipulas—located in southeastern Guatemala along the borders with El Salvador and Honduras—entirely on foot, and look down upon those pilgrims who travel by horseback or in cars. Many don wide-brimmed straw hats, to which they attach gray Spanish moss and chiches (breasts), a yellow fruit that resembles a gourd. Indians making the journey from Quezaltenango blacken their hands with the juice from a special fruit. Folk belief teaches that this act aids Christ in enduring his pain.
Prior to the Spanish Conquest, Indians came to site of modern-day Esquipulas for religious rituals and trade. Once the Spaniards arrived the chief of the local tribes, whose name was Esquipulas, comprehended that it would be useless to resist the Europeans and decided instead to cooperate with them. The Spaniards honored him by founding a town which bore his name. They also built a Roman Catholic church and hired a well-known artist to sculpt a statue of Jesus. Since the local Indians thought that all Europeans were wicked, the priests requested that the artist carve the statue from balsam wood, a wood whose color was close to that of the natives' skin. Over the 400 years that have elapsed since then, the statue has darkened to black due to constant exposure to candle smoke and incense. Many legends involving answered prayers and miraculous cures have enhanced the Black Christ's reputation.
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