Reseña del Señor San Miguel (Third Sunday in August)

 

This is an indigenous celebration dating back to the colonial era, marking the start of festivities in honor of the patron saint of San Miguel de Allende. In these festivities, traditionally, a live bull was offered in sacrifice. Community representatives shared the organizing responsibilities beginning on Saturday night. While prayers were said and songs of praise sung, traditional offerings were put together, along with adornments to be worn by the bull offered in sacrifice (collars of chilies, garlic, radishes and cabbage). On Sunday, the bull was washed and adorned to walk through the city streets, arriving at the parish church, where it was presented to San Miguel with traditional Conchero dances. The bull was then walked on to the market, the cemetery, and finally to the city jail, where it was slaughtered and cooked with the vegetable collars, making a meal to be shared by the celebration participants.

 

Semana Santa (Holy Week)

 

"Semana Santa," as Holy Week is called in Spanish, is a religious event commemorating the Passion of Christ. It begins on Wednesday with the Stations of the Cross, a tradition established here in the 18th century by Father Luis Felipe Neri, who also founded the shrine Santuario de Atotonilco (which, incidently, is where the insurgents took up their first banner in the War of Mexican Independence). In this Via Crucis, a procession consisting of fourteen Stations begins in the church Templo del Oratorio, goes through the streets of the city center and arrives at the chapel Capilla del Calvario.

Holy Thursday is celebrated by visits to the Seven Houses, that is, the city's seven churches.

Holy Thursday is a day of multiple processions: the processions of the Lord of the Column, the Lord of the Thorn, and the Holy Encounter.

On Saturday, the Resurrection of Christ is commemorated, and the traditional burning of Judas takes place (the Judas is a cardboard effigy burned with the aid of gunpowder) in the town's main square, the Jardín Principal.

 

 

San Miguel de Allende celebrates Saint Patrick's Day with a "Celtic Spirit Parade," where residents of Irish descent don traditional Irish dress – or at least wear green – and pipers play.
Saint Patrick

March 17 is Saint Patrick's Day, an Irish feast day honoring Patrick, the missionary who evangelized and brought Christianity to the island in the 5th century AD. The festivities never pass unnoticed, since just about everyone wears green. The first Saint Patrick's Day celebration in the Americas was in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737. Patrick, whose real name was Maewyn Succat, was born circa 387 in Banna Venta Berniae in what is today Scotland. He was the son of a Roman officer, who was Catholic. Patrick was kidnapped at age 16 by pirates, who sold him as a slave. During his 6 years in captivity, he found strength in his religious faith. He eventually escaped and went on to study religion in Europe. Patrick returned to Ireland to bring the word of Christ, and it was there that he became a preacher of the Gospel. He masterfully adapted to the region's social conditions, forming a local clergy and multiple Christian communities, all the while respecting local traditions and customs. He is known as the Apostle of Ireland, where he died circa 461. Patrick is known for his use of the three-leaf clover as a metaphor to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost).

Legend has it that Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland into the sea where they drowned. Snakes were a revered pagan symbol, and this legend likely alludes to the fact that Patrick drove paganism out of Ireland.