On Thursday Meredith and I went to the Zocalo with Ruth. Ruth is a native Mexican who works with the CUR as a full time counseling staff member. She studied art history and counseling, and seems to have done everything there possibly is to do! (She is very impressive.) Her presence, translating ability, and knowledge made for a fascinating tour of the National Cathedral and the National Palace.
This was my second time at the national cathedral. The first time I was awed by the grandeur. The place is amazing! Gold leaf everywhere, marble pulpits, the largest pipe organ that I have ever seen, and much much more to impress. However, this time I felt a bit less of the touristy aesthetic appreciation, and was a bit overwhelmed by the fact that this best of the building is many people’s place of worship.
The Virgin of Guadalupe is central, there are offering boxes in front of every shrine, and mysticism is a big part of belief and practice. Syncretism is very present in Mexican Catholicism, Christ’s victory in not the center of this religion, instead the Virgin of Guadalupe is the focus. There is a saying that all Mexicans are Guadalupans, even many otherwise secular people, venerate Our Lady the “Queen of Mexico.”
John Paul the II was a very beloved Pope by the Mexican people. He is the pope who recently officially canonized Juan Diego (the peasant in the legend to whom the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared and upon whose cloak the famous image of the virgin miraculously appeared) and he visited Mexico many times. After his death the Cathedral commissioned a statue of him which was made entirely out of keys which residents of Mexico donated.
The statue has the Virgin of Guadalupe as the dominant figure on his cloak, he is holding a staff (right word?) with a small crucifix on the top, and he is wearing a hat with a dove on it representing the Holy Spirit. The placement and proportion of these elements makes clear the focus and emphasis of this church. Instead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; it seems to be the Holy Mother, Son, and Spirit. The visible church of Rome is central in this, and the Pope holds the key (hence the significance of the donated materials) to heaven. It is a beautiful statue, and is interesting because not all of the keys were complexly melted so they are clearly visible in the rear of the statue. But it is revealing about Mexican Catholicism.
The National Palace was my favorite part of the tour because we were able to see Diego Rivera’s amazing murals of Mexican history. With incredible talent and skill he painted and the complex and twisted history which is Mexico.
One mural contains all of Mexican history. It takes you through pre-Hispanic history, the conquest, independence, the French and American Invasion, and Revolutions. Diego Rivera ends this particular mural with his hope for Mexico’s future. This hope stands in stark opposition to that which is offered by the National Cathedral which is right next door! Diego depicts Mexico as a machine, which had been corroded by greed, religion, greedy and corrupted church clergy, Americans, and capitalism. He presents his hope for Mexico in the picture of his two wives Frieda Kahlo and his long-time manager along with education, and nationalism, and the local people. This hope for Mexico is depicted with Marx at the very top of the mural in a deistic position, looking down upon Mexico’s progress.
Rivera correctly saw all the flaws and corruption clearly apparent in the Mexican system, he saw man’s fallenness and brokenness, yet he continued to look to man and a system for a solution.
Both of these essential landmarks and centers of Mexican culture offer hope in very different things. Although ultimately, the hope they offer is shallow and illusory. There is no problem in seeing the state of the world, especially for Mexicans whose history has been a beat-down leading to chronic fatalism; however, the solution of mysticism or man and his systems are sure (and have clearly proven to in the past) to fail.
A lot to see, and much more to think about.
Yesterday’s visit to Teotihuacan was wonderful. The place is amazing. We climbed the Pyramid of the Sun and then continued down the Avenue of the Dead to the Pyramid of the Moon and climbed that too. How amazing to think that we have no idea who built these amazing structures, the Aztecs just found them when they arrived! They continued to build Teotihuacan into a very great city, full of order, progress, trade, and culture, however it was marred by the unbelievable bloodshed of their sacrificial system. Thousands and thousands of people lost their lives to pacify and honor gods on the pyramids that I climbed.
There were over 20 students who came with us on the trip. It was a very wonderful time of fellowship. I am really loving the people that I am meeting. I pray that I would be used in their lives and that they would be used in mine. The hour long trip out to the pyramids, the climbing (or rather the breaks to recover our breath), and lunch were times to have some really good conversations.
I did not plan for this to be this long, sorry about that.
