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Last updateFri, 01 May 2015 7pm

Jocotepec honors Señor del Guaje

Jocotepec’s second most important religious celebration comes to an end on Sunday, May 3. The nine-day festivity honoring the deeply revered Señor del Guaje culminates with an impressive street procession starting at 6 p.m. that departs from the chapel located on Calle Hidalgo opposite the town’s parish church.

Hundreds of pilgrims accompany the chapel’s giant figure of Christ on the Cross during the 90 minute march looping around the center of town via Hidalgo, Juarez, Matamoros, Morelos, Independencia and a final lap along Juarez and Hidalgo to arrive at the parish atrium for the celebration of an open-air Mass. 

Many of the faithful parade blindfolded, barefoot or on their knees as a sign of devotion. Elaborately costumed ritual dance troupes add rhythm and flare to the religious pageantry.

According to popular legend, both the image of El Señor de Guaje and the smaller figure of Jocotepec spiritual patron El Señor del Monte were carved from the branches of a huge guaje tree (Leucaena leucocephala) discovered in the vicinity of San Pedro Tesistán around 1718. The larger crucifix was ensconced above the parish until 1966 when it was relocated to become the centerpiece of the ancient chapel across the way.