Feast of Sta. Juliana

In an earlier post I wrote about the previous site of Christ Church, which was in downtown Mexico City but later abandoned as the church constructed new facilities at the current site in Lomas de Chapultepec, west of the downtown area in what is a largely (though not exclusively) residential neighborhood.  After the earlier location had been neglected for a number of years, it became the site of what was at first a diocesan, and then a Christ Church social outreach ministry.  It is now known as Santa Juliana de Norwich, or "St. Julian of Norwich," which, by felicitous coincidence is the saint after whom our daughter Julian is named.  Nowadays the ministry at Sta. Juliana consists of a weekly Eucharist, and a soup kitchen that ministers to a small group of 10 -15 faithful souls. 

Since May 8th was the feast day of St. Julian, I had the bright idea of using the day to have a celebration of the ministry of that location.  We kept the weekly service, of course, but I invited the bishop to be the celebrant.  He gladly -- no, enthusiastically -- accepted.  I preached, and Father Xavier, who assists at Sta. Juliana, got his choir to lead the music.  George, the deacon, engaged the bagpipers.  It was a splendid, exciting, beatiful celebration. 

Here I am with my bishop, El Revdmo. Carlos Touche Porter:

And here we are with the members of the choir:

After the celebration at the altar, we celebrated around other tables in the parish hall, where we enjoyed a festive meal.  It seems to me that for many Mexicans, a fesive meal is mole -- which many in the US think of as chicken in chocolate sauce.  Real mole is much different, and, although it usually does include cocoa powder, it also includes many other flavors such as chiles, spices, herbs, and sometimes cinnamon or ground nuts.  There were also tamales, which are mostly served on special occasions because their preparation is so labor intensive.  The basic ingredients are masa (corn flour) mixed with other ingredients to make a thick dough which is then wrapped around seasoned meat or vegetables; then the whole is steamed in corn husks

Hail to the cooks!

In the background of each of the above pictures of the fiesta you can seen another element of the day's celebration -- on the walls of the parish hall there was an art show showcasing works by children of a local school. 

The day closed with two fascinating events: in the first, the children painted -- on large pieces of newsprint or directly on the wall.  As they painted, a bassist played, evidently to inspire the children. 

After a while, there were dancers.  I wasn't quite sure if this was to be another source of inspiration, or its own separate artistic presentation.  Note that these are not ballet or contemporary dancers.  Nor are they liturgical dancers. 

These were belly dancers!!!  (I don't know the term in Spanish, but I do know that this is not an indigenous local art form that cultural anthropologists are struggling to preserve.) 

One last aspect of the day's ministry was the distribution of food baskets -- over one hundred of them! -- given to the needy of the neighborhod.  The food baskets contained staples and non-perishable items and were prepared through the generosity of members of Christ Church, and with the cooperation of the Charity Coalition of Mexico City. 

he feast -- The Fiesta -- of Sta. Juliana.