- P7251051
61 days until the beatification of Father Stanley Rother - P7251081
Members of the cofradia perform rituals prior to the procession for St. James - P7251100
Effigy of St. James - P7251120
Kids prepare to carry an effigy in the procession - P7251126
The procession prepares to leave the church - P7251242
St. James the Apostle Church - P7251249
Altar, St. James the Apostle Church The main altar, installed during Father Rother's tenure in 1976, is made of beautifully carved wood. It is a textbook example of the syncretism which occurred between colonial Spanish Catholicism and pre-Columbian religions. In the early days of colonialism and Catholic missionaries, it was understood that the Mayans considered the mountains to be sacred. So the Catholics put crosses on the mountain peaks so that, by worshipping mountains, they were inadvertently worshipping the cross as well. This started a synthesis between Mayan traditional beliefs and Catholicism. The altar itself is shaped like a volcano. A priest ascends from one side, and a Mayan farmer ascends from the other. Mayan trees of life grow on the slopes and the peak of the volcano. Effigies of saints dressed in local clothes are displayed in niches, with a carving of God at the volcano's peak. - P7251139
Cofradia members drinking a shot of aguardiente liquor - P7251135
The procession prepares to leave the church - P7251143
Women adjust their tocoyal headdresses - P7251272
Effigy, St. James the Apostle Church - P7251083
Shrine to Saint James the Evangelist - P7251179
Effigies are carried down the church steps for the procession - P7251183
Effigies are carried down the church steps for the procession - P7251188
Effigies are carried down the church steps