Events

Eight days after Corpus Christi is the Octave of Christ in the Oratorio.  Once organized by the students at the college next door, San Francisco de Sales, the altars were placed inside the college plus special decorations were put in the church.

The devotion to the Sacred Heart is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Roman Catholic devotions, taking Jesus Christ’s physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity.  It is celebrated as the feast day for men named Jesus (as Christmas is reserved to honor Jesus’ birth). …

Saint John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin and is unique among patron saint days as being the only person, other than Jesus, who is commemorated on his birthday, June 24th.  Normally patron saint dates (or feast days, as those named as the saint get to …

The Monastery of Solitude (Monasterio de La Soledad) is a Benedictine Cloister in the hinterlands surrounding San Miguel.  Here eleven men live a life dedicated to constant prayer and reflection since 1990. The monks are an order of Saint Benedict, whose feast day is July 11th.  He …

Mount Carmel is a Holy Land mountain located in a richly forested area at the southern end of a long fertile valley inhabited since the Stone Age. The beauty of the mountain is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. The feast day we now celebrate on …

The Feast of Jesus of Nazareth de Atotonilco (also known in Nahuatl as the God of the Hot Water) is celebrated at its namesake church in the small village of Atotonilco seven miles from San Miguel.  The church attracts about 5,000 visitors every week. The …

James was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, and the first apostle to be martyred. Once beheaded by Herod Agrippa himself, his body was taken up by angels, and sailed in a rudderless, unattended boat to Spain where he had converted locals earlier in his life. …

Saint Ann (Ana, Anna, Hannah or Anne) was the mother of Mary and grandmother to Jesus.  Her husband was Joachim (Joaquin).  Their combined feast day is July 26th. Normally statues of Mary and Joseph flank an altar.  However, in the Santa Anna church in San …

Saint Martha was the aggressive middle sister to her siblings Lazarus and Mary.  She was a friend of Jesus’. In the bible she is known for being witness to Jesus’ resurrection of her brother, Lazarus.  Jesus also shocks her out of her anxious fretting about meal preparation (she is now the …

Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight from a noble family who following injury in battle during the early 1500s had visions of Mary, becoming a hermit and priest who founded the Jesuits. Jesuits had a profound impact on San Miguel de Allende, and around the world, forming numerous Jesuit …

A small town near Assisi, Our Lady of the Angels, is home to St. Francis’ first monastery.    Here St. Francis of Assisi lived, started the Franciscan order and died.  Our Lady of the Angels was founded by hermits who declared here is where Mary …

Saint Dominic was a Spanish priest in the late twelfth century and founder of the Dominican Order of teachers. The spread of the rosary is attributed to the preaching of St. Dominic.   The rosary has for centuries been at the heart of the Dominican Order.  Dominicans have been instrumental in spreading …