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 Mexico
The Child-God of Xochimilco
By José António M. Rebelo
Comboni Missionary
The Philippines has its Santo Niño of Cebu, and Xochimilco (a barrio in Mexico City) has the Niñopa or Child-God. On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (February 2), the image gets new adoptive parents, known as mayordomos, guardians who will care for him as a privileged son. People bring to the beautiful celebration, to be blessed, all the Niños they venerate at home. This "Mexican Venice" – as Xochimilco is sometimes called – celebrates the event with great ceremony.
Xochimilco – one of the 16 administrative areas into which the great Mexico City is divided – is in a permanent state of fiesta. This is due to its more than 400 annual festivities and especially to the deep-rooted devotion to "their" Child Jesus, who everyday visits those who invite him to their houses, generally accompanied by music, dances and fireworks.
The names usually employed for the image – in a mixture of Spanish and Náhuatl, the Aztec language – are: Niñopa (Niño+pa), meaning "Child-God"; or "Child-Father" and Niñopan (Niño+pan), "Child of the People" or "Child of the Place."
The most important celebration takes place on February 2, the liturgical feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, when the Child-God moves house. On that day, people bring images of the Child Jesus they keep at home to the huge Eucharistic celebration which takes place at the church garden. After the celebration, there is a procession to the mayordomos′ house, where there is a festival of music, dance and food for all those who want to join in. The streets that lead to the Niñopa′s new home are well adorned – the decorations are kept for the whole ensuing year – and this makes it easier for outsiders to find their way there.
The Niñopa is also especially celebrated on the 30th of April, Children′s Day, and during the Christmas Novena. During the Novena, Mexicans celebrate the famous "Posadas" – one family per day welcomes the Child Jesus – and, in this way, he has the opportunity to follow closely the preparations being made for his birth.
According to anthropologist Father Benjamín Bravo, "the Niñopa rites are Catholic (because they take place during a Mass). Nonetheless, their basic ethos continues to be indigenous since, in reality, this is an image that is treated as if it were a live baby belonging to a local family: they rock him, sing to him and lay it in the cradle, located in the most special place in the house. Generally the babies have various clothes."
Mayordomos until 2040
The Niñopa belongs to civil society and has never been kept on a permanent basis in a church. Every year, there are new mayordomos who have the responsibility of caring for him the best they can. Everybody would like to be a mayordomo -- certainly, because of devotion and also because of the status they thus acquire in Xochimilco society. But this is an honor reserved for a few: the mayordomos′ waiting-list is complete until 2040. And booking is stll closed for the subsequent years.
The mayordomia (guardianship) for the current year (2005-2006) is entrusted to the Galicia Aguilar family. Mrs. Maria de los Angeles Aguilar Sanchez, a retired teacher, is a widow and so she shares the guardianship with her son Saúl Galicia Aguilar. They made their request to be guardians 25 years ago. Eventually, their turn has come to be the adoptive parents of the Child-God.
Caring fot the Niñopa entails a lot of work. The mayordoma is a real mother to him. She wakes him up in the morning and tucks him in bed in the evening, after cleaning him. Besides that, she keeps the house tidy for him, changes the flowers, checks on all his outings and, whenever possible, accompanies him. When this is impossible, she has to instruct the hospederos – those who welcome him into their homes on a daily basis – about the care they should have for him. In the parties they throw for the Niñopa, some spend something like 30,000 US dollars.
The hospederos are chosen for the whole year. "Registration opens on the 15th of December, two months before the Niñopa changes parents. There are people who patiently queue for two days and two nights just to get a chance to receive the child for only one day," explains Mrs. Aguilar. In this way, the Niñopa has a full schedule for the 365 days of the year even before he gets a new home.
Busy schedule
The Niñopa "gets up" daily between 7 and 7.30 in the morning. At 8.00 o’clock, they dress and prepare him to go out for his usual visits from which he has to return home before 8.00 in the evening. Wherever he moves about, traffic comes to a halt.
Sunday is his rest day. He goes out just to attend the 6:00 p.m. Mass at St. Bernardine of Siena parish, Xochimilco’s sixteenth-century church.
The more than 400-year-old image is made of cane and its fragility calls for special care. It should not be exposed to sun, rain or flashlights. It is always moved under a parasol. With it goes an alms box and a bell. Its presence is unfailingly announced by fireworks and is accompanied by band and masked dancers, called "chinelos." The "chinelos" generally have a typically Spanish white face and a black beard; their dress is Arab; their dance reminiscent of Asia, with only the male figures dancing but with feminine gestures.
It has been some few years now that the Niñopa is not allowed to leave the Federal District of Mexico, which more or less corresponds to the capital city. Earlier, he was still allowed the luxury of holidays in the world’s known beach resort of Acapulco or flights to Disneyland in Paris. But all such trips have now been forbidden so as not to put the image at risk.
The Niñopa is a good Catholic: he goes to Mass every day and says the rosary at 8.00 pm at home with more than two hundred people. Between the mysteries, the children offer flowers to the Virgin Mary. The songs are entrusted to a band, the "estudiantina del Niño," formed by more than 20 young people who have prepared for that task for years. As a conclusion, everybody pays homage to the Niñopa by kissing his garments. Some days, after saying the rosary (toward 9.30pm), he still goes out to visit the sick.
A Pope’s "wardrobe"
Clearly, the house that hosts the Niñopa must have been built with such a great honor in view. Mrs. Aguilar confirms that the construction of hers started 18 years ago: "I have spent my whole life preparing to receive the child."
In spite of the fact that she was left a widow, Mrs. Aguilar did not panic over either the construction work or the mayordomia duties. While she was bringing up her children, the building of the house also went on little by little. Whenever she had some extra money, she would buy some building materials and call the builders. When the time for her mayordomia drew nearer, she was helped by her family, beginning with her brothers and sisters.
But not only that. The whole community helps the mayordomos′ family: some bring sugar and oil; others, beans and tortillas, the Mexican staple food; or traditional delicacies like tacos, tamales, barbacoa, chilaquiles, pozole, quesadillas and enchiladas. Almost everyday there is someone who offers merienda so that there is always something to eat and drink.
The house has an enormous courtyard which leads into a hall where the Niñopa′s throne is placed. As is proper in Xochimilco – which means "flower plantation" – the altar is decorated with a profusion of flowers of all kinds and colors, arranged in magnificent bouquets. They come from the "chinampas" (nurseries) spread along the sides of the 18-kilometre-long canals, which gained, for what remains of the former Aztec capital, its title as the "Mexican Venice". Mrs. Aguilar says: "I bought flowers on the first day. Since then there has been no need. The hospederos bring most of them."
The Niñopa sleeps in a spacious room where he keeps his abundant and expensive wardrobe. "He owns a lot of everything," people remark. They say he has more than 3,000 suits of all kinds, colors and shapes: as a Pope, a bishop, a knight... many of them embroidered in gold and embellished with precious stones. Nor does he lack a variety of shoes and other adornments. And last but not the least, as is only right, he has a multiplicity of toys such as teddy bears and balls." According to popular belief, the Niñopa plays especially during the night, when he wakes up and finds it difficult to go back to sleep.
Miracles of life
The Niñopa entails work but also gives a lot of joy. Mrs. Aguilar confesses: "I get to the end of the day exhausted. But the following day, I get up with the same enthusiasm to dress him and care for him. For us, the whole thing is beautiful and very rewarding! We have a strong faith in this child that has been passed on to us. My grandmother who died at 105 years of age had a strong devotion to the Niñopa and used to talk to us about him. We love the Niñopa."
The Niñopa is famous for doing miracles. Mrs. Aguilar comments that "there are more miracles than the ones we see." She explains: "Do you need more miracles than this one? I brought up three children and always managed to get a job. I used to work as an employee in the morning and give private lessons in the evening. I have left my job and now I give myself completely to him."
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