 | The mission
congregation of San Andrés Apostol (St. Andrew the Apostle) is located in San Felipe - Barrio Pacheco, Veracruz. The custom here is to celebrate the day of the church's patron
saint, not the saint for whom the community is named. Therefore, the saint's day celebration is held in this small farming community on November 30, the day of St. Andrew.
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 | The celebration began
the evening prior to the 30th with a street dance. On the 30th, the festivities began with a Eucharist at the church of San Andrés Apostol (St. Andrew the Apostle).
The ringing of the bells in the bell tower called the community to the church, but truth be told, few arrived until the community band moved from where they were practicing to the
church. |  |
 | While he waited for
the community to arrive at the church, Bishop Benito spoke with the Sr. Warden, then walked a short distance to the home of Monica Pacheco, one of the
congregation's oldest members. Here he blessed her with the imposition of hands and of holy oils and shared a prayer of thanksgiving for her safe return home after a brief period in hospital.
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 | Finally, the band arrived at the church, entered, and set-up their instuments. This was really the
sign that the service was about to begin. Even though the capacity of the church is over 100, by the time we started the service,
all the seats were taken and it was Standing Room Only.
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| The procession included the Vicar (Father Isaiahs Ortiz), Bp. Benito Juárez, a visiting priest, Father Victorino Lucas, and the incoming and out-going "Queens" of the parish. Following an introduction of the Bishop,
the first order of business was the crowning of the new "Queen" who would represent the congregation in various community and regional events during the coming year.
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 | The Eucharist was pretty much the standard service
out of the Book of Common Prayer, except that before the Sermon, the Bishop called all the children
forward for a blessing and the imposition of holy oils for those who were sick.
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 | Following the service, the Bishop gave his
blessing and application of holy oils again, this time for adults in the congregation. |
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 | Once the church service was over, the people
returned to the street where carnival stands had been set-up to sell food, offer a number of games (both manual and electronic)
and to market miscellaneous wares.
Included in the food offerings was the meat from two head of cattle donated to the fiesta.
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| The community band played a recital - and several couples danced to the music - while preparations were being made for a rodeo.
Because of other commitments, Bishop Benito and Ye Webmaster had to leave just as the rodeo was getting underway, but we expect that it would have been entertaining to
watch, as would the street dance planned for later that evening.
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