Local Devotions



 When offered: Every Wednesday at 4:30 pm, leaving from Carmen Alto

Cost: 300 pesos per person

Included: Guide and transport

Brief description: We start our visit at the Carmen Alto church, a local devotion associated with the Guelaguetza festivities in the month of July.

We will visit the cathedral, where we will discuss two important local devotions: the Immaculate Conception and the devotion to the patron saint of America, Saint Rose of Lima, beatified in 1668 and canonized in 1671.

Finally we will visit the Minor Basilica of the Soledad (Solitude) where we will comment on the devotion more important city of Oaxaca.
The images catalyzed the social relations of the diocese as properly devotional, apotropaic or tutelary resources. In addition, they are considered as protection and assurance of the territory, given the miraculous and immanent condition of some or their origin stories applied to the circumstances or embedded in local memory.
Schedule: We will start at 4:30 pm with a visit to the Temple of Carmen Alto, followed by visits to the Cathedral at 5:30 and the church of the Soledad at 6:30 pm.

Background: When Bishop Tomás de Monterroso (1664-1678) placed himself at the head of the Oaxacan diocese, he began a period of promoting the devotion of the Immaculate Conception. He also sponsored (1672) the cult of Rosa de Lima, the first saint in America.

Isabel Flores de Oliva (later changed to Rosa de Santa María) was born in Lima, the city of the Kings, on April 20, 1586. Her parents, children of Spaniards, made a vow of chastity for her when she she was a child.She learned how to spin, sew, and embroider and is said to have received the visit of the child God and to have conversations with the Lord. Rosa de Santa María died at the age of 31, in Lima, on August 23, 1617. On that day, her devotees believe she achieved true eternal life. Santa Rosa de Lima, in the 17th Century, was chosen by the Peruvians as its unifying symbol. In New Spain her cult gained popularity before the Virgin of Guadalupe.