Reredos in Hocabá parish church

History, tradition and art in a Yucatecan town

The town of Hocabá, seat of the municipality of the same name, lies 55 km south of Merida, inside the area covered by the State Ring of Cenotes Geohydrological Reserve. According to information on the official municipalities site of the Government of Yucatan, the name comes from the Maya words hoc (pull off, pick) and abal (plum), so that the name translates as “plum-picking”. 

In pre-hispanic times it was the seat of the Hocabail lordship, but around 1549 it is noted as an encomienda granted to the conquistador Gaspar Pacheco. 

According to friar Diego López Cogolludo, the Franciscan monastery at Hocabá was founded in the 16^th century and dedicated to St. Francis, with Sanahcat, Huhí and Tixcacal as visiting villages. However, in 1602 the original Franciscan establishment was secularized, in other words put under the management of diocesan priests, by the bishop friar Francisco de Toral. 

One historical figure linked to Hocabá is father Juan de la Huerta, who died in 1644 while serving as parish priest. On his death, he was in possession of an image of Christ of the Blisters, which he left to Merida cathedral. It is noted in the minutes of the ecclesiastical council that in May 1645 the revered image of the Black Christ, at that time known as the Christ of Hocobá, was carried in solemn procession from its hometown to the cathedral in Merida, accompanied by civil and religious authorities.

The parish church that today stands on the east side of the Main Square in Hocabá was completed in 1754. Building was made possible thanks to the parish priest Pedro Antonio Flores, as attested by an inscription on the façade. According to records of the time, the main reredos of the church dates from around the same time, and cost 1,500 pesos. 

The reredos is composed of three levels, divided into three vertical sections by estipite columns. It has eight niches containing statues, and is richly adorned with plant motifs. In the center of the first level is a tabernacle or ambry, built into the structure itself. According to a description from 1826, among the sacred images on the reredos were “a St Francis with a silver crown…and a Holy Christ on the Cross, with relics.” 

In the niches on the first level are statues of Sts. Peter and Paul, with an image of Christ on the Cross in front of the tabernacle; on the second level are St. Francis of Assisi, the Risen Christ, and St. Anthony of Padua; and on the third are statues of Sts. Joseph, Sebastian and John the Baptist.

The high altarpiece and other jewels of sacred art preserved in the parish church of St Francis, Hocobá, can be viewed during normal times of church services.