A legendary image
The sweet fragrance of legend surrounds the image of St. Clare of Assisi which is venerated in Dzidzantún and in the little fishing village in the northeast of Yucatan that bears her name. It is a fascinating tale of a father’s love, miraculous healing, pirate attacks, storms and divine intervention: a tale that only becomes more thrilling the further we get into it.
The story goes that at daybreak one 22nd of July, some time in the early 16th century, fisherman from the ancient port of Tiyaxcah found a box on the beach, washed up from a shipwreck. When they opened it, they were astounded to find the remarkable image of a beautiful young woman, whose size and features made her look almost real.
The religious authorities of the village were informed, and ran to the beach, where they were able to identify the image as St. Clare of Assisi (1194-1253), a faithful follower of St. Francis, and co-founder of the Second Order, or the Poor Clares.
It turned out that the image represented payment of a promise made by a Spanish nobleman and devotee of the Italian nun, for the miraculous healing of his daughter, who was afflicted with a deadly illness. He had the image carved, and in gratitude sent it to a church in Cuba dedicated to St. Clare.
However, the merchant ship carrying the statue was attacked and pillaged at sea by pirates, who were themselves later hit by a fierce storm that threatened to capsize their ship, and forced them to throw all their loot overboard, including the precious statue, which then washed up on the shores of Yucatan…
From the moment it was found, popular devotion to the statue was such that not only was it transported to Dzidzantún, a more important town, where preparations were immediately set in motion to build it a church; but also the villagers, church and civil authorities decided that Tixcayah should thenceforth be renamed Santa Clara in her honor.
The beautiful carving, 1.70 meters (5 ft 6 in) high, and weighing 120 kilos (265 lb), shows the saint in her usual pose: wearing her nun’s habit, and in her hands a monstrance and a crook, which are her traditional attributes. The former refers to a confrontation in 1240 with Saracen troops who attempted to storm the convent she was living in, and whom she put to flight with the help of the blessed sacraments; while the second indicates that St. Clare was an abbess.
Another story tells how, on the 17th of July 1652, a gang of French and English pirates came ashore in Santa Clara with the intention of seizing “the precious metals which were supposed to exist in the church” at Dzidzantún. After subduing the monastery guard and many other villagers, the brigands entered the church…only to flee in terror without stealing a thing. Popular faith affirms that St. Clare frightened off the pirates, just as she had done to the Muslims four hundred years before.
Despite the fact that the monastery and church at Dzidzantún were partially destroyed on the orders of the government of Salvador Alvarado, they still stand proud. In addition to being “marvellous”, in the words of the Adopt an Artwork Foundation, they are home to beautiful murals in the church and cloisters. “Besides their antiquity, these paintings are valuable for their iconographic content and their artistic merit, making them an invaluable part of Yucatan’s historical and artistic heritage”.
Each year, Dzidzantún celebrates its patroness in the first two weeks of August with services, rosaries, guild activities, processions and regattas, music and dance. Earlier, on the 22nd of July, the anniversary of her arrival on the beach, the statue is carried on foot a little over 14 kilometers (9 miles) to the coastal village named in her honor, where she remains for a few days, after the image has been taken in procession to the sea.
The statue of St. Clare of Assisi, patroness of the town, can be viewed in the parish church of Dzidzantún –“defeated stone”, from dzidzan, defeated, and tun, stone or rock – which is located in the northeast of the state, 73 kilometers (45 miles) from Merida.
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