The color of devotion
The Black Christ of St. Romanus is the most venerated sacred image in Campeche, and the most representative of popular fervor. During August and September, thousands of the faithful come to pay homage in his church, or at his procession.
Anthropologist and archaeologist Román Piña Chan writes that the history of this sculpture goes back to the earliest years of the town of San Francisco de Campeche, when the Mexica who accompanied Francisco de Montejo The Younger settled in an area which would become the San Roman neighborhood. The name comes from a chapel completed in 1563 which took as its patron St. Romanus, a Syrian deacon who was martyred in 303 AD during the persecutions of Emperor Galerius.
At that time, the area was populated by Mexicas and sailors, and from this point history and legend become intertwined. The story goes that, wanting to provide a crucifix for their new chapel, the local leaders took advantage of the fact that Juan Cano de Coca Gaytán, a merchant, was undertaking a voyage to New Spain, and commissioned him to bring back a fine image of Christ on the cross.
Once in the port of Veracruz, Cano was fortunate enough to find what he had been asked for very quickly: a beautiful large statue recently arrived from Italy, carved in ebony – whence the dark color – in Civitavecchia, a Mediterranean port 60 km (37 miles) from Rome.
The legend says that on the 13th September 1565 the Christ figure was packed and ready to be transported from Veracruz to Campeche, and the captain of an English ship was asked to transport it as cargo. He refused, on the grounds that the hatches had been closed, and that a box of that size on deck would interfere with maneuvers. The merchant then asked the same of the captain of the ship which had brought the statue, and not only was he happy to agree, but also declared that if it proved necessary to get rid of some other cargo, he would do so without a second thought.
The two ships left Veracruz on the same day, and both were caught in a storm. But while the ship carrying the Christ arrived in Campeche in 24 hours, the other was lost and its crew never heard from again. The legend adds that on the night of the 13th and 14th September, those who are free of sin can hear the voices of the sailors begging for help against the elements, and can see the lights of the shipwrecked vessel on the horizon.
The story goes on to say that when he arrived in port, the captain told how, at the height of the storm, when they had lost all hope, an unknown sailor entered the cabin, took hold of the rudder with great strength and assurance, and saved them from imminent shipwreck. When the worst was past, the crew and passengers were overcome by exhaustion, and fell asleep.
When they awoke, they found themselves close to a port. After they had tied up at the dock, they asked where they were, and were told: Campeche. This was impossible, since it was the 14th September 1565, only one day after they had left, and the voyage from Veracruz usually took eight to ten days.
The captain fell to his knees when he realized he had clearly witnessed a miracle. Then he ordered that the Christ be disembarked. When it was unpacked, everyone there saw that, although the hold, the other cargo, and even the packing of the statue were all dry, the figure itself was dripping with water and draped in seaweed, as if it had been exposed to the storm.
From the moment of its arrival, the Christ of St. Romanus became the object of great devotion among the faithful. The cult was so significant that by the 17th century it was fully entrenched in the city’s religious life, and countless miracles and prodigies have been attributed to it.
The beloved statue, on its 17th-century silver cross, stands under a baldachin made of four Phoenician columns with double-circle capitals, fluted shafts and round bases, encased in glass. It occupies the center of the altar in the parish church of St. Romanus. In 1638, it was given a silver shrine.
The church of St. Romanus gained a monastery, and became a focus for processions and festivals that transformed into traditions. Even today, thousands of Campechanos come together for a celebration that lasts for forty days in August and September, united since 1565 in their faith and belief in their patron saint.
The statue is on display every day in its sanctuary in the San Roman district of the city of San Francisco de Campeche.
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