A testament to the faith of the Yucateco
Among the pieces of silver- and gold-work kept in the Yucatan Archdiocesan Gallery of Sacred Art, located in the monastery church complex of St. Francis of Assisi in Conkal, the most outstanding is a Monstrance which, according to some reports, was used during the First Yucatan Eucharistic Congress, held in Merida in 1942 to mark the fourth centenary of the founding of Yucatan’s capital city.
A monstrance is a sacred vessel in which the consecrated host is displayed for public veneration. Over the centuries, these liturgical pieces have taken on different forms and have been made using precious stones, and metals such as gold and silver.
The one displayed in the gallery at Conkal has a traditional design of a sun or radiant circle, on top of a delicate statuette of an angel with his arms folded over his chest in an attitude of prayer, and his wings extended. The space for the host is in the center of the sun, which is adorned with a Greek cross in red enamel, bearing the symbols of the four evangelists on the arms: the angel, the ox, the eagle and the lion, representing Sts. Matthew, Luke, John and Mark.
On a white enamel background a Latin inscription which reads Hoc Est Corpus Meum (This my body). At the top of the piece is an imperial crown decorated with pearls, and the whole rests on a base or pedestal adorned with floral motifs and set with precious stones. For small fantastic gargoyle-like figures form the feet of this fascinating sacred object, which was possibly made in the early 20th century.
The Monstrance was donated to the Yucatan Archdiocesan Gallery of Sacred Art by María Teresa Álvarez Bolio de Novelo in 2011. It was bequeathed to her by her uncle Celestino Álvarez Galán, a priest and close collaborator of Msgr. Martín Tritschler y Córdova, first archbishop of Yucatan.
The First Yucatan Eucharistic Congress was held from the 26th to the 29th November 1942, and has been described as one of the most significant events in the 20th-century history of the Catholic church in Yucatan, as it was a massive public demonstration of the population’s faith at at time when the anticlerical tendencies and restrictions of legislation were creating an unfavorable political climate. On the other hand, the Congress was also a posthumous homage to Archbishop Tritschler y Córdova, who was the main organizer of the event but died on the 15th November, only a few days before the opening.
The monstrance is on permanent display and can be seen by visitors to the Gallery of Sacred Art during normal opening hours.
Location