San Felipe de Jesús: de gremios, procesiones del santo y relaciones de fiestas

Abstract

This essay deals with the mechanisms that the capital of New Spain puts in place to extol its saint and martyr, fray Felipe de Jesús, through processions, sermons, exhibitions of relics, begging for alms, relations of festivals and poetic contests in order to promote, encourage and keep alive the cult from the martyrdom at the end of the 16th century, the beatification and patronage in the 17th century, and finally, the canonization in the 19th century. In addition to his hagiographers and his own seraphic order, priests, canons and patrons of the ecclesiastical chapter, preachers of the various orders, city attorneys, chroniclers and poets contribute with heterogeneous speeches (architectural, religious or poetic), but all with the same purpose: to praise the saint by adorning him with all kinds of allegories and classical comparisons so that New Spain would have her little niche of holiness to be able to build a bridge with Christian Rome and take a place in the universal church. The fervor of the citizens, the faith of the faithful, the contribution of the guilds, the Cabildo and the University and the propaganda of his seraphic order will be the promoters of his canonization through three means: processions, sermons, and reports of public celebrations.