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About .com Southwest Christmas Traditions

What are Farolitos and Luminarias?

Christmas in the southwest is a beautiful time. As many areas have mild evening temperatures, outdoor celebrations have become holiday traditions. Lighting the way to a festive time in the southwest are luminarias or farolitos. Simply put, these are candles carefully placed in sand inside a bag, providing a warm glow at night.

In the Beginning, Bonfires Led the Way

These lights have their roots in the 1800′s. Small bonfires, like the current day bonfires on the corners of Canyon Road in Santa Fe, were used to guide people to Christmas Mass. Quite often they were set out during the final night of Las Posadas, the symbolic representation of Mary and Joseph seeking shelter in Bethlehem walking from home to home before Jesus was born.

In later days, children carried small farolitos as they reenacted Las Posadas.

How to Use Luminarias and Farolitos

Now people use luminarias or farolitos to decorate the path to their door as well as outlining the roofline of their home with these warm inviting lights. People in Albuquerque tend to call the paper bag lanterns, luminarias, but natives from Santa Fe insist the correct term is farolitos. Historically, a true luminaria is a series of small bonfires lining the roads. We use the terms interchangeably. [more ]

From Wikipedia

Exceprt: Las Posadas (Spanish for “the inns”) is a nine-day celebration with origins in Spain beginning December 16 and ending December 24. It is a yearly tradition for many Catholic Mexicans and some other Latin Americans and symbolizes the trials which Mary and Joseph endured before finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born [snip]

Typically, each family in a neighborhood will schedule a night for the Posada to be held at their home, starting on the 12th of December and finishing on the 24th. Every home has a nativity scene and the hosts of the Posada act as the innkeepers. The neighborhood children and adults are the pilgrims (peregrinos), who have to request lodging by going house to house singing a traditional song about the pilgrims. All the pilgrims carry small lit candles in their hands, and four people carry small statues of Joseph leading a donkey, on which Mary is riding. The head of the procession will have a candle inside a paper lamp shade. At each house, the resident responds by refusing lodging (also in song), until the weary travelers reach the designated site for the party, where Mary and Joseph are finally recognized and allowed to enter. Once the “innkeepers” let them in, the group of guests come into the home and kneel around the Nativity scene to pray (typically, the Rosary). Latin American countries have continued to celebrate this holiday to this day, with very few changes to the tradition. In some places, the final location may be a church instead of a home. Individuals may actually play the various parts of Mary (María) and Joseph with the expectant mother riding a real donkey (burro), with attendants such as angels and shepherds acquired along the way, or the pilgrims may carry images of the holy personages instead. At the end of the long journey, there will be Christmas carols (villancicos), children will break open piñatas by striking these colorful papier-maché objects with bats while blindfolded to obtain candy hidden inside, and there will be a feast. Traditionally, it is expected to meet all the invitees in a previous procession. [more]

Smithsonian Magazine

In Colorado, the gene linked to a virulent form of breast cancer found mainly in Jewish women is discovered in Hispanic Catholics

By Jeff Wheelwright Smithsonian magazine, October 2008

One September day in 2001, Teresa Castellano, Lisa Mullineaux, Jeffrey Shaw and Lisen Axell were having lunch in Denver. Genetic counselors from nearby hospitals and specialists in inherited cancers, the four would get together periodically to talk shop. That day they surprised one another: they’d each documented a case or two of Hispanic women with aggressive breast cancer linked to a particular genetic mutation. The women had roots in southern Colorado, near the New Mexico border. “I said, ‘I have a patient with the mutation, and she’s only in her 40s,’” Castellano recalls. “Then Lisa said that she had seen a couple of cases like that. And Jeff and Lisen had one or two also. We realized that this could be something really interesting.”

Curiously, the genetic mutation that caused the virulent breast cancer had previously been found primarily in Jewish people whose ancestral home was Central or Eastern Europe. Yet all of these new patients were Hispanic Catholics.

[snip]

Meanwhile, some of the Colorado patients began to look into their own heritage. With the zeal of an investigative reporter, Beatrice Wright searched for both cancer and Jewish ancestry in her family tree. Her maiden name is Martinez. She lives in a town north of Denver and has dozens of Martinez relatives in the San Luis Valley and northern New Mexico. In fact, her mother’s maiden name was Martinez also. [more]

Hello Family and Friends!  I wanted to post these wonderful pictures on our website, but rather than pick a few, I decided to send you the photographer website so you could see them all at your own pace!  Christina and Roman wanted to share all of them with you so here they are!  I will post the website address:

www.bellapictures.com

then you click on “Bride and Groom Center” in the upper right corner,

then click on “View your Photos – Bride and Groom”

then type in Schafer (bride) and Podwinski (groom) and September 2008.

From there, you can click on all of the albums.   It was very nice seeing all those who attended!  For those of you who could not make it, you were missed but in our thoughts!  Thanks to everyone for their gifts and best wishes. 

Love,

Patty

CHIEFTAIN PHOTOS/JUAN ESPINOSA The top middle panel in the window at Sacred Heart Church in Alamosa represents Mount Blanca, the majestic peak that is identified with El Valle de San Luis. To the left of that panel is a dwelling that represents Jose Martinez’s childhood home in Guachupangue, N.M. To the right is the Sanctaurio de Chimayo, N.M., representative of Pauline Martinez’s childhood community. The Corporal Works of Mercy are represented symbolically by images in the stained-glass window’s panels: Feed the hungry, by a loaf of bread and rainbow trout; give drink to the thirsty, by a river that flows out of Mount Blanca and into an earthen jar; clothe the naked, by sheep’s wool and a Mexican serape; shelter the homeless, by an horno (adobe oven) and stacks of bricks; visit the sick, by a pair of hands touching in comfort; visit those in prison, by a pair of hands clutching the bars of a dark cell; and bury the dead, by black crucifixes dotting a green landscape.

Friends and family of the Martinezes participate in a dedication ceremony for the new stained-glass window at Sacred Heart Parish in Alamosa.

The surviving sons and daughters of Jose and Pauline Martinez are (from left): Jerome Aloysius Martinez, Juan Jose Antonio Martinez, Francisco Martinez, James Herman Martinez, Rita Melgares and Veronica Vasquez. Reyes Pablo Martinez and Mario Mateo Martinez are deceased.

Alamosa family honors parents with new stained-glass window By THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN ALAMOSA – The Sacred Heart parish’s impressive collection of religious art was made richer earlier this month by the gift of a new stained-glass window from the family of the late Jose and Pauline Martinez.

Jose and Pauline were married in the church on Feb. 22, 1941. When they and their children attended Mass or other functions at the church, they usually sat in the same place – up front and to the right of the altar.

The new stained-glass window overlooks the section of the church where the Martinez family members sat.

“Dad had often said that he thought it would be nice to have a stained-glass window at this window,” said their daughter, Rita Melgares, at the June 22 dedication of the window attended by about 100 friends and family members.

On the day of Jose Martinez’s funeral in March 2005, the Martinez siblings met and agreed to commission a stained-glass window to be installed above the family’s “place” as their father had envisioned. They decided the theme of the window should be St. Matthew’s Corporal Works of Mercy: Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Clothe the homeless. Visit the sick. Visit those in prison. Bury the dead. Rev. William Gleason, pastor at Sacred Heart Church at the time, agreed to the proposal.

“We began a search for a design artist who would understand and interpret our vision for this window,” said Melgares. “We found our artist in Juan Espinosa of Pueblo, an old family friend.

“He really listened to our comments, our questions and set out to design the window. We ultimately had a design we loved.”

The search for a stained-glass artist to execute the design led to Connie Decker Sanchez, who has studios in Santa Fe, N.M., and Englewood.

Sanchez used a combination of traditional stained-glass techniques and a more contemporary process in which layers of glass are fused into one piece in a special kiln.

When the nine panels of the window were complete, Bruce Fagg of Lakewood installed it. He provided the templates Sanchez used to make the panels.

Clear tempered-glass panels were installed outside the stained-glass panels to protect the work from the elements.

In addition to Melgares, the other children of Jose and Pauline Martinez are: Veronica Vasquez, Juan Jose Antonio Martinez, Francisco Eugenio Martinez, Reyes Pablo Martinez (deceased), Mario Mateo Martinez (deceased), and James Herman Martinez and Jerome Aloysius Martinez.

Here are a few photos from our recent trip to Alamosa for the dedication of the stained glass window at Sacred Heart Church for Jose H. and Pauline L. Martinez. There was lots of family in attendance and it was so great to see everyone.

Our primo Antonio (Frank & Minnie) entertained us with his guitar. He”s extremely talented – check him out on YouTube:

Also, I have a short clip of him entertaining us at the reception (not the best quality video, but his talent makes it worthwhile). antonio-vid.mov

Can”t wait for the 2010 Reunion!!

Greg and Judie (Chacon) Carlson are pleased to announce the graduation of their daughter, Kolby Nicole Carlson, from North Kitsap High School, Poulsbo, Washington.

Kolby is the granddaughter of Pauline (Martinez) Dixon.

Kolby will be attending Eastern Washington University in the fall majoring in Nursing. Kolby received numerous scholarships and was a Principal Scholar (grade point average 3.7+) at her high school.

Anthony Garcia adds: Our congratulations go out to Kolby Carlson on her high school graduation.

Attendees include: Pauline (Martinez) Dixon – San Diego Vicki (Chacon) Crabbe – San Diego Cathy (Chacon) Thompson – Scottsdale Paula (Chacon) Hill – San Diego Paul Crabbe – Denver Art, Patti & Patrick Ortiz – Alamosa Tony & MaryLouise Garcia – Colorado Springs Anthony Garcia – Los Angeles Gene & Mary Nielsen – San Diego Mark & Tina Ingram – San Jose/Poulsbo

Everyone had a great time with visits to Seattle, Victoria, BC, Vancouver & attending a Seattle Mariners baseball game.

Judie & Greg hosted an after graduation party at their home for family & friends

While attending the graduation party, plans for the next Martinez Family Reunion in 2010 in Alamosa were discussed.

Everyone thought it is time to start thinking about the next reunion - Many people attending have willingly volunteered to help with the planning, if you are interested in helping please contact:

paulahill@pacbell.net

One of our family members has passed away. Clara Chase’s son Douglas passed away in Loveland this last weekend. Clara is the daughter of Elias and Faye Martinez (Elias is the brother to Antonio Maria Martinez).

Douglas W. Chase, 45, of Loveland, died peacefully May 24, 2008. Doug also lived in the Northglenn/Thornton area and attended Thornton High School in 1978-1980. He is survived by his parents, Lynn and Clara Chase, of Loveland, sisters Kathleen Endes, of Arvada, and Melinda Gerard (Scott), of Golden. Also survived by niece Kayla Endes, and nephews Joshua Pfeifer, Kyle Endes, and Zachary Gerard, as well as cousins, aunts, and uncles, and numerous friends.

He enjoyed going to the Bronco games, watching the Colorado Buffaloes and spending time with his family. Services will be May 31st, 4:00PM, at Olinger Highland in Thornton, 10201 Grant St.

You may sign the family guestbook at the following link.

www.legacy.com/denver/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=110517847

The Observer Blog, UK

Some folks are making Mother’s Day a two-day affair this year, as both the US and the Latin American celebrations fall on the same weekend.

That’s good news for some florists and others selling gifts for the Mother’s Day celebration. They’re preparing for a busier weekend than usual, despite a soft economy.

Dia de las Madres is observed May 10 in some parts of Latin America and can land on any day of the week. This year, it falls on the second Saturday of May. Mother’s Day always falls on the second Sunday of May.[more]