Niñopa
The Niñopa or Niñopan is the most venerated image of the Child Jesus in the Mexico City borough of Xochimilco.
Rather than being kept in the parish church it is in the custody of a sponsor or mayordomo, whose family is in charge of the many festivities and traditions associated with the image for a year.
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) has recommended that the image be dressed only in light clothing with no metal such as zippers or hooks in order to conserve the surface.
[3] The story of its origin was that it was brought from Valencia, Spain, by Martin Cortés, arriving in Xochimilco in 1586, made of the wood of an orange tree.
When one of these died, who was Martín Cerón de Alvarado (grandson of Hernán Cortés), a chest in Michoacán was opened to find the Niñopa, which still smelled of oranges.
[3] In reality, it was created in Xochimilco from a local wood most likely by an indigenous craftsman in the workshops of the San Bernardino monastery.
Bernardino de Sahagún wrote that the indigenous of the Xochimilco area made offerings of corn to a child image of the god Huitzilopochtli on December 26.
[4] The second is that the infant Jesus is figured prominently in various oil paintings on the altarpieces from the 16th and 17th centuries in the San Bernardino church and in the former monastery of Santa María Tepepan.
[3] The traditions surrounding the image have not changed much in the over 400 years even though Xochimilco has transformed from a rural area to an urban one.
[4] Since 1995, the image has been taken once a year for a “check up” with the “pediatrician,” which is annual examination, including X-ray and maintenance work done by INAH.
[2] The image is hosted by a sponsor or “mayordomo” each year in the family home, often in a room built especially for the purpose.
This is done with fanfare, accompanied by musicians, Chinelo dancers, mariachis, tunas called “estudiantinas” in Mexico, fireworks, traditional foods such as mole, mixiote and various types tamales and more.
[9] The festivities on February 2 is part of a tradition where families take their images of the Child Jesus to church, especially dressed for the occasion, to be blessed.
[3] During the Las Posadas, the Niñopa leaves the house of the mayordomo each day to a different Xochimilco neighborhood, accompanied by an image of the Virgin Mary, Chinelos, music and many followers.
A fireworks frame called a “castillo” (castle) is burned and at the end of the day, dozens of piñatas are broken and a dance begins for the evening.
This repeats each day of the Las Posadas until December 24, when the Niñopa is laid in a manger to sleep in the San Bernardino parish.
This allowed examination of the wood, which was determined of a tree locally called “chocolín” and made at the workshops of the San Bernardino de Siena monastery in the 16th or 17th century.
These include curing disease, bringing peace to fighting families, helping with finances, finding work and more.
[6] The Niñopa has received penitents from other countries as well, including a woman from the U.S. who claimed to have been cured of terminal cancer after seeing the image on television.
