Surrounded by white flowers and kitchen utensils from different states of the country, the small image of San Pascual Bailón prepares to go on a pilgrimage through the cobblestone streets of downtown Oaxaca. He is accompanied by a brass band that sings Dios nunca muere, a waltz by composer Macedonio Alcalá considered the unofficial anthem of this state, and escorted by a group of Oaxacans dedicated to cooking and the hospitality industry.
The procession is brief but significant. The first that has been done in Mexico to take the saint to the door of the church that will be his final home: a niche in the temple of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, an iconic example of New Spanish baroque where a niche has been reserved for him so that cooks from all over the country can direct intentions, prayers, thanks and requests to the saint who, in popular belief, is the patron of cooking.
“Beyond the religious aspect, we wanted to do this to foster a sense of community,” explains Claudio Poblete, director of Culinaria Mexicana and organizer of this event, which was also the prelude to the annual awards ceremony of the Mexican Gastronomic Guide, which recognizes 250 restaurants in the Mexican Republic and prominent figures in the industry. “That is why an ecumenical mass was held, so that chefs from all over the country could attend regardless of their creed and, although the saint is not from the same order as the church, they admitted him because Oaxaca is one of the states that must always be visited to understand the country’s gastronomy,” he adds.
As protocol dictates, San Pascual Bailón was received in the church with holy water and a mass attended by hundreds of representatives of the hospitality industry. In addition, as Oaxacan traditions dictate, the committee that will be responsible for the saint and his celebrations was also designated. “To enthrone a saint, there must be a commission of courtesy, who are ultimately the ones who will be his stewards and who will be in charge of ensuring that the saint is cared for, that a calenda and a party are held for him on his day,” Poblete explains.
Of patronages, dances and convents
In popular Mexican belief, San Pascual Bailón is the saint to whom one must pray so that a stew turns out well, so that the food yields and to avoid accidents in the kitchen, but his history in the church, and his beatification, did not occur precisely because of his actions in the kitchen. This relationship with cooking and rituals and prayers was built later and found roots in Latin America, where other patronages are also recognized, such as that of the joropo dance, in the plains region that divides Colombia and Venezuela, and which arose as a syncretism with indigenous celebrations.
In the biographical references of the archives of the Franciscan libraries, documents are preserved that recount the life of the religious and that collect testimonies of his miracles, among others. The oldest is that of Juan Ximénez, friend and superior of the Franciscan and who, six years after his death, compiled a collection of anecdotes on which more recent biographies have been based, such as the History of Saint Pascual Baylón, patron of the Eucharistic Associations written by the French father Ignacio Beaufays.
The biographical data agree that Pascual Baylón was born in Torrehermosa, Aragon, in the 16th century. He grew up in a humble place, and was a pastor and a great devotee of the Eucharist just when the church was going through a Protestant reform that sought to spread ideas that considered the sacraments unnecessary, a fact that was very relevant to his sanctification. But very little is said about Bailon in the kitchen: for example, the Franciscan was in charge of the refectory of a convent and that he always showed interest in feeding the needy.
In this regard, Beaufays compiles some anecdotes from which the belief that Bailon was capable of multiplying loaves of bread could have arisen: “As the water boils, the Saint throws bread crumbs, a handful of salt, a little oil into the pot. ‘What is the use of such a little thing?’ the confused cook asks him. ‘Haven’t we done everything we could?’ Pascual replies. ‘Now it’s up to God to do the rest.’ And the soup, according to one witness, turned out to be extremely appetizing that day. Pascual was such when the poor were involved, even though he was so strict with himself,” he writes.
Beaufays also relates this other episode: “Even during times of strict fasting, he carried his affection for the sick friars to the extreme of discreetly preparing a light meal for them in some corner of the kitchen. Then, under the pretext of some urgent business, he would leave them alone without stopping to close the door of the refectory.”
Graphic representations that place Bailón in a kitchen did not emerge until the viceroyalty, in paintings such as that of San Pascual Bailón by José Agustín Arrieta dated 1852, and exhibited in the Amparo Museum in Puebla. “After Pope Alexander VIII canonized him in 1690, devotion to Pascual Bailón must have spread in New Spain during the 18th century and continued into the 19th century. “Everything seems to indicate that the attribution to the saint as patron of cooking is a regional phenomenon, particularly in the area of Puebla, known for its excellent gastronomy,” explains Angélica Velázquez Guadarrama, a researcher at the UNA Institute of Aesthetic Arts, on the museum’s website. In the painting, the saint appears wearing an apron, surrounded by ingredients and kitchen utensils.
“The first time they refer to it was in Veracruz, where the first missions were established,” says Claudio Poblete. “Later, references to it in Puebla appear above all in convents and in private homes, where the nuns were in charge of the kitchen and were told that they had to pray to a saint so that nothing was missing to eat. In places like the convent of Santa Clara, there is a niche where either the Virgin or San Pascual Bailón was always kept,” he adds.
Velázquez also explains that, due to its small size, it is likely that Arrieta’s San Pascual Bailón was made to fulfill a request for a family devotion. “It became the saint of the house, especially of the wealthy class, not the one kept in the hall, but in the kitchen,” concludes Poblete. A devotion that now has a place of pilgrimage to continue watching over the seasoning of Mexican cuisine.
Source: elpais
