Jocotepec’s annual fiestas patronales honoring El Señor del Monte mark the beginning of a series of traditional religious celebrations that will take place at Lakeside through 2025.
This year’s festivities kick off on January 6 with the traditional renewal of vows of faith in the Lord of the Mount, led by both ecclesiastical and civil authorities during a ceremony at the parish church. The event begins with a 6 p.m. procession, which includes the celebration’s sponsoring gremios (trade guilds).
Devotion to the figure of the Crucified Christ stems from a belief in answered prayers, said to have alleviated devastating outbreaks of cholera that struck the town in 1833 and 1850, as well as the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918.
Religious activities begin at dawn each day with Las mañanitas and rosary prayers at 6:30 a.m., followed by morning Mass. Devotions resume at 6 p.m. daily, with processions of the corresponding gremios preceding evening Mass, except for Sunday, January 12, when the procession begins at noon.
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