Marisol December 17, 2022
Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, or Our Lady of Solitude, is just a few blocks west of the Zocalo. It is neither the oldest nor largest of the city’s churches, but it may be the most beloved, not least because of the sweet tamales and ice cream sold outside on the small shaded plaza. Tomorrow is the biggest day of the year for this church.
Like many of Oaxaca’s iconic buildings, from Teatro Alcalá to the sidewalks of Reforma, the giant bricks come from a quarry of green stone called Cantera Verde, a metal-rich volcanic tuff. After three centuries, the stone is still doing well, thanks to loving upkeep. Sweepers are constantly at work outside with their handmade brooms, although there is not much they can do to remove the urine stench from the front entrance of the church.
Inside the Basilica, a dark solemnity is enforced by patrolling parishioners who make sure that tourists behave and hats are removed. Only recently has the mask mandate been lifted, but most of the believers still wear Cubrebocas as they kneel before their benevolent Maria de la Soledad. Her nickname is Marisol.
Finished in 1690, the Basilica is dedicated to one of the weirder miracles to be recorded in Catholic annals. Ecclesiastic scholars debate whether it can truly be considered a “Marian” event, since the Virgin did not actually make an appearance in Oaxaca. It is nonetheless believed that, in 1620, the city of Oaxaca experienced the full weight of Mary’s presence, literally.
As the story goes, a muleteer was driving his team through the city, purportedly on the way to Guatemala, when he noticed that he had acquired an extra mule. It was struggling under the weight of a large mysterious box, and soon the animal collapsed. Many helped to lift the box and bring the mule back to its feet, where it rose before suddenly dying.
Remarkably, this was soon declared a divine intervention by Bishop Bartolome Bojorquez, after learning that the killer-box in question contained nothing more than an image of “the Blessed Virgin of Solitude accompanied by Christ on it, along with a sign that said, ‘Virgin by the Cross.’”
The day is commemorated annually on December 18th, in pageant form, when pilgrims come to the Basilica and pose in front of the boulder where the whole episode unfolded. And that is the extent of the miracle, as far as I can divine: A mule from out of nowhere inexplicably dropped dead after carrying a large box containing a holy image and sign. Standing next to a boulder. Real life has never seemed so supernatural.