Fresnillo Mexico

Our Lady of Purification Parish, in Fresnillo, Mexico
By Eneas De Troya (Flickr: Fresnillo, Zacatecas) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

FRESNILLO (pronounced Fres-KNEE-o)


Click here for a Wikipedia article about Fresnillo


Click here for a map of the Fresnillo area


Click here to see a video about the world's largest silver mine in the area

"Santo Niño de Atocha or Holy Child of Atocha is a Roman Catholic image of the Child Jesus popular among the Hispanic cultures of Spain, Latin America, the Philippines and the southwestern United States. It is distinctly characterized by a basket he carries, along with a staff, drinking gourd, and a cape with the shell symbol of a pilgrimage to Saint James....

There are two primary shrines to Niño de Atocha: at Fresnillo/Plateros in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico and Chimayo, New Mexico, USA.^[4] The original Mexican Niño de Atocha was installed in the church of Saint Augustine along with the silver Christ in 1554 not long after a silver strike in Plateros.^[5]

In those years silver was discovered in Fresnillo and mines were being opened in the mountains near the settlement. Within a few weeks of the opening of the mine of Fresnillo, there was an explosion and many miners were trapped. The wives of the miners went to the church of St. Augustine to pray for their husbands and noticed that the child on the image of Our Lady of Atocha was missing. At the same time, it was said that a child came to the trapped miners, gave them water and showed them the way out of the mine. Whenever there was a problem at the mine the child helped the miners in need. Each time this happened, the image of the child on the Virgin's arms was found to be dirty and his clothes had little holes in them. After that the Holy Child was taken off his mother's arms and put on a glass box for everyone to see. The Holy Child of Atocha has become a symbol of Zacatecas and the protector of miners. Many make pilgrimages to Plateros at Christmas to bring toys to the Holy Child." (from Wikipedia article  "Santo Nino de Atocha. 9/22/2014)

Click here to read the rest of the Wiki article about the Santo Nino and Plateros.