St Patrick's Festival...

The St Patrick's' Festival was held at our church, St. Patrick's Catholic Church yesterday. It was a bit subdued because of the cold windy weather but all who came out had a great time. Cathy and I worked the lottery ticket booth which has been our job for the last several festivals. Best part I liked about the festival was the Matachines Dancers. There were two groups. One was from St Patrick's and one was from Nacogdoches. 

According to the Texas State Historical Association the roots of these dancers go back to a Spanish medieval sword dance and in the New World it has incorporated Indian, Mexican and American influences to symbolize the battle between Christianity and paganism with the Virgin Mary and Holy Cross as heavy influences and devotional signs. The various characters are El Monarca (Montezuma). his bride (Malinch), El Abuelo (the grand father) and El Toro. Maybe if you check the photos I made you can pick out some of the characters. If any of my friends can expand or correct this explanation please comment. 

The blue and pink group is the Nacogdoches group and the red, green and yellow is from St. Patrick's. I know I have seen the St Pat's group rehearsing almost every Sunday evening when I arrive to play music for the 5pm Mass. They have worked very had and add much color to our parish life.