22 de Marzo
Parish of Our Lord Jesus Christ of Acapetahua
During the colonial period (1521–1657), Jesuit missionaries arrived in the Soconusco region to evangelize the Indigenous inhabitants. According to local elders, in 1657 a group of missionaries traveling to Guatemala stopped overnight in a small Indigenous settlement—today the site of the Acapetahua cemetery. The next morning, as they prepared to continue their journey, they found that the box carrying the image of Christ had become impossibly heavy to move, a miracle that was taken as a divine sign that Our Lord Jesus Christ wished to remain there. A temple was built in His honor, and for centuries, devotees from the mountains, central Chiapas, and Guatemala have come every fourth Friday of Lent to venerate Him.
The devotion to His miracles spread so widely that chapels were also built in His honor in Chiapa de Corzo and Tonalá, where He is likewise celebrated every fourth Friday.
The celebration in Acapetahua takes place at the Parish of Our Lord Jesus Christ of Acapetahua, with evening masses starting at 6:00 p.m., religious activities, food fairs, and community tamale-making. On the fourth Friday of Lent, the image is carried in a procession joined by pilgrims from neighboring communities, each bringing the patron saint of their own locality to walk together in faith and unity. The parish is located at Av. Central Ote 196, Barrio Chalaca, C.P. 3580.
Dates: March 22–25 (dates may vary according to Lent)
Mass Novena: 6:00 p.m.