By Eugenio Amézquita Velasco
The testimony of José Luis Revilla Macías places us in Comonfort, Guanajuato, on the last day of 2025, in the midst of a celebration that goes beyond the festive to become an act of identity and spirituality. The sawdust carpets and the hanging decorations that cover about ten streets are not mere ornaments: they are signs of love for the Blessed Sacrament from a people who have managed to keep alive a religious tradition born in the twentieth century.
Gratitude as a Community Axis
Revilla emphasizes that this practice is a way of giving thanks to God for the year that ends and asking for blessings for the one that begins. In a world marked by haste and social fragmentation, Comonfort offers an example of how gratitude materializes in ephemeral art and collective rituals. The carpets and altars, linked to spiritual activity, reinforce the idea that faith is expressed both in aesthetics and in community action.
Tequio as a Shared Root
The concept of tequio, mentioned by Revilla, connects this tradition with ancestral practices of communal work in Mexico. Ten hours of collective effort are not just an investment of time: they are a reminder that community life is sustained by cooperation, by the will to build together something that transcends the individual. In Comonfort, *tequio* is transformed into sacred art and public celebration.
The Liturgical Dimension
The culmination of the day, with the priest leaving under a canopy and the Blessed Sacrament traveling through the streets blessing altars and carpets, gives the tradition a profound liturgical character. It is not merely a cultural festival, but an act of faith that integrates the artistic and the religious. The presence of Jesus, as Revilla points out, becomes tangible in the collective work and in the procession that closes the day.
Intangible Heritage and Cultural Tourism
The final invitation —“Come to Comonfort, it is worth it”— opens another dimension: that of cultural tourism. These kinds of traditions are intangible heritage that deserves to be disseminated and protected.
Revilla’s account is not just a local chronicle; it is a mirror of how Mexican communities preserve their religious identity in the face of globalization. In Comonfort, the tradition of sawdust carpets and living altars demonstrates that culture is not preserved in museums, but in the streets, in the hands of neighbors working together, in the faith renewed each year.
The validity of this practice reminds us that cultural heritage is not static: it is recreated, adapted, and transmitted. In times when social cohesion is threatened, Comonfort offers a lesson in community resilience and shared beauty.
The tradition described by José Luis Revilla Macías is more than a festive event: it is an act of memory, gratitude, and faith that makes Comonfort a benchmark of how culture and spirituality can sustain community life. Preserving and disseminating these practices is an urgent task for those who believe that the identity of a people is built in its streets, in its rituals, and in its capacity to work together.
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