Santo Niņo de Atocha Called Miracle Worker
By Heidi Jasso
![[Photo of mural]](11_10.jpg)
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Mural of Santo Niņo de Atocha
located at Marmolejo Housing Complex.
Photo by Susie Moreno
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Towards the end of the Moorish occupation, in the city of
Atocha, Spain, many Christian Spaniards suffered imprisonment.
The Moorish conquerors forbade all persons from entering the
prison on errands of mercy with the exception of small children.
Not even priests were permitted to bring comfort to the dying.
Mothers and wives of these prisoners prayed daily and
passionately for divine aid in bringing solace to the captives
who lacked sufficient food, water and spiritual consolation.
One day a child dressed like a pilgrim of that time came to
the prison carrying in one hand a basket of bread and in the
other a staff with a gourd full of water suspended at its tip.
To the astonishment of the moors, the gourd and the basket of
bread were still full after all the prisoners had received a
blessing and their portion of food and water.
According to legend, Christ had returned as a child in answer
to the prayers of the women of Atocha to serve those without
spiritual and physical sustenance.
Since this time, the image of the infant Christ carrying food
and water has been known as the Santo Niņo de Atocha (Holy Child
of Atocha). The constantly replenishing bread and water
symbolize love and faith, says Dr. Irene Soriano, art historian.
"Love and faith don't go away and are continuously being
replaced," she says.
Although this legend is the most widely known, other stories
about the origin of the Santo Niņo thrive.
Another version says that the Marquis San Miguel of Aguayo of
Spain gave a statue of the Virgin of Atocha holding Jesus to the
church in Plateros, Mexico. Thereafter, the people venerated the
child Jesus in his mother's arms and adopted the name of
"Atocha" for the Christ Child.
El Paso resident Lucila Jasso learned another version of this
story as a child. "The statue was actually found in a mine in
Plateros [a silver-mining town]," she says. Miners found a
peculiar iron rock which appeared to have an image on it. After
cleaning and polishing the piece, workers discovered the image
of the Christ Child in his infancy.
They donated the object to the church of Our Lady of Atocha in
Plateros, and the name "Atocha" was also applied to the Santo
Niņo. Jasso also says that the child's name is actually Manuel
de Atocha. The name "Manuel" is short for Emmanuel. Meaning "God
[is] with us."
Regardless of his origin, the Christ Child is known to help
prisoners, the ill and afflicted, to protect children and the
family unit, to guard travelers, and to symbolize peace and
hope.
There are many shrines to honor him. The one in Plateros was
first constructed in April 1790 and has since been restored into
an ornate sanctuary. Images of the Santo Niņo vary in detail and
name, but they all represent the Christ Child. He may be honored
in his mother's arms, as a traveler sitting in a chair or
standing alone. The image may appear as an infant or a child up
to 10 years old.
When dressed as a pilgrim, he is referred to as the Pilgrim
Child, representing the journey of life that begins as a child.
He appears to be about one year old and wears a feathered,
wide-brimmed hat, long robe, cape and sandals. In his right hand
he holds a traveler's staff with a water-gourd at its tip. In
his left hand he sometimes holds a silver basket filled with
bread, wheat or grapes. The bread and wheat symbolize communion.
Another version is the Child in Blue, who appears slightly
older than the Pilgrim Child and wears a blue robe signifying
heaven. His cape is decorated with a lace collar and a cockle
shell, symbol of mementos which Medieval European pilgrims might
have brought home. The basket appears in the right hand while
the staff now is in the left.
An image with dark skin may be referred to as "Niņito Moreno"
or "Dark Child."
If the Child in Blue carriers prisoner's leg irons or they
lay by his feet, he is referred to as "Niņo Cautivo" or "Captive
Child". Santa Fe Museum Director Yvonne Lange tells the story of
Don Francisco Sandoval Zapata, who was bringing a statue of the
Christ Child to Mexico as a gift from the cathedral in Seville,
Spain in 1622. Moors took Zapata and the statue prisoners
and carried them to Algiers. Zapata was killed, and his remains,
along with statue were ransomed, thus giving rise to the legend
of the Captive Child.
Many people believe that the Santo Niņo performs miracles. A
room in his chapel in Plateros is filled with canes, braces and
crutches left there by devotees claiming to be healed by the
Christ Child.
One legend maintains that the statue of the Santo Niņo in the
chapel at Plateros walks about the valley each night healing
the sick. According to parishioners, he disappears from his
altar at night and mysteriously reappears the next morning
with mud at the bottom of his sandals.
Another tale describes a farmer who couldn't find laborers to
harvest his wheat. A young man arrived and helped the farmer.
The grateful owner placed some golden wheat springs in the hand
of his helper, who called himself Manuel de Atocha. This is the
reason the Santo Niņo carries wheat.
Lucila Jasso's husband was born blind. His mother prayed
fervently to the Santo Niņo to grant sight to her son. She vowed
to visit the shrine in Plateros and to name her son "Manuel"
after him. Within weeks, baffled doctors told her that her son
could now see. Two other generations of "Manuels" followed as a
sign of deep appreciation and devotion to God.
The followers of El Santo Niņo de Atocha firmly believed that
the little boy who appeared hundreds of years ago with the bread
and water is Jesus, and he still performs miracles today.
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