San Pascualito | |
|---|---|
 An image of San Pascualito | |
| King of the Graveyard | |
| Venerated in | Folk Catholicism |
| Majorshrine | Olintepeque, Guatemala |
| Feast | May 17 |
| Attributes | Skeletal figure, cape, crown, wheeled cart |
| Patronage | Curing diseases, death, healings, cures, vengeance, love, graveyards |
San Pascualito (also known asSan Pascualito Muerte andEl Rey San Pascual) is afolk saint associated withSaint Paschal Baylon and venerated inGuatemala and theMexican state ofChiapas. He is called "King of the Graveyard."[1] His veneration is associated with the curing of disease, and is related to theLatin Americancult of death. The tradition may be related to the worship of apre-Columbiandeath god.[2] San Pascualito is represented as askeleton, sometimes caped or wearing a crown. The veneration of San Pascualito is not approved by theRoman Catholic Church.
San Pascualito derived his name from the Spanishfriar,Paschal Baylon, who according to historianFrancisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán, is said to have appeared in 1650 in avision of anindigenous Guatemalan man in San Antonio Aguacaliente (modern dayCiudad Vieja). The man was dying from anepidemic fever calledcucumatz inKaqchikel, and had received thelast rites before a tall skeleton in glowing robes appeared to him in a vision.
The figure introduced himself as "Saint Paschal Baylon," although Baylon was notcanonized until 1690. (He had beenbeatified in 1618.) He promised tointercede to endcucumatz if he were to be adopted by the community aspatron saint and his image venerated. As proof of his identity, the figure predicted that the man receiving the vision would die within nine days, at which time the epidemic would also cease. When the man died within the predicted timeframe and the epidemic ended, word of the vision spread, and images of San Pascualito became popular despite formal prohibition by theSpanish Inquisition.
A chapel inOlintepeque, Guatemala is dedicated to the veneration of El Rey San Pascual. Devotees leavethank you notes, offercapes or burn candles. The color of the candle burned signifies the nature of the request for intercession: red for love, pink for health, yellow for protection, green for business, blue for work, light blue for money, purple for help against vices, white for the protection of children, and black for revenge. A festival is celebrated annually on May 17, thefeast day of Saint Paschal Baylon.[3] Another sacred replica, represented by a seated skeleton in a wheeled cart, is kept in the Church of San Pascualito inTuxtla Gutiérrez in the Mexican state of Chiapas.[2]
San Pascualito is represented by a character named Pascal in the novelEl tiempo principia en Xibalbá ("Time Commences in Xibalbá") by Guatemalan authorLuis de Lión (José Luis de León Díaz).[4]