Thursday, June 17, 2010

San Pascual watches over my Kitchen

No kitchen is complete unless you have a statue or retablo of San Pascual. He can be found in practically every kitchen in San Miguel de Allende.
Pascaul Babylon was born in Torre Hermosa, Arragon, Spain in May of 1540. As a youth, he was a shepherd but not a very good one. While he prayed, his flock would wander off and wreak havoc with the neighboring vineyards. Reluctantly, he was taken into the Franciscan monastery in Loreto, Italy. Due to a lack of education, he was given menial tasks such as cooking. He later impressed the Franciscan's with his strong devotion to his faith and eventually was allowed to join their order.
I found this San Pascual in a little store in San Miguel. It was hand carved and then painted with such a lovely, but simple design.
San Pascual is the most elusive subject in retablo art. This painting was done by an artist and friend, Renato Pacheco Rivera, who lives in San Miguel. Since San Pascual is the patron saint of cooks and the kitchen, he is always depicted, as he is here, surrounded by all the kitchen paraphernalia... a stove, pots & pans, fruits & vegetables and his kitchen cat.

I have been told that if his image is present in your kitchen, your food will always turn out delicious and you will never go hungry! It's always worked for me.

Buen provecho and keep on cooking!

No comments:

Post a Comment