La Gran Pastorela takes the stage Saturday

La Gran Pastorela sponsored by the Friends of El Camino Real Historic Trail Site, will be performed at the San Miguel Parish Hall this Saturday, December 7. Admission is free, and refreshments will be provided afterward. Additionally, there will be a children’s performance of La Gran Pastorela on Sunday, December 15, at 11:30 a.m.

For decades, a vibrant group of amateur actors known as Los Pastores de Belén has diligently preserved this cherished tradition. The Belen group has brought their rendition of the play to various venues across New Mexico. Socorro will be their second stop on their performance schedule, which also includes San Antonio, Tomé, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Belen. This year, eight members from Socorro are performing, including Sheri Armijo, the director of La Gran Pastorela.

“I think our group right now is one of the youngest in some ensembles that we have,” Armijo said.

She said when she first joined the group she and her husband who were in their fifties were the youngest, now they have members in their thirties and they’ve enjoyed a new generation to carry the tradition.

Over the years, several communities in New Mexico have performed La Gran Pastorela, using an early manuscript discovered in Las Nutrias in 1972. There are approximately 75 versions of the play in New Mexico, each featuring unique regional dialects. The performance is delivered in an archaic form of Colonial Spanish, reminiscent of performances from 200 years ago.

“Because this play was oral, it came from Spain originally, but the church actually forbid it because it was messing with scripture because it became very popular in the golden age,” Armijo said.

She said the play traveled with priests down to Mexico and was used to convert natives and teach them Spanish. It was later brought up to New Mexico.

“Our villages are isolated, so we could get away with stuff,” Armijo said, “Each community had their own version of the play, and so Socorro had their version. And I believe the first existing written script was in the 1800s.”

She credits Bobby Romero for bringing the play back to life in Socorro in the 1950s.

“He got together a group of knights, the Knights of Columbus, and they decided to put this La Pastorela on because it had fallen out of style. Nobody was doing it anymore,” Armijo said.

In the performance, Archangel Michael joyfully announces the miraculous birth of baby Jesus, while Lucifer lurks nearby, trying to cast doubt on the event. At the a humble stable in Bethlehem, where a group of shepherds arrives, filled with awe as they kneel before Mary, offering simple gifts.

Among them is Bartolo, a lazy shepherd who dozes off instead of joining the celebration. The other shepherds gently wake him and guide him to the manger.

As Bartolo sees the infant Jesus for the first time, he is overcome with emotion. A wave of guilt and shame washes over him for missing such beauty.

The play concludes with the singing of popular Christmas carols, such as Silent Night and Feliz Navidad, in Spanish.