St. Sebastian Visits Samalares Abajo

March 13, 2024
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The parish in which I serve, San Francisco de Asís, is headquartered in the pueblo of Reitoca, FM, Honduras.  In addition to the municipality of Reitoca (which includes the pueblo and many villages), the parish also has three other municipalities (Alubarén, La Libertad, and San Miguelito). 

Though the name of the parish is San Francisco de Asís, the patron saint of the municipality of Reitoca is St. Sebastian, whose feast day is January 20.

Each year in January, a statue of St. Sebastian visits each of the parish’s churches of the municipality of Reitoca; currently, there are 23 of our parish’s nearly 40 churches in the municipality of Reitoca.

In the above photo, we see some folks from the Reitocan community of Samalares Abajo visiting St. Sebastian in their church of Espíritu Santo (Holy Spirit).  The people ask St. Sebastian to put in a good word for them to God.13

There are little symbols, much like those found on charm bracelets, that can be pinned on the cloth worn by St. Sebastian.  For example, if someone is having a heart problem, they can take a heart symbol and attach it to St. Sebastian’s clothing.