Jesuit missionaries were the founders of the mining towns of San Antonio de Cuencamé and Mapimí. This religious order was also responsible for spreading the veneration of the Señor de Mapimí in these areas, which became one of the most important religious traditions in Nueva Vizcaya since the 18th century.
Jesuit missionaries were the founders of the mining towns of San Antonio de Cuencamé and Mapimí. This religious order was also responsible for spreading the veneration of the Señor de Mapimí in these areas, which became one of the most important religious traditions in Nueva Vizcaya since the 18th century.
Popular tradition recounts that on Holy Thursday of the year 1715, the Spaniards of the Real de Mapimí carried out a procession with the image of Señor de Mapimí when they suffered a devastating attack by Tobosos and Cocoyomes. A group managed to escape with the statue and, heading towards the town of Parras, they crossed the Sierra de Jimulco, where they found a place to hide the Christ. Later, soldiers discovered the hidden statue by following an indigenous woman who visited it.
On August 6, 1715, the image was transferred to Cuencamé, and it is said that despite the attempts by the inhabitants of Mapimí to recover it, they were unsuccessful. Whenever they tried to move it, the statue would become heavy, making it impossible to move. This was interpreted as a sign that the Señor de Mapimí did not wish to leave Cuencamé.
