Halloween at the Cathedral of Peter, the Mother of God

Patra and I went to a concert tonight held at once of the two main cathedrals, La Catedral de San Pedro. We tried to convince Erika, Patra’s friend who has been visiting this past week, to go with us.

“What kind of concert is it?” Erika asked.
“We don’t know,” we responded.
“Oh…then why do you want to go?”
“Because it’s a concert! And it’s happening here! An event in Arcos AT NIGHT!”

She wasn’t convinced. Patra and I shrugged our shoulders. We were still extremely excited that something was going on in our own little town and, what’s more, it was happening five minutes from our apartment (no hike to the side of town for us!) We wandered over to the cathedral in the light rain, orange light brightening up the dark old buildings; the town was certainly Halloween-atmospheric.

Inside the cathedral, Patra and I recognized at least a dozen people. Teachers from both of our schools had showed up, and the other English language-assistants in town were there. After waving and giving double-kisses all around, we felt suddenly that Arcos was indeed our town, that we were no longer foreigners. We took our seats and gazed up at the ornate ornamentation of the nave, this being the first time we’d been inside the cathedral. Inside gold-leaf embellishments were paintings of saints and angels. Near the ceiling a statue of Jesus stood helping a small child. Below this statue, and directly above the altar, was a statue of Peter, looking perhaps somewhat perplexed and abashed at his central location in this cathedral. I’ve heard that the two cathedrals in Arcos once asked the Vatican which would be recognized as the official cathedral of the town. The Vatican sent its response: La Catedral de Santa Maria. The parishioners of San Pedro were so upset that they removed any signs of Mary from their own cathedral (contemplate that for a second: Catholics without Mary!) and to this day they pray to Peter, the Mother of God.

The concert, to my disappointment, had nothing to do with Halloween. Of course, this shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise, but I was hoping the music might be in a more minor key. The good news, though, is that it turned out to be a choral mass, mostly Mozart, which meant that I had sung at least one of the pieces before. I talked to the director afterward and he invited me to join the choir right away, overjoyed at the thought of one more alto. I happily accepted; while Arcos was masquerading on Halloween as a happening town, and Saint Peter stood uncomfortable in his eternal costume as the Mother of God, I was finally able to imagine myself in a role I’m already familiar with: a singer. So, if you’re in Arcos on the night of December 16th, hit up the choir concert! It’s gonna be hopping…