Winter Solstice

"The days were growing shorter, the light was quickly failing and towards the end of each afternoon the heart became uneasy. A primitive terror seized us - that of our ancestors who during the winter months watched the sun go out a little earlier each day. 'Tomorrow it will go out forever,' they must have thought in despair, and spent the entire night on the heights of fear and trembling."

The cold, the night, and the mountains surround the church. Within the nave, parishioners and pilgrims huddle in the front pews near the statues of saints and the warmth of candles. A golden tabernacle rests atop an altar. In the shadows, a shrouded figure sings a plaintive song in an unwritten language. It is just before dawn on December 21st, the winter solstice.

At the entrance of the church, shadowy figures stand on the edges of the light of the large, open doors of the church. They peer across the valley, worry about clouds, watch the darkness over the rolling hills to the east. If the clouds clear, it will appear just north of the tallest peak, if the clouds clear.

Moments later the clouds clear and the sun breaks above the ridgeline to the east. A shaft of light pierces the window in the choir loft of the 17th Century adobe church and silently approaches the alter. The shrouded figure in the shadows sings louder. The light slowly reaches the front of the church. It ascends the left side of the apse, arcs across the golden tabernacle centered on the altar, and descends to the right. The parishioners and pilgrims watch in awe.

The event, now known simply as “The Illumination,” was first noticed on December 21st some 9 years ago by Father Edward Fitz-Henry, Pastor of Mission San Juan Bautista. While walking in the chapel, precisely at dawn, Father Fitz-Henry saw the rising sun illuminate the golden tabernacle on the altar. He was convinced it was intentional, an alignment of the church with the sun on the morning of the winter solstice, a spectacle designed by Spanish Padres to inspire awe in the hearts of the newly converted. He shared his experience with Dr. Ruben Mendoza, an Archaeologist at a near by university who confirmed the event a year later and who has been documenting it ever since.

A recurrence of the event seems unlikely this year. The weather is wet and grey. Warm, moist air sweeps up from the tropics. For the past week, the sky has been filled with dark, brooding clouds. The rain has been heavy at times. If the sun appears at all on this Solstice morning, it will only be for a moment as it rises above the ridge and quickly vanishes into the clouds.