Rincón de Guadalupe

Written by Juan Luis Duarte

(Translated from Spanish by Google)

Rincón de Guadalupe

A retreat in the middle of the forest
Sanctuary consecrated by don Juan Navarrete

In the 1930s, Bishop Navarrete had remained on the run as a guerrilla through the Sonora mountains, hiding from the relentless religious persecution of the revolutionary government of those years. He had lived in abandoned ranches, open mountains and caves in the Sierra, by the way, one of them very famous, which he christened as The Ciriales, because when the army found it, he burned it with everything and what was in it, saving only the priest and his followers, because they managed to escape a few hours before the soldiers arrived, Since 1947, the Corner of Guadalupe was used for many years as a mandatory summer retreat for seminarians, but today it is no longer part of that process of priestly formation.

Up there, it is one of the well-defined Isles of the Sky of Sonora with almost secret access between ranch doors, grills, slopes and endless descents that penetrate the forest of pines, boughs and acorns that seem to take us to the same Heaven along the winding roads in the Sierra of Bacadehuachi... Halfway between this town and Nácori Chico, is and is standing under the shadow of the pines, an estate that, as it is, abandoned most of the year, speaks and almost screams asking God to take care of it. Bernardo, who has a cattle and a few chicks in a pen, climbs very long and has been in charge of taking care and keeping the track on the road as to mark the footprint and the territory that has been visited and often dismantled by strangers and there are those they say that convoys of soldiers have made several camps in their serranes surveillance fields.

Retreat with spirit of Don Juan Navarrete

Imagine a spring that descends from the north side of a tall hill full of pine trees and its water runs into a stream that snakes between large rocks and a pair of pine-filled high hills. There, on that slope, disposing of the water from the spring that is collected in a couple of piles and distributed with pipe and hoses, in addition to irrigation channels, are laid on the hill five or six level terraces of almost 60 meters long by about 15 width and elevated two or three steps between. The one below in a beautiful land surrounded by stones that leads to the creek and between the tallest and oldest pines leaves a shadow that barely allows the sun's rays to pass through midday. A proper little esplanade to put the beds and sleep in the summer before the rains. Up above, another terrace gives way to the first adobe buildings, wooden scissors with a two-water laminate roof that were once slab, i.e. wood cut into mosaic and placed on the relocated or plastered roof and slab floors. This building has a couple of bedrooms that, starting from the ends of its floor plan, has bathrooms, two large rooms where they can accommodate 15 or 18 meters and a fireplace in each galley, which if we put them on the back they hit the chapel wall that is in the center of the two buildings. Elevated about two or three steps from the level of the bedrooms, the chapel has room for about 30 people with benches such as temples, altar, sacrario, and a large image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is the patroness of the place. Vertical windows on each side and a two-leafed door opens to illuminate the place that remains dark and with its original scent of wax, wood, moisture and flowers, which, although the candles are extinguished and the flowers withered, seem to have been put yesterday.

In the same ground of the bedrooms and chapel is another building with two-story bathrooms and watering stations that was used as a dormitory by the families who cared for the Campo long ago. Stepping out of the bedrooms and ascending to the next terrace, separated by a garden and with concrete bench and brick and slab stone as a slab, this is another well-designed vessel that at one end has the adobe dome oven and the roofed and open space that once was the bakery. Followed by the kitchen and dining room, spacious space with tables and benches cottage on whose planks still with floral plastic tablecloth warns the use that time has had this place to only visit seminarians in times of holidays and some retirees with possibilities of contribute something to this place to keep it standing, which by the way has already been doing less due to age. There are two pictures of Señor Navarrete that beautify and decorate your walls. Follow the pantry with a quarry filter for water, ore, anchovies, drawers and everything you need to store grains, cheeses, survival supplies... Currently there are some old junk, perhaps from those that were used back in the day and kitchen equipment that have been discarded.

Separated by an almost roofed corridor access to the first terrace is a pair of single bedrooms, the first was for the rector or prefect who was in charge of the community at that time and the second was for some unexpected visit... On the second floor, these two bedrooms support a cozy, well-lit living room with rustic wood flooring. The second-floor hall contains some of the most treasured memories of the place. Anaqueles with the books that are there since 1945, a discarded guitar, some printing goods, among them a manual press where the newspaper was printed: "The Effort"; materials to maintain and repair books and other furniture specific to entertainment and meditation, as well as some wood, frames, equipment that were used to raise the livelihoods... That place was the library... Thus, other adobe houses such as individual "chalets" separated in the courtyard of terraces, are said to have been the dorms or places hosting visitors of the same cowboys or people known from the ranches who came to greet the seminarians... Separated by a wide corridor through which cars can be accessed, this is another terrace which in a walkway has its appropriate level for loading and unloading maneuvers and is currently the warehouse. Wire, wood, fixtures, a light plant, tanks, containers, masonry tools, trough farming and garden, as well as pasture and other things are stored there from the weather. In these places during the times when the Seminary was going, the workshops were found: the machero, the carpentry, the printing, the workmanship, the loom and the mechanics...

Behind, and ascending the hill towards the spring was the orchard that once was of apples, peaches, pears, plums and other fruits. Along with some flat land down there near the creek is the rest of the vegetable garden and gardens surrounding the houses and the corn sowing work provided sustenance to the summer seminarians for a few decades.

The set of adobe constructions, between the pines, walkways and sewed drains, is a well-designed place that has stood the test of time and maintains that exemplary spirit of self-sufficiency, meditation and mysticism at the very heart of an unmatched biodiversity as few places remain in Sonora.
The past of this set in the middle of the Sierra is known and talked about with countless anecdotes and stories that has centered on the Lord Bishop in the process of canonization don Juan Navarrete and Guerrero; from his exile and camp in Los Ciriales, the construction of the Rincón and El Roncadero, and afterwards the use of this place as a destination for spiritual retreats of parishioners, guided by different parishioners of Sonora fond of this place from their origin. The present is uncertain as well as its future, however, the infinite possibilities that this place offers, both to the study and preservation of biodiversity, and to the care of that original and sacred sanctuary space that encloses a spiritual value for the grey of Sonora converted into a monastery or place of retreat, make one imagine many beautiful and possible moments in this single place built by seminarians to be literally close to Heaven.

Currently, the Corner of Guadalupe is still administered by the Archdiocese of Hermosillo, it is guarded by a cowboy, but the fruit trees aged and already stopped producing and is regularly used by groups of parishioners who travel to the place in plan of vacations or spiritual retreats. Unfortunately, some others use it as camp on their ATV adventure trips across the Sierra and predate it indiscriminately.