According to Jewish history, the oil burned for eight days and nights. Potato latkes, or pancakes, and doughnuts are traditional food treats because they are fried in oil. In Mexico, this is the most important festival of the year for Catholics. This holiday commemorates the appearance of the Virgin Mary to an Indian boy in 1531. Today, tens of thousands of worshipers make the annual pilgrimage to the Cathedral near Mexico City.
Native dancers leap for hours at a time in the church's atrium.
According to Christian Scriptures, on the night Jesus was born, his parents wandered from inn to inn in Bethlehem in search of a room for the night. A procession of peopl e carrying a slender platform with clay figurines of Mary and Joseph, angels and stars, moves from house to house, and they are refused entry. Finally, one house allows them in, where celebrations include refreshments and a pinata for the children. This r e-enactment is done each day with a different family providing the refreshments. During the Edo period, the 20th of every month was designated as sacred to Ebisu, and business ass ociations held their monthly meetings on that day.