Plutarco Elías Calles arrived at Espinazo at 6 p.m., Wednesday, February 8, 1928. "Everyone wanted to touch the president, see him up close , and breaking the barricade they rushed to greet him ... " "1 was truly alarmed . Imagine the danger for General Calles in a situation such as this during the era of the Cristero RebeIlion," explained Enrique López de la Fuente. President Calles was alone with Fidencio for more than three hours . They say that Fidencio cured the President of a serious illness with honey and bandages. Then the General, the same who fought religious fanaticism, came out dressed in one of the healer's tunics and appeared before the multitude that waved Mexican flags and shouted "Viva! " After Calles' visit , Fidencio ' s fame spread throughout Mexico and abroad . They say that ten thousand Cubans sought to come to Espinazo and that King Alphonso XII of Spain would also visit. 'j1. life wíthout dírectíon / I came upon the fíeld of paín / grant me your blessíng / Fídencío, great ís your name .. . " "A city arose around him, in the desert, inhabited by a floating population that asked to him to resto re their sight, their voice, movement, life itself. He named this the Place of Suffering ," the Laboratory of Will, the Theater of Heroic Feats.
From a forgotten piece of poor and sterile land, Espinazo had beco me "The Mecca of the Suffering," a city of lepers, tubercular pat ients and paralytics with a population of more than fifteen thousand inhabitants , without a jail or distur bances , three barbershops, a corn mili, eighty-two butchers, retail and grocery stores, post offices , telegraphs and branches of the major banks. There were three thousand shacks and eight hundred houses constructed in neighborhoods such as Fidencio , Roma, Peralvillo and Saltillo. A Field of Suffering , its Dantesque appearance was not lost on the most faithful followers: "ulcerated sores fester under the terrible and suffocating sun, the contagious are pressed against those suffering from diseases of the stomach or eyes. The paralytics defend them selves from being struck by the crutches of the most impatient, and a screeching cry of uneasiness bursts forth from that swarm of the sick." Fidencio was priest , policeman , father and, above all, Espinazo 's doctor. There were forty caged birds in the lean-to where he lived. Among them Fidencio spend his moments of rest. In particular, he enjoyed the nocturnal serenade of the nightingales. Near by a suspended seat hung over á cement floor in what was called the Healing Circle. The corral in which the insane
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were locked was also known as the Neighborhood of Good Fortune, there was another neighborhood for the lepers. "You are the Eastern star / Fídencío of Merey, you bríng líght to your patíents / wíth paternal care ... He had a stage build to entertain the sick. There was a daily function from eight to ten in the evening. He sang, danced and recited. During Lent, he performed the Pass ion Play along with a group of his helpers. Fidencio too k the principal role. "1 always had to playa young lady," said one of his many assistants who were known as "El Niño's slaves." They made costumes with velvet and silk , and decorated them with sequins . Human hair was used for the hand made wigs . "He would take a pair of scissors and cut the hair of the first person he saw with comp lete disregard." "Thís beautíful boy / a carnatíon among flowers hall / Blessed Boy Fídencío / pray for sínners. Perhaps overwhelmed by the crowd, fleeing the onslaught, Fidencio would often leave his office running "Iike a buck" across the fields. He frequently set off in disguise. Sometimes he dressed in "extravagant and grotesque" women's clothing, at other times he wrapped himself in a sheet "taking on the appearance of a ghost" or that of the sick "tying his head with a large 11
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