The idea of making the Our Lady Del Carmen Parish started to revolve in Barraza’s mind in 1934 ever since he was placed in charge of the third order of the temple, motivated by a profound devotion to the her.
That same purpose that impulse him to conserve the image of the Virgin Mary, who was stoned by angry manifests in the times of the Cristero War in the late 1920’s with the purpose of creating an altar devoted to her.
The bazaars
With the objective of starting to round up the funds needed for the construction of the Our Lady Del Carmen Parish, dinners or bazaars to benefit the Temple were created, they took place every Sunday for fifteen years and were carried out continuously at different points of the first frame of the city: the front doors where the ice cream shop of Monote, Angel Flores and Alvaro Obregon; on the sidewalk of the house of Alejandro Zazueta; Clouthier construction; in Mina doors; and finally in front of cathedral portals when “it was not possible (else) because they had demolished all the old building (center) and there was no good place for dinner”, explains Barraza.
Getting the required resources led to Bishop and his team of nearest collaborators to undertake all kinds of activities besides the usual bazaars.
All Kinds of Activities
He organized meetings and sports events of quality level. Charity collections were made in the baseball Stadium, but only at major league games of the Pacific Coast to avoid straining the public.
He withdrew it when he noticed that others began to do the same behind his back. The bullfighter Silverio Pérez presented in this city by charging just enough to pay his crew and even took care of their own expenses.
He dabbled unsuccessfully in the sandwich market when he opened a little shop which he named El Tumbaito.
He sold hot dogs at the stadium Angel Flores, conducted the raffle of a car, he participated in selling raffle tickets for a plane and requested the support and understanding of the people of Culiacan in all possible ways.
In this regard he wrote: “I sweated blood with the collections … felt a shame and a disgrace that I do not wish on anyone. I quivered at the beginning (…) for the simple reason that I judged the anger of some and contempt of others. “
The site chosen for the construction of the temple was a cow’s barnyard.
Construction of the Our Lady Del Carmen Parish
A place which seemed far away from the city center and where today is a crossroad for the streets: Francisco Villa and Jesus G. Andrade. The design of the temple was first commissioned to the civil engineer Joaquin Zendejas and to the architect M. Valle.
However, it was the “Best Partnership” -through the architect Fernando Best- who with some amendments to the original, but with many similarities, made another project. On November 9, 1946 the first stone was laid in a ceremony by Bishop Lino Aguirre and Garcia; in the following April the Our Lady Del Carmen Parish was blessed, inaugurated and the chapel served for the first time.
It had a cost of sixty thousand pesos starting of course the construction of the big temple, by the master- mason Loreto Quintero.
Image Gallery
How this Virtual Tour was made
The photograph of the Our Lady Del Carmen Parish were taken very early at the blue hour as usual. In order for the interior images to appear perfectly illuminated the exhibition was of 2 seconds for the darker areas to lighten a bit. It is very important to take care of the details of accommodation of the temple because when turning 360 degrees every single detail is visible. I thank Priest Miguel Angel Soto Gaxiola who facilitated the realization of this virtual tour.
Use our photos
English language translation made by Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa through the collaboration of Centro de Estudio de Idiomas Culiacán
