Mexican Independence Day
Grimly, Father Hidalgo, the priest of the little Mexican community of Dolores, tugged at the rope that rang the church bell. He was calling the people to church earlier than usual on this Sunday morning.
It was September 15, 1810, and Father Hidalgo was going to give a very different kind of sermon. He was going to call on the Mexican people to rise up and free themselves from Spain.
The speech Father Hidalgo gave that morning became known as Grito de Dolores, or “Cry of Dolores”. It was the beginning of years of war. Father Hidalgo, who is often called the Father of Mexican Independence, didn’t live to see an independent Mexico. He was killed in 1811, but Mexico won its independence in 1821.
September 16, the day after Father Hidalgo gave the Cry of Dolores, is celebrated along with September 15 as Mexico’s Independence Days. During the first evening of the Independence Days, the president of Mexico repeats the Cry of Dolores. Then he rings the same church bell that Father Hidalgo rang. Bells throughout Mexico ring out in honour of a free Mexico.
Picture Credit : Google