Cipriana Zapata de Robles, “Panita” lived the
life of a saint and died in Monterrey Nuevo Leon on Sunday December
28, 2008 after a brief illness. She was 92 years old. Panita was the
daughter of Don Victor Zapata the closest associate of El Niņo
Fidencio and the man the Niņo chose to serve as his revisador. After
the death of the Niņo in 1938, trance mediums called materias or
cajitas began to channel the spirit of El Niņo Fidencio. Victor
Zapata’s job was to observe them in order to verify that they were
really channeling the spirit of El Niņo Fidencio and not some other
spirit or worse yet, faking.
Before her call to service, Panita led a peaceful life with her
husband Manuel Robles in Nuevo Leon where he worked in the mining
business. Panita was at this time a follower of El Niņo Fidencio and
a materia in the area around Palau, Coahuila. Upon the death of her
father, Panita was called to Espinazo to continue her father’s work
and to serve as the materia mayor or head of the independent
Fidencista movement. In the early years, she would travel around
Mexico and the United States wherever Fidencista communities were
located verifying their authenticity and blessing their altares. She
served in this capacity for many years and until she was called to
serve as the head of the independent movement at which time she
moved permanently in Espinazo.
Mother Panita was loved and revered by thousands and saw many
generations grow from children to become materias under her
direction and authority. Panita never had children of her own but
declared with love, that all Fidencistas were her children. Her
loving husband Manuel Robles preceded her in death.
The body of Panita Zapata viuda de Robles will return to Espinazo on
December 29, 2008 where she will be honored with a velacion y
Rosario, and will be buried in Espinazo on December 30, 2008. It is
anticipated that over the years to come, thousands of her loyal
followers, the Fidencistas will make the difficult pilgrimage to
Espinazo, Nuevo Leon to bid her farewell.
For more than twenty years madre Panita supported the work of the El
Niņo Fidencio and Curanderismo Research Project of the University of
Texas at Brownsville understanding its importance in documenting the
movement and on many occasions indicating that she considered it El
Niņo’s official biography.
Panitas Funeral Pics 12/30/2008
New
Death Announcement 2/23/09
