Fieldwork Archive
Escuchad oh tierna madre
Performed by Parroquia de la Iglesia San Nicolás de Tolentino del Laborío.
Recorded December 6, 2025 at Iglesia San Nicolás de Tolentino del Laborío,
León, Nicaragua (acquisition date: December 12, 2025).
Fragment. Performed during a novena to the Immaculate Conception.
Recorded by Claudio Alexander Urbina on behalf of Derek Piotr.
In the first week of December, Catholics in Nicaragua gather on evenings to pray novenas in preparation for la gritería ("the shout"), a Nicaraguan festival which originated in the early 18th century, held in honor of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, also nicknamed la Purísima.
This holiday celebration holds special significance in the city of León, where it originated.
Here, Fieldwork Archivist Claudio Alexander Urbina joins his parish in the Laborío neighborhood of León in singing a Purísima hymn for one of these novenas.
[Escuchad oh tierna Madre
de tus hijos el clamor,]
te pedimos nos protejas
con tu manto,
con tu manto, salvador.
Pobre el hombre
que no alcanza
tu divina
protección
y tu nombre
no ha grabado
en su pobre,
en su pobre corazón.
de tus hijos el clamor,]
te pedimos nos protejas
con tu manto,
con tu manto, salvador.
Pobre el hombre
que no alcanza
tu divina
protección
y tu nombre
no ha grabado
en su pobre,
en su pobre corazón.
[Hear, O tender Mother,
the cry of your children,]
we ask you to protect us
with your mantle,
with your mantle, savior.
Poor is the man
who does not attain
your divine
protection
and has not your name
engraved
on his poor,
on his poor heart.
the cry of your children,]
we ask you to protect us
with your mantle,
with your mantle, savior.
Poor is the man
who does not attain
your divine
protection
and has not your name
engraved
on his poor,
on his poor heart.
