From what I understand, Aztec rituals were required to keep celestial bodies in motion correctly, even down to the sun rising each day. Surely there were daily/weekly/monthly rituals that the Spanish disrupted in Tenochtitlan.
Apart from the spread of disease wiping out a large percentage of the population, and widespread cracking down on native religion by the spanish, do we have accounts of Aztecs becoming disillusioned when the Sun and Moon rose despite necessary rituals not happening? And if so, how much can we trust these accounts?
The short answer is: not exactly.
First, the idea that the Aztecs had to sacrifice every single day is based on a misunderstanding of Mesoamerican religion. Although the aim of such devotional act was to ensure the order and harmony of the cosmos, in practise their rituals were essentially agrarian. Most were concerned with water, rain, crops, and fertility. Out of 18 monthly ceremonies, at least 7, maybe as many as nine, were dedicated to various rain and water deities, and most of the rest were to honour maize gods.
Furthermore, although human sacrifice was an important rite, it was far from the only ceremonial practise, and these other ritual acts survived the Spanish Conquest. This was especially true in the rural parts of Central Mexico, where community life largely escaped the eyes of the Friars and so continued on as normal. It is also worth point out that the spread of Spanish authority was erratic, and there was a substantial amount of indigenous control which remained throughout the Colonial period. This meant that Aztec religion survived the Spanish Conquest more or less intact, albeit with some of its glamour removed.
Spanish priests did attempt to convert the population to Christianity, and had some successes. The Aztecs were receptive to Christianity because they were polytheists and had no problem adding another god to their already extensive pantheon. Some indigenous people, typically nobles, did convert completely to Christianity, although it is hard to tell exactly how deep and complete these conversions were in practise. Nevertheless, the Friars found it very difficult to get Central Mexican's to abandon their traditional religion wholesale. Indeed, priests such as Sahagun and Duran were deeply troubled by the resiliency of Aztec beliefs and worldviews. Indeed, this was largely their motivation for writing their texts. So, it is hard to argue that these conversions were the product of disillusionment.
Sources: Durán, Diego: - Book of the Gods and Rites and The Ancient Calendar, tr. Fernando Horcasitas, and Doris Heyden, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970)
Sahagún, Bernardino de: - General History of the things of New Spain Book 0: Introductions and Indices, tr. by Arthur O.J. Anderson, and Charles E. Dibble, (Santa Fe: University of Utah, 1979) - General History of the things of New Spain Book 1: The Gods, tr. by Arthur O.J. Anderson, and Charles E. Dibble, (Santa Fe: University of Utah, 1979) - General History of the things of New Spain Book 2: The Ceremonies, tr. by Arthur O.J. Anderson O.J., and Charles E. Dibble, (Santa Fe: University of Utah, 1979)
Arnold, Philip P.: - Eating Landscape: Aztec and European Occupation of Tlalocan, (Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1999)
Greenleaf, Richard E.: - Persistence of Native Values: The Inquisition and the Indians of Colonial Mexico, The Americas 50/3 (1994)
Sigal, Pete: - The Flower and the Scorpion: Sexuality and Ritual in Early Nahua Culture, (Durham: Duke University Press, 2011)