BY SUSAN STEVENOT SULLIVAN

Staff Writer

ATLANTA -- A former migrant worker celebrated a special multilingual Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church the evening of Oct. 6.

Speaking in Spanish during his homily, Archbishop Patrick Flores of San Antonio, the first Mexican-American bishop ordained in the U. S., spoke of the importance of family, education and unity and reminded those who crowded the church that each person is precious as a child of God.

"Our greatness is not what we have," he said. "Our greatness is who we are--children of God. If we can find our own greatness then we can find (the) other's (greatness)."

The special Mass replaced what would have been the 10th annual Columbus Day Hispanic Festival in the archdiocese. This year's festival was canceled because of repeated raids by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) directed at undocumented Hispanic workers. The raids were the subject of a pastoral letter published in June by Archbishop John F. Donoghue, who presided at the liturgy.

Gonzalo Saldana, head of the Hispanic Apostolate, said he was concerned about this year's festival becoming the focus of an INS raid. The most recent raid in September resulted in the deportation of approximately 100 men and women.

"I thought maybe it was time for us to become united in prayer . . . to bring the whole Catholic community together to see what can be done to show solidarity with the Hispanic presence in the archdiocese."

The church was dimly lit, with all doors propped open to catch the evening air, because of a partial power outage from Hurricane Opal's force the day before. Flashlights were used outside to help organize a colorful procession of flags and patroness images from 24 Latin American countries.

Shortly after 8 p.m. the flags and Marian images preceded the two archbishops and more than 20 priests of the archdiocese into the church.

Choirs and musicians from IHM, St. Philip Benizi, Jonesboro, St. John Neumann, Lilburn, Holy Cross, Atlanta, the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta and St. Jude, Sandy Springs joined for a stirring musical setting to the liturgy with most of the songs in Spanish.

"The whole purpose was to get together as a group," said conductor Steve Hobbs. "We only had two rehearsals. We had a lot of fun. One thing about singing with the Spanish groups is there's a real joy for life."

Water was blessed and liberally sprinkled on the congregation by Archbishop Flores, who appeared to reach all worshipers with the symbol of new life shared in Jesus.

Joy continued to be expressed in the readings, proclaimed in English and Portuguese, and the Gospel, proclaimed in Spanish. The latter, from John 15, included the instruction: ". . . love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you."

The intercessions were offered in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Creole and the South and Central American languages of Quechua and Miskito.

The procession of offertory gifts was preceded by a parade of banners representing each of the 28 parishes in the archdiocese with an Hispanic outreach.

Later the congregation, made up of many ages and nationalities, held hands and recited the Our Father in their native tongues.

Communion was distributed at stations throughout the church in a joyous confusion of converging paths, lively song and reverent attitudes.

Before dismissal, Archbishop Donoghue spoke to those assembled of his gratitude for their work and presence. He called Archbishop Flores a "beloved shepherd of our Church" and thanked him for coming to Atlanta for the Mass.

Archbishop Donoghue also thanked the Hispanic Catholic community of the archdiocese particularly for their witness of family strength and unity in the Atlanta community.

The archbishop ended his remarks saying, "God bless all of you and your families, wherever they may be."

IHM pastor Father Richard Kieran used a flashlight to conduct the archbishops down the dark steps in front of the church as the procession of flags and images ended.

Though the light of a nearly full moon and passing headlights provided the only illumination, hundreds of people stood near the church entrance to converse for almost an hour after the Mass had ended.

"I'm very pleased with the turnout," Saldana said as the musicians lingered in the church in an impromptu "jam" session. "This celebration was really a sign of unity, as Archbishop Flores said, and I am grateful for the people's generosity and support of the celebration, especially to Father Victor Reyes who coordinated the liturgy."

In addition to acting as liturgist, Father Reyes, parochial vicar at St. Jude, was master of ceremonies. He also loaned his culturally vibrant, personally designed vestments to Archbishop Flores for use during the Mass.

Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart Bernarda Severino, who had proclaimed the second reading in Portuguese and who brought up the offertory gifts with three other nuns, was accompanied by six other sisters of her order.

The seven sisters minister to Hispanic communities at St. Bernadette, Cedartown, St. Mary's, Rome, St. Michael's, Gainesville, St. Thomas Aquinas, Alpharetta, the Mission of Our Lady of the Americas, Doraville, IHM, Atlanta and Good Shepherd, Cumming.

Father Joseph Fahy CP, found the celebration "very beautiful, very moving, very important for the Hispanic community. It fosters a sense of brotherhood, particularly at this time of the raids when there is a sense of insecurity."

Deacon Jose Narvaez, who served as a deacon of the altar during the liturgy, and his wife Adelfina, of St. Patrick Parish in Norcross agreed that something extraordinary had happened on this evening.

"It has been one of the greatest celebrations there has been," said Deacon Narvaez. "It was beautiful and very important that we get together," Mrs. Narvaez commented.

Deacon Narvaez is organizing a March tour of the Holy Land with deacons from parishes in New York. He believes it will be the first Spanish tour of the ancient sites offered in the archdiocese.

For Josefina Bush, who ministers in several Hispanic communities in the archdiocese, the celebration was a hope realized. "This is a dream come true for me," she said. "For 10 years I have worked among Hispanics, sometimes heavy at heart because of the tensions I sometimes came across. Tonight I saw them dissipate into a unity. We are not a melting pot. We are an 'ensalada,' a salad. We are one church, as the archbishop said in his homily, with different nationalities."