ATHENS--Over 200 people gathered at the University of Georgia Catholic Center Nov. 1 for the first Spanish Mass in Athens in over three years.

Father Victor Reyes, administrator of St. Matthew’s Mission in Winder, celebrated the Mass and was assisted by Deacon Jim Gaudin of St. Joseph’s Church in Athens.

During the offertory, Father Reyes invited the congregation to the altar to make an offering, reassuring them that if they could not make a financial contribution, they could offer up hard work, prayers or love. At one point, the congregation surrounded Father Reyes as he lifted up a baby as a gift to God.

Tere Pages, a long-time advocate for the Athens Hispanic community, said she got up early to begin praying for the Mass.

“We didn’t know if we’d even get 20 or 30 people,” she said.

Pages also assisted in organizing the Hispanic Mass in Athens over 10 years ago, and called this Mass “liturgically moving and meaningful.”

“I was remembering all the hard work that it entailed in the past. Now there are so many rooted in the faith. They just come,” she said. “It was a miracle for a community to have been dispersed for so long to come like they did. There was a spiritual hunger that you could see.”

Margaret Bell of Catholic Social Services in Athens said the Mass was very appreciated by the community. People from Mexico, Cuba, Latin American countries and Spain came.

“We’ve had rave reviews on the Mass,” she said. “It was so invigorating.”

Following the Mass, the congregation shared in a potluck dinner to celebrate the occasion.

(The material for this story was supplied by Terry Salguero.)