Print Issue: December 19, 2002

Thousands Honor Virgin Of Guadalupe With Overnight Devotions

Father Maximino Rangel Cisneros, OFM, the main celebrant for the annual Mass honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Philip Benizi Church, Jonesboro, is joined at the altar by (l-r) Father Pedro de Oliveira, OFM Conv., Deacon Peter Swan and Father Vincent Gluc, OFM Conv. Father Cisneros is a native of Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, who currently teaches Sacred Scripture at the Seminary of St. Anthony, El Paso, Texas. A Mexican artist from Guadalajara, Mexico, created the hand-painted fabric, acting as a backdrop behind the altar. (Photos by Michael Alexander) (L-r) Yulma Almanzo, 14, Susan Hurtado, 9, and Noemi Murillo, 10, help out as altar servers during the Mass on the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Dressed for 30-degree temperatures the night of Dec. 11, 2-year-old Hector Gonzalez Jr. stands by his father's side during the celebration honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe. Around 2 a.m. on Dec. 12 the monstrance containing the Eucharist was exposed on the altar until 4 p.m. that afternoon. Mayra Silva, left, and Juan Gonzalez play the parts of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Juan Diego, respectively, during a dramatic presentation intertwined with the living rosary. Duarte Bartolo, a native of Mexico and a parishioner at of St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Smyrna, endures frigid conditions as he spends the night in front of the Blessed Sacrament with fellow parishioner Mario Lopez. Father Jaime Molina Juarez, MNM, raises the host during the consecration as concelebrants Father James Caffery, MS, left, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church, and Father José Refugio Oñate join him at the altar. Even amid temperatures that dipped into the 30s, over 3,000 people attended the Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration at the Cobb County Equestrian Center, Marietta. The two-day celebration, which begins on the evening of Dec. 11 and ends on the evening of the Virgin's feast day, Dec. 12, is sponsored by the Hispanic ministry of St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Smyrna.

By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

SMYRNA - Five years ago St. Thomas the Apostle Church began offering a monthly Spanish Mass to reach out to Hispanics. It drew up to 100 people.

This Dec. 11 the parish held a 24-hour, outdoor celebration honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe and about 3,500 people came.

The event at Jim R. Miller Park is a sign of Mexicans' fervent devotion to Mary under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose appearance to the Indian peasant St. Juan Diego in 1531 brought about the conversion of six million Aztecs to Catholicism.

But the huge Cobb County event, one of many Guadalupe Masses and special devotions, is also a sign of the Hispanic presence permeating the Atlanta Archdiocese. Of its 3,600 families, St. Thomas is now at least one-quarter Hispanic, mainly Mexican.

Father Jaime Molina Juarez, MNM, a Mexican priest, said the Guadalupe Masses help the church to grow as they help people to experience "a little piece of Mexico."

"It was the mark of the birth of the Catholic Church in Mexico," he said. "It motivates one to begin getting involved."

And grown it has. Among Hispanic ministries, the parish now has five weekly Spanish Masses, adult catechesis, small faith communities, retreats and a pro-life group that recently drew about 100 people to pray before an abortion facility.

At the Guadalupe Mass, despite temperatures in the low 30s, members of the community, their breath frosty, bundled up in their winter coats, and huddled under blankets, sipping atole, a traditional hot drink made with corn, chocolate, milk and cinnamon.

Fourteen-year-old Jeanett Razo and her mother Maria Guzman wore long black skirts with red and green trim from their home state of Michoacan and performed a "Guarecitas" dance for Mary. The girl shivered, saying, "I'm cold, but I'm doing this because of her . . . I just feel like dancing because I want to thank her for all she gives me."

Said Guzman, "For me and all Mexicans it's our Mother. She is my intercessor to God because without her we would feel like orphans. I'm proud to do all this. It's an honor for us to do it."

Her faith was strengthened by the recent canonization of Juan Diego. "For me it's something that affirms that she really is our Mother in heaven. With the canonization it proves this for all the world."

The women danced holding baskets of fruit aloft as others carried in a statue of Our Lady to be placed on a stage, where the apparition scene was recreated complete with painted cardboard cactus. Dancers represented Aztec, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Zacateca and Oaxaca Indians.

People then formed a "living rosary" and as the mysteries were recited, the story of the apparition was retold as the choir sang "La Guadalupana."

Mary appeared to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill outside Mexico City. Following Mary's instructions, the peasant carried roses to the local bishop in his cloak or tilma, made of poor quality cactus cloth. When he did so, the image of Mary mysteriously appeared on the tilma, which convinced the bishop of the authenticity of the apparitions. Meanwhile, Juan Diego's dying uncle was miraculously healed.

In the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, dedicated in 1709, the mantle remains today and shows no signs of decay. Modern tests have been unable to determine how the image was produced.

In his homily, Father Jose Refugio Oñate said the indigenous Indians, defeated by Spaniards in 1521, were demoralized and unreceptive to Christian evangelization. But they rapidly developed a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared in the dress of an Aztec princess.

"Mary came to manifest her love, to inspire her people, to call them forward . . . to draw them to her Son," said the priest, who is from Mexico.

He likened the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in early December, to a baby shower, where people happily anticipate the birth of Mary's Son, the Savior, at Christmas. He reminded them to honor Mary every day and ask for her intercession. "May she motivate us to live all year like true children of God." He concluded yelling "Que Viva la Virgen" and the crowd yelled back "Viva!"

The Mass was concelebrated by St. Thomas pastor Father Jim Caffery, MS, and Father Molina and broadcast by radio station Que Buena.

Afterward, the mariachi band Pepe Lopez warmed up the people. As they came forward to put roses and images of Our Lady before the altar, singer Javier Aguilar walked through the crowd in a black sombrero and hoisted 6-year-old Eduardo Castrejon onto his shoulders to sing a Marian song. Father Molina reappeared, wearing a sombrero, handmade "charro" suit and a big grin, and sang "La Feria de las Flores," a festival of flowers, for Mary.

Throughout the night adoration of the Eucharist was held. The next day a Mass was celebrated for children with a special blessing for pregnant women, a procession was held through the park, and a Mass was celebrated to bless work tools.

Father Molina, who lives in a trailer park among members of the community, said the event was moved to the park last year, as it had gotten too crowded for the church and disturbed neighbors. In predominantly Catholic Mexico, people stay up all night singing and praying, holding serenades and celebrations, he said, and for months beforehand make pilgrimages to the basilica. The 2002 event had special significance because of the new rosary meditations given by the pope and his trip to Mexico for the Juan Diego canonization.

About 400 people helped plan the event over four months, building stages and an altar, painting sets, setting up lighting and speakers, arranging the radio transmission and advertising.

Logistics manager Jose Trenti took time away from his construction company for the event.

"We don't pay anybody. We all are workers that go to the parish and do this kind of work and we'll help out, whatever it takes," he said. "It's a really big event for us and it takes a lot of work. Last year it was (also) amazingly cold."

The Guadalupe feast on Dec. 12 is "part of Christmas for us," he said. It is followed by the tradition of the posadas, a nine-day reenactment of Mary and Joseph's search for an inn, which ends on Christmas Eve.

Neftali Aranda closed his Mexican grocery store early for the ceremony and brought along some employees. "It fills my heart with joy to find out through the Bible how humble (Mary) was and how she carried on, knowing she was going to lose (Jesus) anyway and accepting (his) suffering on the cross for us. There are no words to explain the pain she went through for us."

The parish community helped him go through his own pain after his marriage broke up three years ago. He then returned to church and began singing in the choir, finding new joy. "I'm still singing and everything happened in St. Thomas the Apostle." He ended his night praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament until 3:30 a.m.

Sarah Jean Butler, an Anglo who speaks Spanish, volunteered to lead the living rosary.

"Hispanics, particularly Mexicans, have a very special devotion to Our Lady that I think all Catholics can learn from. They're very aware that she chose them to appear to, but we need to remember that she is really our Queen Mother to all the Americas. What saddens me is more Americans don't come because I think it's really beautiful, like a child bringing flowers to her mother," she said.

She commented on Father Molina's deep dedication to the community.

"He's very evangelistic and does lots of mission work, Bible studies, retreats, programs on spiritual growth and catechesis, programs for adults that need the sacraments. About 40 (Hispanic) people will be coming into the church at Easter."

Pat Burns, who initiated the parish ministry in 1998, recalled how the ministry quickly grew when through the help of Yolanda Berrios, then with Catholic Social Services, they found Father Molina, who began celebrating weekly Mass in the summer of 1999. He visited Hispanics door-to-door and held Mass in apartment complexes and trailer parks, passing out cards with pictures of Mary and directions to the church. Now the Hispanic community is deeply involved.

"It makes me feel really good that who it was for has taken responsibility and ownership. That was my goal," said Burns.

Father Caffery is pleased with the ministry's growth, which he acknowledged requires change and openness in the parish. With many Hispanic children, the church is beginning a fund drive to build an addition to the religious education building. He said there are always two Spanish-speakers in the front office, and Hispanics are encouraged to come to socials where members can learn from each other and create a more united church.

"As LaSalettes, our whole thing is reconciliation, to reach out to those who do not have a home or who feel alienated from God and His people. Our call is to supply a home for them and that's our whole motivation behind it. We have Spanish people all in the area. How can we be reconcilers if we pretend they are not there? . . . Whose church is it anyway?" he said.

"It's working, but it requires sacrifice on everybody's part . . . If it isn't messy, it isn't church."