Pilgrimage Sheds Light On Hispanics’ Love For Virgin

PRISCILLA GREEAR, Staff Writer

Published: December 16, 2004

Father Fabio Sotelo-Peña, center, is joined at the altar during the Liturgy of the Eucharist by Father Jose Duvan, left, and Father Arcangel Cardenas. (Photos by Michael Alexander)

ATLANTA—The rain poured “un día” like Mary’s tears from heaven, the hills became painfully steep around Cumming, but runners participating in the 2004 Guadalupe Torch Run held high the burning torch of Christ’s light from the Alabama/Georgia line north to “la frontera” of South Carolina.

Hispanic immigrant and Anglo runners carried the torch—a symbol of faith, hope and solidarity—through 32 counties and cities of Georgia Nov. 25-28. The journey through Georgia was only one leg of the pilgrimage across 70 dioceses that started Oct. 10 from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City to St. Patrick’s Basilica in New York City, where it arrived on Dec. 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Around 5,000 runners took turns carrying the torch honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe over the 3,800-mile route.

Mary appeared as an Aztec princess to Mexican Indian peasant St. Juan Diego in 1531, leaving her image on his cloak now encased in the Mexico City basilica. Her apparition as an Indian helped lead to the conversion of Mexico to Christianity.

Jesus Lara, second from right, carries the Guadalupe torch down New Peachtree Road on the way to Our Lady of the Americas Mission, Doraville, Nov. 26. Lara is joined across the front by (l-r) Guillermo Serreno, Jose Urtia and Maria Miranda. All four participants are members of the Doraville mission.

The annual race was to honor the Virgin and to speak out for the dignity of immigrants and their unity in faith, while separated from their brethren south of the border. The theme for the Atlanta Archdiocese was “walk for the dignity of a people united in faith,” said Leonardo Jaramillo, archdiocesan director of Hispanic youth and young adult ministry. The event was started in 2001 by the Tepeyac Association of the Archdiocese of New York for those who cannot make the pilgrimage to the basilica in Mexico City, where Mexicans from around the country flock on the feast day to honor the Virgin.

Archbishop John F. Donoghue participated this year in the event, making a special stop at Our Lady of the Americas Mission in Doraville. There he blessed the church, which has been restored after it was ransacked in the early hours of Sept. 10.

Standing before an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Albeito Romero plays the guitar as dancers accompany the music.

Father José Duvan Gonzalez, priest liaison for the Office of Hispanic Ministry, kicked off the run through Georgia, celebrating an intimate 6 a.m. liturgy in a train station at the Alabama border and being the first torch bearer in the 20 degree morning air as it entered Georgia. While singing hymns in Spanish and carrying a picture of Jesus and the Guadalupe image, about 85 runners carried the torch 93 miles from the border to San Felipe de Jesus Mission in Forest Park, where Father Duvan is priest in charge. At San Felipe participants were greeted by mariachi musicians, and some 1,000 others and Father Duvan celebrated an “Acción de Gracias” (Thanksgiving) Mass outside under a tent where he thanked God for “La Virgen,” who is the center of unity for all Hispanic peoples and for immigrants and those who support them.

On Friday morning at 6 a.m. about 32 runners headed to Our Lady of the Americas in Doroville. Helpers distributed snacks and drinks to the joggers, and buses and other vehicles accompanied them, allowing people to run or walk and then catch a ride for a rest. Police blocked traffic. At the Doraville mission there was a procession under a blue sky Friday that went from Buford Highway to the church, and while there parishioners performed indigenous dances. Some dancers dressed in red costumes with Guadalupe images on their backs. Archbishop Donoghue spoke of the terrible act of vandalism done to the mission.

“When someone violates this holy place, they are laughing at all the good we are trying to do, and this hurts very much because it is just like witnessing someone hitting someone we love and hurting them. But our spirit is courageous, and we do not stop trying to be good followers of our Lord just because someone hurts us, or opposes what we are doing,” he said to the crowd.

“We pick ourselves up and go on with life. We fix what was broken, we mend what was torn, and we make things even more beautiful than they were before. This is what grace does when it works through our souls, when it inspires us, and when we rebuild and redecorate, for the glory of God, for the love of Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother, and for one another.”

The archbishop urged those present to put the past behind them and “to ask God for the blessings we need to go on, and to make our lives holier than they have ever been.”

Mission maintenance coordinator Jesus Molar said that following the incident members immediately cleaned everything just two hours before the 5 p.m. Mass. They painted, replaced doors and locks and filled holes in the walls with sheetrock. He added that the community was happy to have the archbishop bless the building.

“Now it’s like a new place, and the community too, and the best thing is to forget the past and continue. They destroyed the things, but our faith is strong and continues,” he said.

Friday night 32 runners, members of the mission and St. Bernadette’s Church, Cedartown, carried the torch from Doraville to St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Smyrna. The parish had Mass for about 2,500 people. After that they had representations of the apparitions of the Virgin and all-night adoration.

On Saturday 82 runners ran 95 miles. The route took them to Good Shepherd Church in Cumming where they made a one-hour stop at 2 p.m. for singing and socializing before carrying onward “al norte.” Jaramillo recalled the heavy rain that day.

“You almost couldn’t see. The water was frozen, but the people kept running.”

Members of Grupo Folkloric de Oaxaca dance in front of the mission during the eating and fellowship that followed the Mass. (Photos by Michael Alexander)

When they arrived in Gainesville in the late afternoon Saturday, swarms of people, including children and elderly Catholics, packed the streets and parking lots for the fiesta hosted by St. Michael Church in Gainesville. Members then carried the torch to the E.E. Butler Center where they were greeted by dancers doing the dances of Durango and of the Navajo Indians, and a Mass was held, after which people returned to the church for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

“Father Victor (Reyes) ran almost two miles up to the Butler Center carrying the torch surrounded by kids and teens,” Jaramillo recalled.

St. Michael’s Hispanic ministry coordinator Olga Rodriguez, a Colombia native, was one who picked up the torch from the Good Shepherd crowd and ran towards Gainesville, but then went home to catch some sleep before rising again to depart from the parish at 6:30 a.m. with about 140 people going up Highway 123 to Toccoa. About 12 made the final stretch to arrive at the Carolina border at 12:30 p.m. The total distance from Gainesville to the border was roughly 65 miles. She especially enjoyed walking with the teenagers.

Archbishop John F. Donoghue blesses the worship area of the mission and the people on hand for the Nov. 26 Mass. Walking at the archbishop’s side are Father Fabio Sotelo-Peña and altar server Cristine Contreras.

“For the Mexicans it was very exciting. It’s a special festivity because the torch is about the Virgin Mary” and the goal was for them to hold or at least touch the torch.

St. Michael’s member Nazario Muñoz from Mexico stayed up all night at the church and ran about 10 miles with the torch.

“It was an enormous, great emotional experience to run with the torch, a great honor.”

Muñoz is always glad to help at the parish, particularly when it involves the Virgin. The 53-year-old has no family here and, as living single can be lonely, feels the Hispanic community is his family. “They help me a lot to carry on and not to fall. This community is very nice; it’s a family for me.”

Jaramillo said that this year’s event went smoother than last year’s and that he’s particularly grateful for the help they received through the route from over 80 police. He found the parishes to be more involved this year and liked the spirit of teamwork and unity between the parishes to make the entire race a success—an attitude that reflects how much can be accomplished through collaboration. He believes it was also a beautiful experience for both devoted Catholics and newcomers and non-churchgoers, as it was publicized in secular Spanish media outlets. “One very much felt the fervor that they had towards the Virgin and the church.”

Musicians and dancers follow behind the Guadalupe torch. The group is led by (l-r) Albeito Romero, Cataliovo Olivares and Dansa Azteca.