IMAGE: CNS/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic Standard
By Kelly Seegers
WASHINGTON
(CNS) — People on the sidewalks of Washington momentarily stopped their
holiday shopping and paused in the cold Dec. 10 to take in the sight of
hundreds of pilgrims processing through the streets alongside images of Mary.
One
procession began at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart and another at Holy Name
Church, and the two converged together to attend Mass at the Basilica of the
National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the feast of Our Lady of
Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas. Her actual feast day is Dec. 12.
The
annual “Walk with Mary” event brings together people of all ages and
backgrounds, but it is a particularly special event for the Hispanic Catholic
community. The apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is commemorated
during her feast, took place in 1531 in present-day Mexico.
Mary
appeared to a poor peasant named St. Juan Diego, and asked him to tell the
bishop to build her a church on Tepayac Hill in what today is Mexico City.
When the bishop did not believe his story, Mary showed Diego roses blooming on
a spot where no flowers grow. He gathered them up in his cloak, or “tilma,”and
took them to the bishop as a sign of Mary’s apparition. As the roses fell, an
image of the Mary appeared miraculously on the cloak. His cloak is preserved in
the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe near the site.
During
the Dec. 10 Mass, dancers dressed in traditional Aztec clothing re-enacted the
miracle of the roses. They processed down the main aisle and around the church
to the accompaniment of drums, and at the end of the procession, one man
presented Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, who was the main celebrant of
the Mass, with a tilma given to the archdiocese by the Convent of the Perpetual
Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament in the city of Morelia in Michoacan, Mexico.
Cardinal Wuerl knelt down to kiss the image of Mary, which was hand-embroidered
on the tilma by the sisters.
Monica
Ulloa, who was walking in the procession with her husband, Milton, had traveled
to Mexico in July to see the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which she
said “strikes your soul so deep.” She was attending the walk to continue her
devotion to Mary.
“She
brings different cultures together and different languages,” Ulloa told the
Catholic Standard, Washington’s archdiocesan newspaper. “We all become one with
Our Lady.”
The
couple is a part of Mision San Andres at the Cardinal McCarrick Center, where
Milton Ulloa teaches confirmation preparation. He made it a requirement for his
students to attend the walk, so they “do not just learn in the classroom,” but
get to see faith being practiced out in the world. While they may forget what
they read in their textbooks, he said, “they’ll always remember this moment” of
seeing people gathered to witness their faith.
Throughout
the roughly two-and-one-half mile walk from the Shrine of the Sacred Heart to
the basilica, many participants carried images of Mary that they brought from
home or from their parish. A truck drove along with a Marian image on top, and
another truck carried musicians playing music for the participants to sing
along with. In between songs, participants would pray decades of the rosary
together in Spanish.
Parishioners
of Our Lady Help of Christians in Waldorf, Maryland, were among those gathered
for the walk. The parish’s pastor, Father Alain Colliou, is originally from France,
and said the walk was a way to show “it doesn’t matter what country we come
from. ‘ We are all one people, all sons and daughters of God.”
Marlen
Coles, the youth and evangelization coordinator at Our Lady Help of Christians,
said she grew up in southern Texas, often going to processions like this one,
and she saw it as “an opportunity to share our faith as we go down the streets
and unite in prayer.” And for many participants, it is a way to express their
faith and their culture at the same time.
“For
many families who live so far away from their country, it is a great way to be
reunited with their culture,” she said.
Maria Lam,
a parishioner of Our Lady Help of Christians, moved to the United States from
Guatemala seven years ago because she feared for the safety of her children.
During the walk, she said she was seeking the intercession of Our Lady of
Guadalupe to “change the heart” of President-elect Donald Trump, so she and
others did not once again have to fear for the future of their families.
During
the election campaign, Trump said anyone who enters the United States illegally
is subject to deportation. He also pledged to build a wall on the country’s
border with Mexico.
In
his homily that he delivered in Spanish, Washington Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville
acknowledged the concern that many people gathered for the procession were
feeling, saying that it is a difficult moment in our nation’s history for the
immigrant community. But he reminded the thousands gathered that Jesus is
always with them and his mother is always close by.
As
he concluded the main portion of his homily, Bishop Dorsonville shifted to
addressing those who could not understand Spanish.
Speaking
in English, he said: “The main message I would like to put in your hearts” is
“we are ending a Year of Mercy, but that doesn’t mean mercy is going to be out
of our hearts. … There is always a way to say, ‘Yes, Lord, make me an instrument
of your peace and love.'”
–
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Seegers
is on the staff of the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of
Washington.
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