Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass unites St. Vincent’s parish family

The Dec. 12 feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico, has been a vital part of Hispanic identity and worship for centuries.

Father Yojaneider Garcia, director of the catechetical office and faith formation for the Diocese of Paterson, thinks the day of worship should be expanded to all nationalities and has made multicultural expression a central feature of the colorful Dec. 12 Mass at St. Vincent Martyr in Madison. It started as a small event years ago, but more than 300 worshipers were expected this year.

“This is a parish event that includes all of us, all nationalities, protected under the maternal mantle of the Virgin of Guadalupe,” he told The Beacon. “All the groups of the parish are working together. This is the beauty of this event. It will be historical.”

At 6 p.m., the rosary was prayed in five languages, representing, Father Garcia says, “the diversity and universality of the Church.”

Then came mariachi music as a procession of couples in native costumes entered the church holding small chandeliers, representing the family. Father Garcia notes that the representation includes Italian, Irish, German, Chinese, Philippine, Hindu, Colombian, Salvadoran, and Ecuadoran. A procession of children followed.

Worshipers were asked to wear white and wave white handkerchiefs to signify praying for peace in the world. Music was in Latin, Greek, English, and Spanish.

Msgr. George Hundt gave a homily in English and Father Garcia in Spanish.

Father Garcia took his theme from an interview Pope Francis gave in 2016.

In it, the pope spoke of his feeling for Our Lady of Guadalupe as “Security, tenderness. Sometimes I am afraid of certain problems or something unpleasant happens and I do not know how to react, and I pray to her. I like to repeat to myself, ‘Do not be afraid, am I not here, your Mother?’

“I feel this, that she is our mother, who cares, protects and leads a people, who leads a family, who gives the warmth of home, who caresses with tenderness and who banishes fear. … It is an eloquent image, that of a Mother like a blanket who covers and cares, in the midst of her people.”

The celebration ended in the church gym with foods from several nationalities.

The feast day marks the appearance, in 1531, of the Virgin Mary to the Indi­genous Juan Diego at Tepeyac Hill in Mexico City. Pope John Paul II canonized Diego in 2002. Our Lady of Guadalupe is also considered the patroness of the Americas.

The oldest procession in America began in Los Angeles in 1931, established by Mexican Catholics who fled persecution by the Mexican government during the Cristero War.