Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is set for Saturday
Published 9:35 am Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Parishioners and community members are invited to celebrate a long-standing Hispanic tradition known as the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Saturday at St. Theodore Catholic Church.
Events will begin at 5 a.m. at the church with morning prayers honoring the Virgin Mary. A mariachi band will also be at the church, and it will be a time of prayer and song, said the Rev. Jim Berning of the St. Theodore parish in Albert Lea and St. James parish in Twin Lakes.
Afterward there will be pastries and hot drinks, Berning said.
Later in the evening, the procession with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot behind the church and continue through downtown streets.
At 7 p.m., Mass will be celebrated in the church with the Bishop John M. Quinn of the Diocese of Winona. The Mass will include Aztec dancers and masked Viejatos, or old men.
A potluck and celebration, including a piñata, will follow in Marian Hall.
“Everyone is invited to come to celebrate these Hispanic traditions in our parish again this year,” Berning said. This will be the second year for Quinn to participate.
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is based on the appearances of the Virgin Mary (Our Lady) to an Indian named Juan Diego near Mexico City.
The first appearance came on Dec. 9, 1531. Diego was told to visit the bishop and tell him the woman wanted a shrine built at this site in her honor. The bishop was skeptical regarding the message being replayed by the Indian peasant.
After several days and more visits with Our Lady, Diego was told by the bishop to bring a positive sign to prove he was actually in contact with the Virgin Mary.
The Indian relayed this message to Our Lady. She told him to go to the top of a nearby hill named Tepeyac. There he would find flowers. Diego was to gather up these flowers and take them to the bishop.
Despite the freezing weather that December ay 475 years ago, the Indian went up to the top of the hill and gathered up the fresh roses he found. He placed the flowers in his robe.
When Diego went to the bishop with the roses, he unfolded his robe. That’s when the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared inside this garment. It’s this famous miracle of the image which has been venerated by the Hispanic people of Mexico and the United States for nearly five centuries.
The image, still visible today, is now displayed in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.