Freezing cold festival

Published 9:25 am Monday, December 14, 2009

During what was one of the largest celebrations in Albert Lea for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, about 500 people honored the Virgin Mary at St. Theodore Catholic Church Saturday evening through song and praise.

It was the last of a series of events held on Saturday this year for the long-standing Hispanic tradition.

The local feast began at 5 a.m. at the church with morning prayers and song. Though it was an early start, there was also a full-house crowd at that time for what was two hours of devotion.

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In the evening, dozens of people walked in a procession with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, starting at the St. Theodore parking lot, going west on Fountain Street, south on Broadway Avenue and then east on Clark Street back to the church. They sang as they walked, accompanied by a mariachi band.

After the procession, Bishop John M. Quinn of the Diocese of Winona led a Spanish mass at the church. The Mass included scripture, song and communion.

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. As the belief holds, in the 16th century, Mary appeared to Juan Diego on the hillside of Tepeyac in Mexico.

“Since that day we take her as our mother,” said Lucy Villagomez, one of the organizers of the feast, through a translator. “It’s a very important day for us.”

Villagomez said she and others begin planning for the day in July. Aztec dancers begin practicing and people start asking what they can donate to the cause.

She said the church was the fuller this year for the event than ever before, out of the four or five years the Dec. 12 annual holiday has been celebrated at St. Theodore Catholic Church.

She noted she and the other Hispanics who celebrate the tradition are thankful for the Rev. Jim Berning of the St. Theodore Parish in Albert Lea and St. James Parish in Twin Lakes.

“He helps us a lot in our cultures, our traditions,” Villagomez said.

Several young children came to the event dressed in traditional Mexican clothing, and many families took their pictures in front of images of the Virgin Mary at the front of the church.

Sitting below the images were at least 100 flowers brought by those in attendance.

The observance came just a few days after the Memorial of Saint Juan Diego, which was put on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar when Juan Diego was canonized a saint in 2002 by John Paul II.

After the Saturday Mass, there was a potluck and continued celebration, including a piñata in Marian Hall.

Our Lady’s 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 day 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.