Dressed in bright green, white and red garb – the same colors of the Mexican flag – a group of young people and adults danced up the central aisle of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen Dec. 7 during the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Performing the “Danza Azteca” and “Danza de los Matachines,” members of the Danza Guadalupana groups offered a colorful and festive salute to the Virgin of Guadalupe – a figure beloved throughout Latin America and beyond.
In his homily, Father Lenin Suárez, associate pastor of St. Joseph in Cockeysville, said that “as a living tabernacle of the presence of Jesus, Mary draws us to her Son, presents her Son to us so that we may adore him, glorify him, so that we may unite ourselves to him.”
“Therefore, it is time, my dear brothers and my dear sisters, for you to let yourself be found by Jesus, to accept in your life the Jesus that Our Lady of Guadalupe brings,” he said in Spanish. “Let the Lord touch and transform your heart.”
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe falls on Dec. 12, near the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is Dec. 8 but was observed Dec. 9 this year.
Mary appeared to a humble peasant on his way to Mass to celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on a hill near a rural village just outside Mexico City in 1531.
His native name in Nahuatl was Cuauhtlatoazin (“one who speaks like an eagle”) and in Spanish was named Juan Diego, now a saint canonized by St. Pope John Paul II in 2002.
Surrounded by light and speaking in his indigenous tongue of Nahuatl, Mary told St. Juan Diego that she wanted a church built to manifest the love of Jesus and hear the petitions of the faithful. At her request, he approached Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, who doubted the story.
After St. Juan Diego saw Mary again Dec. 12, she arranged roses within his cloak and told him this would be the sign that he should present to the bishop. When Juan Diego opened the cloak, or tilma, to show the flowers, the bishop was presented with a miraculous imprinted image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The name Guadalupe is a Spanish version of the Nahuatl word Coatlaxopeuh, meaning “the one who crushes the serpent.”
In the sanctuary at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, large images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego were prominent during the Dec. 7 Mass, thanks to the Guadalupana Torch Ministry. More than 900 people from all parts of the archdiocese attended the celebration.
Father Suárez recalled that with the sacrament of holy Communion, believers receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ that “transforms us into those living tabernacles so that we go into the world to evangelize, to proclaim, to teach the Gospel with our lives.”
Likewise, Father Suárez urged those present to pray “especially for the members of our clergy in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, so that we, as clergy, also learn to live the virtues of the Gospel and to live according to the heart of Christ.”
During the celebration, the Archdiocesan Choir interpreted heartfelt songs dedicated to the Virgin. The Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop William E. Lori and Auxiliary Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R. They were accompanied by Redemptorist Father Ako Walker, Father Héctor Mateus-Ariza, Father Ángel Acuña, Father José Aguayo, Redemptorist Father Adrian Roelly and Father Louis A. Bianco, rector of the cathedral.
“Your presence in the archdiocese is truly a blessing,” Archbishop Lori said at the conclusion of the Mass. “Your love for the church and your enthusiastic expressions of faith inspire us all. We are grateful for you.”
The archbishop added that he knows many are worried and anxious these days. He assured those gathered that he is with them and that the archdiocese “stands in solidarity with you through our struggles, parishes, ministries and services.”
“We will continue to walk with you to help you with your basic needs, advocate for your wellbeing and provide opportunities that nurture your faith,” Archbishop Lori concluded.
Digna Díaz, a parishioner and member of St. Gabriel’s Base Ecclesial Communities in Woodlawn, participated in the archdiocesan celebration for the first time after previously participating in a similar celebration at her parish.
“If we don’t teach these traditions and devotions at home, the street takes over our children, and for me, it is a great joy to see so many young people and children gathered here,” she said. “Those are good signs.”
Orlyn Delcido and his wife, Iris Roque, parishioners of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Laurel, attended the celebration with their children.
“On this very special day, we feel very happy,” Orlyn Delcido said at the end of the Mass.
In a video encouraging participation in the celebration, Archbishop Lori asked everyone to hear Mary’s message of evangelization because after she appeared at Tepeyac Hill nearly 500 years ago, “evangelization exploded in the Americas.”
“Let us welcome her,” Archbishop Lori said, “let us encounter her again not only to feel her protection, but also to be sent forth as missionary disciples.”
Bishop Lewandowski told the Catholic Review the cathedral celebration “recharges the batteries of faith and the courage to continue.”
“I am filled with faith and hope to see so many young people and families,” Bishop Lewandowski said.
Catholic News Service contributed to this article.
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