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OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE PLAYS IMPORTANT ROLE IN LIVES OF LATINOS IN THE DIOCESE

Translation by MSGR. VINCE HASELHORST

Our Lady of Guadalupe plays an important role in the lives of Latinos everywhere, and the Diocese of Belleville is no exception.

In Cahokia, Carbondale, Cobden, Damiansville and Fairview Heights and at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Masses in Spanish celebrated Our Lady’s Dec. 12 feast day throughout that weekend.
Celebrations usually began early with singing of Las Mañanitas, the morning prayer to Our Lady. The feast day generally ends with special liturgies to honor her.
This year, Fr. Uriel Salamanca of St. Joseph’s in Cobden wrote an explanation of the feast in Spanish, and Msgr. Vince Haselhorst summarized and translated it into English. Following is the translation:

One Saturday Juan Diego was on his way to church when he heard birds singing beautifully. He was surprised, and then he looked around and heard a voice which came from the nearby hill of Tepeyac (in Mexico) which called to him with the familiar name, “Juanito.” When he approached the hill he saw a beautiful lady standing there, surrounded by a brilliant light and he knelt before her. She said to him “Juanito, my little son, where are you going?” He told her that he was going to Mexico City to say his prayers.

She said to him: “It is my wish that a church be built here so that I can show my love, compassion and help. She told him to go to the bishop and tell him of her desire. Juan Diego went to the palace of the bishop and told him what the Lady had said, but the bishop did not believe him and told him to return to the hill and listen carefully to what the Lady said.

So Juan Diego returned to the hill and there he met the Lady from heaven who was waiting for him. He told her about his meeting with the bishop. She then told him to return to the bishop and tell him that it was the wish of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God that a church be built in her honor. Juan Diego promised to take her message to the bishop.

The following day Juan Diego returned to the bishop with the Virgin Mary’s message. The bishop listened carefully but he asked for a sign from the Virgin. Juan Diego returned to the Virgin the third time and told her everything the bishop had said, and she said she would send a sign as the bishop requested and she thanked him for being a faithful messenger.

The next Monday, Juan’s uncle was sick so he went to call a priest by a different route in order not to meet the Virgin at the usual place because he was in a hurry but she met him along the way and he told her about his uncle. She told him not to worry, that his uncle would recover. He believed her and his uncle was cured. She then told him to go to the top of the hill to gather some flowers and bring them to her. Juan Diego did so and was amazed to see so many beautiful roses because this was not the season for them to be blooming. He brought them to the Virgin and she told him that this would be the sign the bishop requested.

Juan Diego returned to the bishop and told her about his meeting with the Virgin and when he opened his cloak to show him the roses they fell to the floor and on his cloak appeared the image of the Blessed Virgin as she is depicted today as Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Today, many centuries after the miracle of Our Lady of Guadalupe, many Catholic homes, especially Mexican homes, honor the Blessed Virgin in a special way. Her feast day is celebrated on Dec. 12. In every Mexican home the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe can be found, and through this image, a profound faith in the Mother of Jesus is expressed, together with a deep respect for everything that comes from God. It is a great joy for every Mexican to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The parents teach their children to love Mary, to respect her and pray to her and they explain the meaning of the image and the history of Mary’s apparitions to Juan Diego.

When one shares a moment of faith with a Mexican family and sees their home altar to Our Lady one can sense the deep faith and the conviction about the sacredness of everything that comes from God and the joy that is theirs in handing on this faith from generation to generation.

When Mexican families celebrate the feast on December 12 they show their faith by decorating their home altars, they serenade the Virgin, the little girls are decked out in native costumes and the boys dress like Juan Diego and their share a special meal. But the most important thing is that faith they show in our Blessed Mother as the best way to go to Jesus. They know that they are Catholic Christians and that when they search for our Savior Jesus Christ by way of the Blessed Virgin they find the Lord God. This faith in the Blessed Mother is a way to ratify their faith in Jesus and in the knowledge that everything we do and live is for the glory of the one, living and true God and that Mother Mary is the intercessor before God for all of our needs. Who better than her to lead us to the feet of the Master.

That is why these celebrations conclude with the celebration of the Eucharist. It is in the Mass where all Christians are united in one faith to give glory and praise to Our Lord Jesus Christ.