(RNS) — Thousands gathered in New York City over the past two days to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe, the beloved patron saint of Mexico and a powerful symbol of unity and Catholic faith across Mexico and Central America.
The festivities began Wednesday evening (Dec. 11) with mariachi music and traditional Mexican folk dance, followed the next morning by a miles-long procession, or “carrera,” and a Spanish-language Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
The events highlighted the cultural, as well as the religious, importance of Our Lady of Guadalupe among the city’s diverse Latin American communities. People of Mexican descent make up one of the largest subgroups of Latino residents in New York City, according to 2022 data from the CUNY Center for Latin American Studies.
Our Lady of Guadeloupe “is a symbol of our faith,” said the Rev. Jesus Ledezma, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in San Bernardo Church in Lower Manhattan. “Even if you are not Catholic, you can still be considered ‘Guadalupano.’”
By Fiona Murphy · December 12, 2024
In December 1531, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to Juan Diego, an Indigenous man, on the Tepeyac Hill, now in Mexico City. The shimmering figure, often described as having dark brown skin, revealed herself as a compassionate mother and left a miraculous image on Diego’s tilma, a cloak made of cactus fibers.
“At the time, Mexicans were waiting for the arrival of the fifth sun god, but when Lady Guadalupe came, she told them this is the true God,” said Rodolfo Nestor, a procession volunteer and student studying the history of the Lady of Guadalupe at St. Ignatius Church in Manhattan. “It was the beginning of the new world.”
The image on Juan Diego’s tilma incorporates Indigenous colors, and the flowers on her dress, the stars on her mantle and her position atop the moon blend Aztec iconography with Catholic motifs.
“The image is written in a code Indigenous people could understand,” Nestor said.
People pray at The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Bernard prior to a Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe procession to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, early Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (RNS photo/Fiona Murphy)
On Thursday morning, people gathered at the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Bernard on 14th street in Manhattan to participate in the procession, emulating their Indigenous ancestors who, according to tradition, “ran” to the hill where Juan Diego saw Mary.
“The procession is growing every year,” said Ledezma, who has led the church since 2020. “We had 1,700 people come last year and now more than 2,100 from 19 different parishes including from the Bronx, Yonkers, Mount Vernon and more upstate. It’s very exciting.”
Nearly every participant wore clothing adorned with a symbol of the Virgin Mary and a rotating group carried a large devotional statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. With a mariachi band leading the way, the procession started off for St. Patrick’s, on 51st Street.
“My legs are tired,” a woman carrying a bouquet of roses exclaimed as she climbed the stairs of the church around 10 a.m.
At St. Patrick’s, Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan and the Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Figueroa Cervantes, who flew in from Mexico specifically for the day’s festivities, celebrated a Mass.
By Fiona Murphy · December 12, 2024
The cathedral floor was still strewn with rose petals left from the previous evening’s “traditional Mañanitas,” a high-energy celebration of Mexican culture and devotion. Despite the December cold and persistent rain outside the cathedral, about 400 people gathered to enjoy mariachi music and traditional dance representing various regions of Mexico.
The first high trumpet note rang out from Mariachi Tapatío de Álvaro Paulino, a band of 10 musicians based in New York. The crowd quickly pulled out their phones, and Brenda Nunez, joined by her sister Elvira, began singing along to the music. The Academia de Mariachi Nuevo Amanecer also performed mariachi tunes.
“My sister wanted me to wear a more traditional Mexican dress like hers,” Brenda said, motioning to her sister’s white cotton dress embroidered with pink and orange designs. “I have one in red, but I am just coming from work so I didn’t want to wear it.” Brenda said some of her family would be walking in the procession on Thursday morning, but she would be home watching the children. “It’s very early,” Brenda said.
Rosalía León Oviedo, a singer from Mexico City, sat in the front row of the choir with her friend Rosa Maria Tellez, both in shawls embroidered with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “This is my first time here,” León said. “It’s an expensive flight, but my friend (Rosa) lives in the city and invited me, and I couldn’t refuse.”
Rosalía León Oviedo wears an Our Lady of Guadalupe shawl while attending “traditional Mañanitas” at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, Dec. 11, 2024. (RNS photo/Fiona Murphy)
Traditional folk dances were performed by the Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Nueva York, along with the Tecuanes Quetzalcoatl, which showcased a young boy dressed as a fierce jaguar sauntering down the cathedral’s long central aisle and snapping a bullwhip, symbolizing the Indigenous tradition of jaguar hunting.
The evening concluded with the entire congregation singing “Las Mañanitas,” a popular Mexican song, and participants offering personal dedications to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which sat atop the altar, surrounded by blood-red roses.
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