According to a fine tradition which has now been continuing for some years, the devotees of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Latin Americans, North Americans, Filipinos and the faithful of all other countries, met in the church of St. Saviour in Jerusalem to rejoice at the altar of the Lord on the feast day of their celestial Patron Saint.
The Holy Mass was said by H.E. the Most Rev. Fuad Twal, Coadjutor Archbishop of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and concelebrated by over thirty priests including the Custodial Vicar, fra Artemio Vitores.
There was a great participation by the faithful. Holy Mass was followed by a reception which was enlivened, as the Eucharistic celebration had been, by songs and performances by the students of the Seminary of St. Saviour, many of whom are of Latin American origin.
In his sermon, fra Nicolás Márquez ofm, the good Mexican that he is, wanted to recall the meaning of the appearance of the Madonna to a poor Indian, Juan Diego, in 1531. Only ten years had passed since the conquest of Mexico by H. Cortes, when the Virgin appeared, asking for a Sanctuary to be built.
The Bishop, sceptical, asked the poor Indio for a sign: he had to pick and bring him roses, almost a prophetic sign of the reunification of the Indios and the Hispanic population under the authority of a single pastor, at a time when tensions were still strong.
The poor Juan Diego obeyed without delay, although it was December and nothing but thorns grew on Mount Tepeyac! But the Virgin Mary went well beyond the sign requested and left her image imprinted on the Indio’s cloak, when he opened it to drop the roses which he had picked.
And the image was that of a mestizo woman, the concrete sign of unity between the two peoples who lived in the country.
May the Morenita, i.e. the woman with the olive complexion, as her devotees affectionately call Her, also intercede for the reunification of the souls of the two peoples who live in this Land which was sanctified by Her presence and which has wanted to honour Her on this day which commemorates the impression of the miraculous image on the cloak of the blessed Juan Diego.
AC
The Holy Mass was said by H.E. the Most Rev. Fuad Twal, Coadjutor Archbishop of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and concelebrated by over thirty priests including the Custodial Vicar, fra Artemio Vitores.
There was a great participation by the faithful. Holy Mass was followed by a reception which was enlivened, as the Eucharistic celebration had been, by songs and performances by the students of the Seminary of St. Saviour, many of whom are of Latin American origin.
In his sermon, fra Nicolás Márquez ofm, the good Mexican that he is, wanted to recall the meaning of the appearance of the Madonna to a poor Indian, Juan Diego, in 1531. Only ten years had passed since the conquest of Mexico by H. Cortes, when the Virgin appeared, asking for a Sanctuary to be built.
The Bishop, sceptical, asked the poor Indio for a sign: he had to pick and bring him roses, almost a prophetic sign of the reunification of the Indios and the Hispanic population under the authority of a single pastor, at a time when tensions were still strong.
The poor Juan Diego obeyed without delay, although it was December and nothing but thorns grew on Mount Tepeyac! But the Virgin Mary went well beyond the sign requested and left her image imprinted on the Indio’s cloak, when he opened it to drop the roses which he had picked.
And the image was that of a mestizo woman, the concrete sign of unity between the two peoples who lived in the country.
May the Morenita, i.e. the woman with the olive complexion, as her devotees affectionately call Her, also intercede for the reunification of the souls of the two peoples who live in this Land which was sanctified by Her presence and which has wanted to honour Her on this day which commemorates the impression of the miraculous image on the cloak of the blessed Juan Diego.
AC