Cathedral honors Our Lady of Guadalupe

Friday, Dec. 19, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — As the ringing of bells filled the air three hours before midnight on Dec. 11, hundreds of parishioners hurried inside the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

Dec. 12 marks the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Official Catholic accounts state that a native peasant named Juan Diego saw a vision of the Virgin at a place called the Hill of Tepeyac, near present-day Mexico City. Our Lady arranged some castellan roses in Juan Diego’s tilma (cloak) as proof of her apparition; when Juan Diego opened it before the archbishop of Mexico, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, the flowers fell to the floor, and on the fabric was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Since then, the tilma has become one of the most popular religious and cultural symbols of Latin American Catholics and others. 

In the Diocese of Salt Lake City, many parishes honor Our Lady of Guadalupe starting one week before Dec. 12 with a rosary in her honor. Others, like the cathedral, start the celebration on the eve of the feast day. 

The cathedral celebration began with children from the catechesis classes presenting their respect to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. After that came a procession in which parishioners, holding candles and singing songs, walked through the streets near the cathedral, accompanied by the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City.

The procession culminated inside the Cathedral of the Madeleine as the ringing of the bells echoed the happiness and emotions of the parishioners.

“Year after year we come here to celebrate our Mother,” said Maria Luz Garza.

But this year was different for Garza.

“We came here to thank her with all of our hearts for opening a door for us to get out of the shadows in this country,” said Garza, referring to the fact that on Nov. 20 President Barack Obama said that he would defer the deportation of the parents of children who are either citizens or legal residents of the United States, and that he also would expand that protection to more  children who entered the country illegally with their parents. Those two groups also will be allowed to work in the United States legally, after passing a background check and paying a fee.

“When we heard that we couldn’t believe it. ... We have been in this country for over 15 years, fearing that one day our family would be broken,” said Garza, who is the mother of two young children, both born in Utah.

On the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Garza just wanted to thank Our Lady for the opportunity of freely saying that she is undocumented, she said.

“I feel like a big stone has lifted from my shoulders. … I have always tried as much as I could to do everything for my children, but with this new opportunity I believe I am going to be able to do even more,” said Garza as she celebrated  Our Lady of Guadalupe at the cathedral.

For other people the celebration was a reminder of their identity.

“We celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe every year because it feels like being back in our countries [of origin],” said Fernando Valencia, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico.

“This celebration is to say ‘thank you’ to our Mother, who told Juan Diego ‘My little son, am I not your mother? Do not fear,’” said Father José Barrera, the Cathedral’s parochial vicar,  at Dec. 11 the celebration.