Processions honor Our Lady of Guadalupe

People living or driving by some local Catholic churches may have seen the processions, heard the festive music or smelled the Mexican food this past weekend.

Following a deep-seated Mexican tradition, parade floats depicting religious scenes, walkers, singers, horseback riders and effigies of Our Lady of Guadalupe made their annual pilgrimages to honor Mexico's patron saint.

It all started in 1531, on a hill near what is now Mexico City, where the Virgin Mary appeared to an Indian convert named Juan Diego, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. She told Juan Diego to petition the archbishop of the Catholic church to build a church on that site.

Juan Diego did as he was instructed and, of course, nobody believed him, said Monsignor Richard O'Keeffe of Immaculate Conception Parish. “Who was going to believe this little Indian that was out on the very cold night and the virgin appeared to him? But like everything in the church, the Lord always utilizes the humble and the poor.”

So the archbishop requested a sign that proved Virgin Mary had indeed appeared to Juan Diego. Upon returning to the site, Juan Diego once again encountered Mary's apparition, surrounded by roses that had miraculously grown there although it was the middle of winter.

She arranged the roses in his cloak and imprinted her image on its coarse material. When Juan Diego showed his cloak to the archbishop, the latter believed that the roses were a sign of a special message because roses did not grow in that area at that time of year, O'Keeffe said.

“Of course they built the big basilica (church) there in Mexico City,” he said. The church is called the Shrine of Guadalupe, as the title Our Lady of Guadalupe was bestowed on the Virgin Mary after she appeared to Juan Diego.

Pope Benedict XIV named Our Lady of Guadalupe as the patron saint of Mexico and her feast, Dec. 12, as a holy day of obligation for Mexico, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Though Dec. 12 is not a holy day of obligation in the U.S., the feast is celebrated throughout parts of the country, particularly the Southwest, including Yuma.

When petitioning the saint to help, people make mandas, or vows, said Rogelio Gonzalez, a member of Vaqueros del Valle (Cowboys of the Valley), a group of local equestrians. One such vow was made by another member of the group who had asked Our Lady of Guadalupe to intercede on behalf of his wife, who had been diagnosed with cancer, Gonzalez said.

“We're the ones who help this guy keep his manda. He was the first person that started this procession because his wife is a cancer survivor. He started doing this about six years ago. We started with about 50 people riding horses, and right now it's past 100 people.

“On the procession, we have horses ... and we have an emblem of the Virgin of Guadalupe.”

On Saturday, the riders once again began the procession at the mountains about three miles north of Wellton and rode along the Gila River, stopping twice along the way to pray the rosary.

After riding for about six hours, they arrived at St. Joseph Church in Roll, where the priest conducted Mass and a fiesta with traditional Mexican food and music was held.

Just as in east Yuma County, celebrations to honor the patroness were held in Yuma as well. On Friday night, a procession with floats depicting scenes of Juan Diego's encounter with the apparition left from Immaculate Conception Church on Avenue B at 7 p.m. and ended at Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission on 15th Avenue.

There, re-enactments of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe were held at 9 p.m. An hour later, the people celebrated Mass.

In Yuma and in Roll, the people sang “Las Mananitas,” a traditional Mexican song sung at special occasions such as weddings, birthdays and anniversaries.

The reason the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated locally is that Yuma has a tremendous Hispanic influence, O'Keeffe said. “Fifty-two percent of the city is Hispanic. And just like the other cultures that came into the United States, they're bringing their deep culture and their deep spirituality and commitment to their church with them.

“And as a result of that, it is the virgin that has held them together.” No other church has Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrations, he said. “But it's impossible for them (Hispanic Catholics) to feel welcome, so as a result, the Catholic church has been doing this for years.

“We have kept their faith alive. We have kept their hope alive. But it's not just Hispanics from Mexico,” he said. “They're all over.

“They have carried that with them, just as the Irish have carried a great commitment to St. Patrick and to the faith and to the Trinity. The Hispanic people are bringing the same devotion and great spirituality to the United States. As a matter of fact, they're the ones that will continue to be the backbone of the Catholic Church in years to come. I won't see it, but future generations will see it.”

**Click here for a slideshow of the processions: http://www.yumasun.com/sections/slideshow/?id=1757184