1000s Pack St. Patrick’s for Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Thousands of proud pilgrims packed St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe on Friday morning, December 11. Full of bright colors, smoke and incense and extroverted mariachi music, the 10 a.m. mass celebrating the day, and the holy woman it honors, whose nickname is Lupita, is a true highlight of New York City’s spiritus mundi.

That such a large and joyous event, which is widely recognized in the American southwest and other areas with large, established Mexican populations, remains so obscure in the media capital of Manhattan is curious though nobody present seemed at all concerned.

There were some Mexican live streamers present, while the pilgrims, many of them dressed in maroon and pink hoodies honoring Lupita, took many photos and videos amongst themselves as they waited outside on the plaza for Cardinal Timothy Dolan and his coterie to emerge and lead them inside.

The portable shrine to Lupita had been carried up to St. Patrick’s during an early morning procession from The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Bernard at 328 West 14th Street. Were this not enough, both St. Bernard’s and St. Patrick’s held “Las Mañanitas” celebrations at midnight, featuring mariachi music, dancing and roses.

This is the power of Lupita, bolstered by banners reading “Reina de Mexico, Emperatriz de las Americas” (Queen of Mexico, Empress of the America) though it must be said that such proclamations don’t quite equal omnipotence.

Indeed some pilgrims, and at least one pilgrim reporter, shivering in the shade of this 20-something-degree morning, took the sight of Atlas, and the Ralph’s Coffee truck, outside Rockefeller Center across the street as a providential sign to duck inside and warm their cold hands and tootsies.

You Should Be Dancing

Keeping themselves warm with vigorous leaps and gyrations was a group of costumed dancers, whirling and shouting to sharply rhythmic flute music directly in front of the Cathedral’s steps.

Most of the dancers were dressed in white, karate-suit like pants and shirts, and wore giant straw sombreros with extravagant, tail-like crowns.

Other performers wore giant masks, some bearded, other clean shaven, while both adorned themseleve with colorful ponchos, belts, flags or bandanas.

One man dressed as a tiger cracked a leather whip on the ground, encouraging the dancers’ bounding reaction.

Once Upon a Time Upon the Hill of Tepeyac

For those unfamiliar with the story of Guadalupe, it’s an astonishing tale dating back to early Spanish Mexico.

On December 9, 1531, Guadalupe—a Spanish incarnation of the Virgin Mary—was said to have appeared before a middle-aged Chicimeca Indian man named Juan Diego. Speaking in Diego’s native Nahuatl language, Guadalupe asked him to build her a shrine upon the Hill of Tepeyac, a suburb in today’s Mexico City.

Diego—a Catholic convert whose indigenous name was Cuauhtlatoatzin, the talking Eagle—obeyed her request, and informed the Bishop of Mexico, Juan de Zumarrága, what must be done. Skeptical, the Bishop asked Diego to provide evidence that his take of Guadalupe was true.

And so, on December 12, Guadalupe again appeared to Diego, and led him to a place where even though it was winter, roses were blooming. Diego gathered these flowers, wrapped them in his cloak and returned to the Bishop.

When Diego opened his cloak, the roses fell to the ground, while upon the cloth of his cloak, there now appeared the colorful image of Guadalupe herself.

Now that’s a sign!

In 1737, Guadalupe became the patron saint of Mexico City, and later, of all Mexico and parts of present day California, Guatemala and El Salvador. Each December, the large religious complex at Tepeyec, anchored by the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe attracts millions of visitors each December. In 2002, Juan Diego was canonized by Pope John Paul II, becoming the first indigenous person to be sainted in the Americas.

Lupita Here, There and Everywhere

Remarkable as her story is, Lupita transcends religion per se to stand as symbol of cultura pride, strength, and resistance. Even here in New York, where Puerto Rican and Dominican flavors of Hispanic Catholicism are predominant, look closely and you’ll see Guadalupe statues in restaurants, groceries, bakeries, and other shops, and in Mexican-themed art in general.

The mass honoring Lupita was conducted entirely in Spanish and highlighted by the snazzily dressed mariachi-like band with guitars, trumpet and bajo sexto players along with male and female singers.

For every solemn passage of prayer or the engaging 15-minute-long homily by Father Luis Saldaña of Immaculate Conception Parish in the Bronx, there were regular bursts from the mariachi band. Indeed, the music alone was worth the price of admission—which was free, of course, though when the man with the long handled collection basket comes arond, most people kick in a buck or two.

According to this reporter’s notebook, Saldaña spoke of “corazon... madre... casita... siempre... familia... Maria...” and other topics of general Catholic interest.

According to the more skilled translators in the Diocese of New York’s Good News Room, Father Saldaña joked “that the pilgrims should enjoy some hot chocolate on such a cold morning, but that it wouldn’t be as good as the hot chocolate available in Mexico.”