Locals celebrate apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe
By Heather Ruenz
Editor
“December 12 is a very important celebration in the Catholic religion, more so for the Hispanic community,” organizer Jorge Islas Martinez said of the recent, local celebration of the 483rd apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
According to Martinez, approximately six million people gather at the Basilica each year in Mexico City for the celebration.
“The people who gathered have walked in procession from their original state or native town, some of them for weeks, days and nights and they arrive at the basilica on Dec. 12 before midnight, so they can listen the traditional song called “Las Mananitas” (Early song),” Martinez said.
St. Patrick Catholic Church of Whitewater, according to Martinez, has been singing this song for several years, most recently at 5:45 a.m., Dec. 12 when approximately 80 people gathered with the church’s Hispanic choir, led by Marco Wence.
The tradition goes beyond the Dec. 12 celebration. On Dec. 14, a group of about 60 people met at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Fort Atkinson at 6 a.m. for a walking procession, the eighth annual event, Martinez said.
Arriving at St. Patrick’s in Whitewater at about 10:15 a.m., Martinez said the group was welcomed and bilingual services were held in honor of the tradition.
During the trek from Fort Atkinson to Whitewater, participants carry “images of Our Lady Guadalupe and flags from different countries of our continents. We always have this processing it doesn’t matter how the weather is,” Martinez said.
“We make three stops along the way,” Martinez said. “One, to express how thankful and please for everything we have received; two, we pray for the peace and share the peace each other, and three, we share our sorrows and pray for our needs to Our Lady Guadalupe.”
History of the event
A description of the book, “Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love” by Carl Anderson, shares the history surrounding the event celebrated by so many. That description is as follows:
“Nearly a decade after Spain’s conquest of Mexico, the future of Christianity on the American continent was very much in doubt. Confronted with a hostile colonial government and Native Americans wary of conversion, the newly appointed bishop-elect of Mexico wrote to tell the King of Spain that, unless there was a miracle, the continent would be lost. Between December 9 and December 12, 1531, that miracle happened, and it forever changed the future of the continent.
“It was then that the Virgin Mary famously appeared to a Native American Christian convert on a hilltop outside of what is now Mexico City. The image she left imprinted on his cloak, or tilma, has puzzled scientists for centuries, and yet Our Lady of Guadalupe’s place in history is profound. A continent that just months before the apparitions seemed completely lost to Christianity suddenly and inexplicably embraced it by the millions. Our Lady of Guadalupe’s message of love replaced the institutionalized violence of the Aztec culture and built a bridge between two worlds – the old and the new – that were just ten years earlier engaged in brutal warfare.
“Today, Our Lady of Guadalupe continues to inspire the devotion of millions. From Canada to Argentina – and even beyond the Americas – one finds great devotion to her and great appreciation for her message of love, unity, and hope.
“Today reproductions of the Virgin’s miraculous image can be seen throughout North and South America, in churches and homes, on billboards, and even on clothing. Her shrine in Mexico City, where the miraculous image is housed to this day, is one of the most visited in the world,” according to a description of the book.
