Thousands turn out for Our Lady of Guadalupe parade in Morgan
Hill
Morgan Hill – Flowers, music and laughing children escorted the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe through Morgan Hill during Sunday’s annual procession honoring the patron saint of Mexico.
“When Father Gene (O’Donnell) came to St. Catherine, maybe his first or second year, he started this celebration,” said Jose Montemayor, who works at the church and leads the procession every year. “This is very important to the Hispanic community here.”
St. Catherine Church has hosted the procession and the fiesta that follows for eight years, on the Sunday that is closest to Dec. 12, which is a national holiday in her honor in Mexico.
Montemayor said more than 2,000 people joined in the procession Sunday morning.
“It was such a beautiful day, so many people came out,” he said. “Many come every year, like the mayor, he walks with us. There are more Anglo people who are wanting to learn more and come out for the procession.”
The story behind the event is an old one. The Virgin Mary appeared four times in 1531 to a Mexican Indian, Juan Diego, on the Cerro de Tepeyac north of Mexico City. Each time she appeared, she was dressed as an Indian princess. She told Diego a church should be built in the area.
When Diego went to tell the bishop of what he had seen, the bishop wanted proof. Mary gave him roses and other fresh flowers to carry in his cloak, but when he showed them to the bishop and his advisers, they tried to touch them, to hold them, but could not. They discovered the flowers then were imprinted on the cloak. Then it was discovered that Mary’s image was imprinted on the cloak.
She also appeared to Diego’s uncle, who was very ill, and he recovered.
A church was built where Mary instructed, the Basilica de Guadelupe, and inside the church, visitors can see Diego’s cloak, preserved and set in gold.
This incarnation of the Virgin Mary is depicted as an Indian and often referred to as the “dark Madonna.”
Montemayor emphasized that the procession and the fiesta are not the most important parts of the feast day, but the Mass following the procession. Many churches in Mexico have several Masses during the day to accommodate all who want to attend.
“Although we are American citizens, it is important to us to keep our culture alive,” he said. “The feast day, the procession, the Mass, are a part of that.”
